16, February 2018

Southern Cameroons War: Gendarmerie officer killed in Kumba ⁰

A gendarmerie officer was murdered today February the 16th in the Southern Cameroons city of Kumba. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the sergeant named as Olinga Mengue was attacked by unknown assailants who stabbed him while on duty at a checkpoint.

Cameroon Info.Net reported that he fought for his life and was able to fire back at his attackers. His remains have been deposited at the Kumba main mortuary. Scores of gendarmes have been murdered in Southern Cameroons since February 1, 2018.

On February 5, 2018, the US State Department reportedly condemned the violence in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia including the killing of two French Cameroun gendarmes in the village of Mbingo and in Bangem.

By Rita Akana

16, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Body of Kidnapped DO found in Sabes village ⁰

CIR has gotten intelligence that the body of the sub-prefect of Batibo, Namata Marcel Diteng abducted with his driver in the morning of February 11, 2018 by unidentified men has been found in Sabes village in the Upper Banyang Sub constituency in Manyu Division.

The Francophone dominated regime is expected to announce a stop of the massive search operation that was launched after the late DO’s abduction. Our source also hinted that troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé have stormed Sabes village burning down houses and firing at innocent Southern Cameroonian civilians.

The crisis in Cameroon is getting worse each day as fighting between separatist groups degenerates with casualties on both sides.

By Kingsley Betek

16, February 2018

Pressure mounting on Boko Haram ⁰

On February 2, more than two dozen Boko Haram fighters emerged from a hideout in Sambisa Forest and surrendered to authorities. Their defections were a key victory for Nigerian forces and regional allies in their battle against the diminished, but still deadly, terrorist group.

Maj. Gen. Rogers Nicholas of the Nigerian Army told VOA’s Hausa service that he believes there are more defections to come.

“Now they have repented. They surrendered voluntarily. They are now with us. We have provided them with clothes to wear, food to eat and drugs for their health,” said Nicholas, the theater commander for Operation Lafiya Dole, Nigeria’s effort to defeat Boko Haram.

“We will hand them over to the state government to decide what to do next. We are calling on those still hiding in the forest to come out and surrender. We will accept them and take care of them,” he said.

One of the defectors said he and the other fighters were struggling with a lack of food, water and medical supplies.

“We were just suffering in the bush. Thank God we were accepted by the authorities and provided for. I want to call on those still in the forest to come out and surrender with their weapons. Nothing would happen to them,” the fighter told VOA.

But lasting peace has been elusive in the fight against Boko Haram. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and top officials have declared the group defeated multiple times, only to see more attacks. The group killed more than 900 people in 2017, a slight increase from the previous year, according to BBC Monitoring. They remain among the most deadly terrorist groups on the continent.

Hit and run terrorists

Vincent Foucher, senior consultant for the International Crisis Group, recently returned from a research trip to northeast Nigeria and said the group is weakened but still dangerous.

“Boko Haram has basically gone rural,” he said, pointing to marshy areas in and around Lake Chad and mountainous areas along the border with Cameroon as the group’s strongholds. “They don’t seek anymore to control large chunks of territory. They just go for hit and run. They mix guerilla and terrorism basically. And they are still there.”

Foucher said life inside Maiduguri, the largest city in Borno State, has mostly returned to normal, with busy commerce and significant activity by nongovernmental organizations. Other cities in the northeast have been turned into garrison towns with trenches dug around them for protection, he said.

“The military are, you know, a bit more corrosive — are sort of trying to push people to flock to those towns to sort of control what’s going on. This is classical counterinsurgency policy,” said Foucher. “You want to take the water away from the fish, as the saying goes.”

Foucher said the Nigerian Army has made some advances in counterinsurgency through its specially trained mobile strike teams and via air strikes. He said he also is heartened to see the Nigerian Army taking claims of abuse or human rights violations seriously, and in some cases, issuing court-martials to those suspected of crimes.

Regional cooperation

Perhaps most significantly, the Multinational Joint Task Force has made gains. The 10,000-person force is headquartered in N’Djamena, Chad, with regional bases in the four countries surrounding Lake Chad. In addition to the affected nations of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, Benin also contributes troops to the effort.

The task force marks a major step forward in regional military cooperation, Foucher said, with bilateral missions, intelligence sharing and countries granting permission for neighboring forces to cross borders in pursuit of Boko Haram fighters.

“It’s not perfect, but the level of cooperation, actually, between the four countries, whether in the framework of MNJTF or whether actually outside — there are also some bilateral links that are working, and it is actually quite remarkable,” he said.

The task force embodies the ideal of “African solutions to African problems,” an often-cited approach to tackling military, political and societal issues without relying too heavily on Western support.

“I think, for once, an African regional security mechanism that is building, you know, that is not just a mimicry of what Europe has been trying to do,” Foucher said. “It is really based on a need that states feel for some sort of coordination, so it’s an interesting thing.”

Source: VOA

16, February 2018

Ethiopian PM resigns ‘to enable reform’ ⁰

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn suddenly resigned on Thursday in what he described as a bid to smooth reforms, following years of violent unrest that threatened the ruling party’s hold on Africa’s second most populous nation.

The resignation — unprecedented in Ethiopia’s history — followed a wave of strikes this week in towns near the capital and demonstrations successfully demanding the release of more opposition leaders.

More than 6,000 political prisoners have been freed since January as the government struggles to placate simmering anger among the two largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and Amharic, who complain they are under-represented in the country’s corridors of power.

This file photo, taken on September 22, 2016, shows members of the Karo tribe posing in front of the Omo River in Ethiopia’s southern Omo Valley region. (By AFP)

The prime minister leads the nation under Ethiopia’s political system, and Hailemariam’s resignation underscores the depth of division within the ruling coalition over how fast to pursue political reform.

Ethiopia is the region’s largest economy and a key Western ally in the fight against militancy but rights groups criticize its government for jailing journalists and political opponents.

It was not clear who would replace Hailemariam. He also resigned as chairman of the ruling coalition, which has governed since it defeated a military regime in 1991.

“Unrest and a political crisis have led to the loss of lives and displacement of many,” Hailemariam said in a televised speech. “I see my resignation as vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy.”

(Source: Reuters)

16, February 2018

The Nigerian Air Force and COIN operations ⁰

Nigeria has been trying to contain the insurgency confronting it with all possible means. The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has started playing a major role in this mission and has intensified air operations in North Eastern Nigeria.

NAF operations from December 20-22, 2017 neutralized scores of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) in Tumbun Rago, a settlement in the northern fringes of Borno state, bordering Lake Chad. The operations started with an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission. This was followed by air interdiction to strike the identified targets. Then came Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) missions after the strikes to assess the nature and extent of damage to the targets. Finally, follow on mop up operations by helicopter gunships at multiple locations enhanced the degree of target neutralisation. A similar operation was carried out by NAF in conjunction with the Nigerian Army (NA) on January 3-4, 2018 in Sambisa, Njimia and Camp Zairo. These operations constitute a classical example of air power employment in anti-insurgency operations.

Nigeria is one of the most affluent and powerful West African countries, with the highest GDP in the continent. It shares land boundaries with four countries — Niger, Benin, Chad and Cameroon. The cumulative combat power and national power of these four neighbours is less than that of Nigeria by a large margin. The differential in combat air power between Nigeria and these four countries is even more glaring. Consequently, the prime focus of Nigeria’s creation and employment of air power has been to manage internal conflicts and insurgency, besides ensuring the protection of the coastline and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The country is nearly square shaped (1100 km long and 1000 km broad). The three military air bases are strategically located and over 30 airstrips evenly spread across the country allow an efficient application of air power.

The only combat aircraft in the NAF inventory at present are 14 Chinese built F7 procured in 2005-08. MiG-21s and Jaguars have been phased out. For counter insurgency (COIN) operations, it has 13 Alpha Jets, 23 L-39 and 12 MB-339 aircraft, besides 11 attack helicopters made up of Mi 24/Mi 35s. The further growth trajectory of Nigerian air power can be assessed by analysing its defence budget and likely procurements. The proposed defence budget for 2018 with an allocation of $1.5 billion has nearly 77 per cent earmarked for salaries and overheads. This limits the funds available for modernisation and up-gradation. Out of this limited modernisation budget, an allocation of $66.32 million is planned for aviation assets, including payment for three light utility helicopters for the army, two helicopters for the air force, one UAV for the navy, and for the maintenance of two Alpha Jet aircraft and one C-130 transport aircraft. Nearly 53 per cent of the money earmarked for aviation assets is for part payment for the acquisition of three JF-17 Thunders from Pakistan.

A significant event took place on December 27, 2017 when the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, presented the Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) in respect of 12 A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft to the NAF. This will no doubt boost the NAF’s airpower potential. The Trump administration’s offer reverses the Obama administration’s decision to block the sale of military hardware to Nigeria. The LOA represents the official US Government offer to sell defence articles and services to the Nigerian Government. It is expected that the LOA would be signed and necessary payments made before February 20, 2018, to ensure the commencement of the production of these aircraft.

The $593 million deal includes aircraft, weapons, training, spare parts, aviation and ground support equipment, hangar, facilities, and infrastructure. These aircraft will augment the NAF effort in operations against the Boko Haram and ISIS West Africa, as well as Nigerian efforts to counter illicit trafficking both within the country and in the Gulf of Guinea. The deal also includes $29 million worth of weapons including 200 GBU-12/58 Pave Way II tail kits, 400 laser guided rockets, 2,000 MK-81 (250lb) bombs, 6,000 unguided rockets, 20,000 rounds of .50 calibre machine gun ammunition, seven AN/AAQ-22F electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor and laser designators. In addition, all aircraft sold will include weapons software to support forward-looking infra-red (FLIR). Nigeria’s defence budget of 2018 will have to provide for this deal at the expense of some other equipment.

This deal, on fructification, will permit sustained and effective round the clock COIN operations by the NAF. The combination of sensors and precision weapons will be difficult for the insurgents to beat. Precision strikes by the proposed low-calibre guided weapons will also reduce the probability of collateral damage. However, the mission can be effective only when it is supported by adequate ISR and suitable communication grids. NAF is presently not very well equipped in this regard. With the available ISR resources, it will not be possible to fully exploit the offensive assets on its inventory. NAF has a large area to cover for surveillance and monitor activities in specific sectors on a round-the-clock basis. The time lag between the initial ISR mission and follow-on mop-up attacks in December 2017 and January 2018 is of the order of 24 hours. With the kind of mobility available to insurgents, this time is adequate to relocate safely, thus staying ahead of the ISR cycle. Operational necessity is to shrink the sensor-to-shooter time.

To upgrade its ISR capabilities, NAF is looking intently at UAVs. These provide an optimal low cost and safe solution for long duration, repetitive missions. A benign air defence environment makes a perfect backdrop for UAV operations. The issue however is of the availability of resources to fund this need. And the answer lies in a re-look of the operational environment and reassessing the combat equipment requirement. One deal that stands out in this regard relates to the JF-17. With practically no conventional threat on its borders, should NAF be equipping itself with the high-cost JF-17s at this juncture? Its existing fleet of F-7s is barely a decade old and adequate, along with ground-based radars, to ensure air superiority in its neighbourhood against known threats for another decade. The financial resources earmarked for the three JF-17s could optimally be utilised to upgrade the surveillance and communication network and reduce the sensor-to-shooter time for COIN operations.

Building up the capability to douse the current insurgency should ideally take precedence over the necessity to tackle a hypothetical conventional threat. Additionally, the procurement of just three JF-17s will not stand professional scrutiny with respect to its maintenance. A fighter platform like the JF-17 will necessitate the setting up of first and second lines of maintenance facilities for unhindered operations. This will tantamount to a sub-optimal utilisation of the investment in the project for just three platforms. In the absence of these facilities, the aircraft will be non-operational for a prolonged duration owing to the scheduled maintenance servicing. Either way, the cost of operation of the three JF-17s will further bloat the already burgeoning revenue expenditure. That will, in fact, prevent further modernisation. [Editor’s note – Nigeria may buy more JF-17s at a later date, and may have only budgeted for an initial three, with more funding possibly allocated later.]

Governments all over the world can allocate only finite resources for their armed forces. It is incumbent on the armed forces to assess the operational environment in a realistic manner and then draw out an appropriate equipment procurement strategy. Assets to tackle the existing security challenges must be provided for and only thereafter capabilities for tackling future threats should be built up. Unless reprioritised, the Nigerian defence budget will come under severe strain in the next three years.

Source: Defenseweb

16, February 2018

“Biya regime and the Ambazonia Interim Government have one surprising thing in common” ⁰

While the search continues to find the sub-prefect of Batibo, a locality in the Momo constituency in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia abducted last February 11 by unidentified gunmen, the Francophone governor has installed an acting Divisional Officer leading political commentators to opine that the Biya regime and the Ambazonia Interim Government have one surprising thing in common-the way they replace abducted leaders.

Adolphe Lele Lafrique, installed on Wednesday, Ernest Nkwandze as acting sub-prefect of Batibo and pleaded with the Batibo traditional authorities to help free the abducted DO. Namata Diteng, the DO of the Ambazonian Batibo district, has been missing since Sunday, when his burnt-out car was found in an isolated area. Cameroon’s army said on Monday that it was continuing to search for a local official after separatists in a restive English-speaking region claimed to have captured him.

He had been meant to preside over local festivities for Cameroon Youth Day, a controversial day in the country’s two anglophone regions — in the northwest and southwest — where dozens of people have been killed since October after a violent crackdown on protests against the mainly French-speaking government.

There were numerous appeals by separatists online to “kill the prisoner” of the “colonial army”. Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck told AFP that Cameroon forces were continuing their search for Diteng on Monday night.

Badjeck also dismissed as “fake news” a picture of a dead man circulating online that some separatists claimed was Diteng.

By Sama Ernest

16, February 2018

Fru Ndi withdraws from presidential election ⁰

The leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), Ni John Fru Ndi has announced his decision not to contest the 2018 presidential elections, which according to the ruling CPDM crime syndicate should be held between the 14^th of September and the 14^th of October.

The 77 year old Southern Cameroonian who is also the founder and current chairman of the SDF, the so-called second-largest force in the National Assembly added that he intends to remain the head of the Social Democratic Front.

Three senior members of the SDF have so far made public their intention to run for the presidency and they include, Joshua Osih, Joseph Mba-Ndam and Tchinda Forbi. John Fru was a candidate in the presidential elections in 1992 and 2011.

By Fru James in Bamenda

15, February 2018

South Africa parliament elects Ramaphosa as new president ⁰

South African lawmakers formally named wealthy former businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as new president Thursday after scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma resigned under intense pressure from his own party.

Ramaphosa, the only candidate, was approved without a vote by the parliament in Cape Town, chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng told assembled lawmakers to loud cheers.

Zuma announced his resignation late Wednesday, and aimed barbs at the African National Congress (ANC) party for vowing to oust him via a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In a 30-minute televised address, Zuma said he had “come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect”.

“I have only asked my party to articulate my transgressions and the reason for its immediate instruction that I vacate office,” he said.

Zuma, 75, had been embroiled in a divisive power struggle with Ramaphosa, the deputy president.

Ramaphosa won control of the ANC when he was elected as its head in December.

Benchmark South African stocks scored their biggest gains since June 2016 after news that a pro-business reformist would be taking the helm.

The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index rose as much as 2.7 percent, while the rand reached its strongest level since February 2015, gaining 0.5 percent at 11.6570 to the dollar in early trade.

Zuma said in a TV interview earlier Wednesday that he had received “very unfair” treatment from the party he joined in 1959 and in which he had fought for decades against apartheid white-minority rule.

He said he was angered over “the manner in which the decision is being implemented… I don’t agree, as there is no evidence of if I have done anything wrong.”

President of South Africa Jacob Zuma attends the last day of the NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg on December 20, 2017, during the African National Congress (ANC) 54th National Conference. (Photo by AFP)

‘We are not celebrating’

The party’s national executive committee had ordered Zuma’s recall from office on Tuesday, after a 13-hour meeting at a hotel outside Pretoria, but he at first refused.

ANC officials then said that if Zuma did not resign, the party’s lawmakers in the Cape Town parliament would vote him out on Thursday.

But, after the resignation, party deputy secretary general Jesse Duarte cautioned: “We are not celebrating.”

“We have had to recall a cadre of the movement that has served this organisation for over 60 years, it’s not a small matter.”

Zuma, who had no formal education, was jailed on Robben Island for 10 years alongside Nelson Mandela under apartheid and rose through the ranks of the ANC to take power in 2009.

But his rule was dominated by graft scandals, economic slowdown and falling popularity for the celebrated liberation party.

In a day of high drama, police early Wednesday raided the Johannesburg home of the Gupta business family, which is accused of overseeing a web of corruption in Zuma’s government.

Police said three unidentified people had been arrested in investigations into “Vrede Farm” — allegations that millions of dollars of public money meant for poor dairy farmers was siphoned off by the Guptas.

The estate of the controversial business family Gupta in Johannesburg, on February 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Local media reported that Zuma had been pushing for a resignation deal that included his legal fees to fight multiple criminal charges — but he denied the allegations in his resignation speech.

One case against him relates to 783 payments he allegedly received linked to an arms deal before he came to power.

Other graft allegations have centered on the three Gupta brothers, who are accused of unfairly obtaining lucrative government contracts and even hand-picking Zuma’s ministerial appointments.

South African Members of Parliament sing and gestures prior to voting for a new president a day after the former president resigned on February 15, 2018, in Cape Town. (Photo by AFP)

The political standoff in recent weeks plunged South Africa — the continent’s most developed economy — into confusion over who was running the country, with last Thursday’s annual State of the Nation address cancelled at the last-minute.

Instead, Ramaphosa is to deliver the State of the Nation on Friday.

Decline of Mandela’s party

Zuma, a Zulu traditionalist with four wives and a proud singing voice, had been scheduled to stand down next year after serving the maximum two terms.

In local polls in 2016, the ANC recorded its worst electoral result since coming to power in 1994 with Mandela at the helm as white-minority rule fell.

Winnie Mandela, former wife of former President Nelson Mandela, attends the closing ceremony of the NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg on December 20, 2017, during the African National Congress (ANC) 54th National Conference. (Photo by AFP)

Ramaphosa, 65, must revive the economy and crack down on what he has admitted is rampant government corruption if he is to boost the party’s tarnished reputation before a tricky general election next year.

He is a former trade unionist and Mandela ally who led talks to end apartheid in the early 1990s and then became a hugely wealthy businessman before returning to politics.

Zuma’s hold over the ANC was broken in December when his chosen successor — his former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma — narrowly lost to Ramaphosa in a vote for the new party leader.

South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa dances on stage before his address at the NASREC Expo Center in Johannesburg on December 20, 2017, during the African National Congress (ANC) 54th National Conference. (Photo by AFP)

South Africa’s new president vows to tackle corruption

Ramaphosa, on Thursday, used his first speech in office to vow to fight government corruption, in a direct reference to accusations leveled against his predecessor Jacob Zuma.

“Issues to do with corruption, issues of how we can straighten out our state-owned enterprises and how we deal with ‘state capture’ are issues that are on our radar screen,” he told lawmakers in parliament.

“Those are issues we are going to be addressing and tomorrow we will also have an opportunity to outline some of the steps we are going to be taking,” said Ramaphosa, who got a standing ovation at the end of the speech.

“State capture” refers to alleged corruption of state institutions and state-owned businesses by private individuals seeking illegal profits.

(Source: AFP)

15, February 2018

US Senate unveils immigration plan, defying Trump ⁰

A bipartisan group of US senators in Congress have unveiled a compromise plan to protect so-called “Dreamers” and boost border security, defying President Donald Trump’s demand to embrace his more hardline plan.

The potential breakthrough, reached Wednesday after hours of closed-door deliberations, would protect from deportation 1.8 million immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

Congress is struggling to act after Trump ordered the March 5 termination of DACA, an Obama-era program that gives young immigrants temporary legal status. Congress has tried and failed to overhaul immigration policy over the past decade.

While several Republicans are co-sponsoring the new bipartisan measure, it was not clear whether there would be enough support from Democrats to pass it in the Senate. Even if the bipartisan immigration plan passes the Senate, it faces an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold a larger majority.

The bipartisan measure, which has eight Republican and eight Democratic sponsors, emerged from a centrist group nicknamed the “Common Sense Coalition.”

“Our legislation underscores the broad, bipartisan commitment to creating a path to citizenship for Dreamers, who were brought to this country illegally through no decision of their own, while strengthening border security to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants,” Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said in a statement announcing the measure.

The bipartisan effort would only make limited changes to family reunification, and would leave the diversity lottery visa untouched, because it is too “politically toxic,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the lawmakers who crafted the bipartisan plan.

But supporting the immigration deal would put members of Trump’s own party at odds with the president, who urged senators to oppose any plans that were different from his own.

In the midst of the showdown, Democrats stressed Trump would be to blame for any failure to reach a deal.

Americans “know this president not only created the problem, but seems to be against every solution that might pass because it isn’t 100 percent of what he wants,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York state.

“If, at the end of the week, we are unable to find a bill that can pass… the responsibility will fall entirely on the president’s shoulders and those in this body who went along with him.”

Source: Presstv

15, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis worsen: Reports ⁰

The crisis in Cameroon is getting worse each day as fighting between separatist groups degenerates with casualties on both sides.

The situation has been disturbing following the kidnapping of a senior government official in the English speaking north western town of Batibo by the separatists.

Source: Channel Africa