CRTV pulled off the impossible with the creation of a Biya 11 February Speech

11, February 2018

CRTV pulled off the impossible with the creation of a Biya 11 February Speech 0

The CPDM crime syndicate and the Cameroon Radio and Television may have pulled off the impossible with the creation of a Biya 11 February speech that’s spurring outrage on both sides of the political aisle.

The televised address to the nation, featuring President Biya wearing the same attire he used in a live broadcast last year was published today by CRTV.

French Cameroun news portals have shared the video from the CRTV shoot, referencing it as coming from the ailing Head of State.

“I caption this ‘there was 2017 rubbish coming out of Biya’s mouth” our desk editor in Yaoundé wrote immediately after the speech was made public.

In a report sent to our editorial office in London, Sama Ernest pondered if it were possible to be jailed for announcing that President Biya indeed was no more, then went on to joke that he hoped he’d be allowed to visit Professor Mendo Ze in Kondengui.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group have gotten intelligence that the speech was recorded last year. The speech betrayed the diabolic harsh ploy by the CPDM gang when the President observed that “There will be elections in 2018.” Also, the Paul Biya we know would have spoken about the constitutional council and the senatorial elections which he recently decreed. Of vital importance is the fact that Biya would have praised the cooperation with the Federal Republic of Nigeria that facilitated the abduction of President Ayuk Tabe and his top aides in Abuja.

Below is what came out today as President Biya’s message to the Cameroonian youth

My dear young compatriots,

The last few years have not been easy for our country, which has had to take up simultaneously several major challenges, namely:

–     addressing the Boko Haram threat in our northern regions and that of armed gangs on our eastern border;

–     hosting tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons;

–     managing the outburst of unrest in the North-West and South-West Regions, marked by sporadic  acts of violence; and

–     countering the impact of falling oil and commodity prices in a bid to return to growth.

I believe we can now make an initial appraisal of our struggles on these different fronts:

–     Boko Haram’s potential to cause harm has been severely undermined, thanks to the combined action of Cameroon’s defence forces and its people;

–     Supportive measures have enabled many displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes;

–     the situation in the South-West and North-West Regions is stabilizing, and the Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism should thus be able to delve into the crux of the problem;

–     the latest assessments point to an improvement in our economy, with renewed activity in various sectors.

Indeed, the characteristic “resilience” of the Cameroonian people deserves to be hailed once again, for, it must be stated, credit for the results we have achieved goes to the people. Not only did they not give up, but they lent their support to   government’s action.

Our compatriots at large, regardless of social status, remained united throughout the ordeals. And such is what makes a great nation.

Allow me, once again, to underscore the heroism of our defence and security forces – mostly young people – whose sense of duty and responsibility has been beyond all praise.

My dear young compatriots,

The Nation is calling on you strongly, because, in the decades ahead, you will be our country’s leaders, hence the need for you to be up to the task, by acquiring the necessary skills and experience.

However, first, you must understand that the “new world” which is unfolding before our very own eyes could be tougher and more unstable than the old one. The rules that governed the old world for more than half a century – the role of the United Nations in maintaining world peace, international trade regulation, solidarity through development assistance, etc. – could become more difficult to apply, whereas nationalism, protectionism and isolationism are likely to gain ground.

In a tougher and less open world, it could become more difficult for developing countries to defend their interests and secure their economic and social progress.

Accordingly, we should commend the holding of events such as the recent African Union / European Union Summit in Abidjan, which focused on youth education and training in Africa and particularly the acquisition of new technologies and modernization of agriculture.

These orientations are in line with the objectives of China’s “new silk road” initiative and the development assistance projects of Asian countries such as India, Japan and South Korea. So, there are reasons to not yield to pessimism.

While Cameroon may rely on the solidarity of its external partners, as well as the understanding of major international organizations, the fact remains that its own efforts are naturally foremost.

Indeed, this is not the business of the government alone, but that of each and every one of us. And, in this regard, I will echo the famous quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Today, I renew this call for effort which I made to you barely a year ago on the same occasion. Rather than yielding to the tempting mirage of illegal emigration and undertaking a hazardous   and often doomed trip,        I invite you to play an active part in our great vision to achieve emergence by 2035.

I believe I can safely say that the State has done much in recent years to prepare you for this lofty task.

Regarding the budget, the combined allocations of the three ministries responsible for education represent about 15% of public spending. Great strides have been or are being made in terms of infrastructure, school facilities and educational opportunities.

The number of schools and universities is growing progressively, the two most recent illustrations thereof being the opening of a Faculty of Medicine in Garoua and a Higher Teachers’ Training College in Bertoua.

Today, each of our ten regions has a public higher education institution. Moreover, from this year on, our universities will be connected to the global university cyberspace.

The programme to donate computers to our students, which will be pursued actively, will help them to more easily connect thereto and access more and more knowledge and resources.

The government’s policy, geared towards learning trades as well as vocational and technical training, is beginning to pay off as it fosters self-employment and the socio-economic integration of youths.

As at 31 December 2017, 473,303 (four hundred and seventy-three thousand three hundred and three) jobs had been identified for youths, exceeding our set target of 400,000 (four hundred thousand). We are however aware that more jobs are required to curb youth unemployment.

Moreover, although growth slowed down due to exogenous factors, we continued forging ahead in various sectors of our development. The year 2018 will mark the completion of our major first-generation projects such as:

–     the hydroelectric dams that will soon be supplemented by power transmission infrastructure;

–     road projects such as Douala City’s east and west entryways, the second bridge over the Wouri River, various highways and the motorways under construction.

Already, a series of projects known as second-generation projects have been launched or are in the pipeline. They concern energy generation, new road transport infrastructure and especially the extension of our railroad network to N’Djamena and Limbe. We will then have to devise an ambitious social housing strategy commensurate with our needs.

Our GESP-based development programme will be continued, as will the three-year “special youth” plan which, since its inception last year, has  prioritized youth access to agriculture, industry, handicrafts, the digital economy and innovation. Nearly 500,000 youths have already registered with the National Youth Observatory to participate in the aforementioned youth plan. As funding has already been secured, its implementation will be accelerated in 2018.

The year 2018 will also be a decisive one for the preparation of AFCON 2019. The State has pumped considerable resources into it. It will then be up to our footballers to live up to their reputation and the outstanding achievements of their illustrious predecessors. They have demonstrated in the past that they are up to the task.

My dear young compatriots,

From my position as Head of State, I perceive signs of your growing interest in public affairs.

In this regard, your favourite platform of expression is the social media. Whenever at a click, you access these communication highways that give you global visibility, you must bear in mind that you are not exempted from fulfilling civic and moral obligations, such as respect for others and your country’s institutions. Be patriotic Internet users working for Cameroon’s development and influence, and not passive followers or naive relays for staunch critics of the Republic.

The Cameroon of tomorrow, which is being forged before our very own eyes, will differ almost entirely from that of yesteryear. You will be its key beneficiaries. You will need to prove yourselves worthy of it.

The world is about to witness a dramatic change. The populations of most developed countries are aging. Africa, on the contrary, will be a continent of predominantly young people by the middle of the century.

This constitutes both an opportunity and a challenge. Let us seize the opportunity and meet the challenge. I believe our youths are capable of doing so.

A final word. As you know, 2018 will be an important election year. You all who will be aged 20 years and above will be able to – or rather should – exercise your right to vote. By voting, you will be performing an act of responsible citizenship and, thus, participating in forging your destiny.

Happy Youth Day to each and every one!

Long Live Cameroon’s Youth!

Long Live Cameroon!

Yaounde, 10 February 2018

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

 


Yaounde: A nation waits for a speech

10, February 2018

Yaounde: A nation waits for a speech 0

Millions of Cameroonians, especially youths, are impatiently expecting the annual head of state’s speech that precedes the celebration of the country’s youth day, a day highly contested by Anglophones who have been fighting for a separate state since October 2016.

The wait stems from the fact that for more than two weeks, there have been speculations concerning the whereabouts of Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, 85, who has been missing in action. Mr. Biya is expected to deliver a live speech on Saturday, February 10, 2018, directed at the youths at 8pm Cameroon time to urge the country’s impoverished and unemployed youths to continue persevering in their efforts to find work.

He will also use the occasion to point out that though the economy has not been delivering the results expected of it, it is, more because of external factors resulting from a struggling global economy and internal attacks coming from Anglophone secessionists and Boko Haram.

However, Cameroonians are still very concerned about the absence of their president. Many analysts hold that the country’s president might either be dead or his health situation might have taken a turn for the worse.

It should be noted that Mr. Biya has been having serious health issues for some time now and a source close to the ailing dictator has intimated that he has been suffering from prostrate cancer and a failing heart.

Cameroonians need confirmation about their president health. They want to be sure that Mr. Biya’s collaborators are not working behind the scenes to change the country’s constitutional order just to ensure the Betis who have been mismanaging the country for more than three decades do not wrestle power out of the hands of the real constitutional successor.

According to a source at the Presidency which elected anonymity, the Secretary General at the presidency has been holding a series of meetings with some of his collaborators who have been advising him to issue decrees that would usher in constitutional changes on Mr. Biya’s behalf. The appointment of Clement Atangana early last week as president of the constitutional council is one of the changes, many argue, are aimed at changing things to the advantage of a Beti Mafia that has been running the show for many years.

The scheduling of senatorial elections next month, our source added, was one of the moves designed by the Beti Mafia to kick out the current senate president, Marcel Nyat Njifenji, so that it could retain power even after Mr. Biya’s death.

Under the country’s current constitution, the constitutional successor is the president of the senate, Marcel Nyat Njifenji, a man many hold has played a key role in the corruption and mismanagement that have become the country’s hallmark.

Many Cameroonians want to see a new republic and they hold that if the country has to witness any significant political changes, figures like the senate president and the national assembly speaker have to disappear from the political scene.

But the doubts are continuing even when the government has been arguing that the president is alive and in good health. A few days ago, an empty presidential motorcade was mounted and made to travel to Mvogmeka just to give the impression that the president was really hale and hearty. This ruse, which did not convince many Cameroonians, caused a lot of traffic in the nation’s capital, Yaounde, a gimmick that frustrated many people in the capital city.

Some analysts are already concluding that Mr. Biya’s entourage, which is predominantly Beti, might use still images just to create an impression. A live speech by the ailing president, they argue, might reassure the population. Anything short of that will only fuel the suspicion and rumor.

But there are speculations that the Beti Mafia that is struggling to keep things under wraps might have already had a taped speech from the dying president before he slipped into a coma.

Sources close to the Unity Palace have indicated that Mr. Biya’s collaborators have been busy, working day and night just to prove that Mr. Biya is alive. They have also indicated that Mr. Biya’s entourage might put the president’s still image on the screen while broadcasting a taped speech just to prove their point.

An inside source has also said that all tricks are on the table, adding that the secretary-general at the presidency and his men are capable of manufacturing anything just to prove their point.

“They may cut off power supply across the country so as to blame everything on the country’s energy corporation. They can even blame it on technical issues resulting from CRTV’s aging equipment. These people are capable of any and everything,”our source said, arguing that from what he has seen over the last two weeks at the Unity Palace, the country’s leaders cannot be trusted.

“They behave like mercenaries. You can never think that they are Cameroonians. They don’t love this country and they are certainly going to cause a more complicated civil war if power leaves their hands,” he lamented.

“Whatever they do, the truth will always come out. Nobody is eternal. The country does not belong to Mr. Biya and it will be preposterous for anyone to think that they can manipulate everybody, every time,” he stressed.

It should be recalled that the Betis have always felt that they must continue to govern the country. They hold that since the seat of government is in Yaoundé, they deserve to run the country’s political show.

Their strong desire to head the country even after Biya’s departure has already been manifested a few times through some of their actions. In 1992 when the Social Democratic Front chairman, John FruNdi, won the presidential election, the Beti Mafia did all it could to grant the victory to Mr. Biya who has continued to run the country as his personal estate. He has been using the institutions to his advantage and his method of choice has been the appointment of only those who are loyal to him, regardless of their ages.

This week’s establishment of the constitutional council and the appointment of its members through presidential decrees has caused the rumor mills to be very busy. The presidential decrees finally established a constitutional council provided for in the 1996 constitution and appointed members of the said council.

77-year-old Clement Atangana, a legal expert of Beti extraction, who has been on retirement for more than ten years, was appointed to head the constitutional council, while other very familiar faces were appointed as members of the same council in the same decree. It should be underscored that members of the constitutional council are members of the ruling party, the CPDM, and people who are personally loyal to the country’s president and his collaborators.

The appointment of these familiar faces underscores the fact that Mr. Biya is not yet ready to give Cameroonian youths a place in today’s Cameroon. Besides marginalizing youths, Mr. Biya is still pursuing his policy of Anglophone marginalization by appointing only Francophones to head major government institutions.

It should be underscored at this point that all heads of important structures in Cameroon are Francophones despite the ongoing Anglophone crisis which was triggered by the government’s marginalization of the country’s English-speaking minority.

As Mr. Biya’s entourage works hard to deceive the population, Cameroonians, for their part, are quietly looking forward to the annual youth day speech which will either confirm or disconfirm rumors that the head of state is no more.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde



N Korea’s leader invites South’s president for visit amid Olympic rapprochement

10, February 2018

N Korea’s leader invites South’s president for visit amid Olympic rapprochement 0

In a major diplomatic overture to Seoul, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, invites President Moon Jae-in of the South for a visit after senior officials of the two Koreas held rare top-level talks on the sidelines of Winter Olympics.

A spokesman for the presidential Blue House in Seoul said on Saturday that the invitation, delivered verbally by Kim’s visiting sister Kim Yo-jong, expressed the North Korean leader’s willing to meet Moon “at the earliest date possible.”

The South Korean president made a rare appearance in the North’s official media Saturday, with four pictures of him in the Rodong Sinmun state newspaper, AFP reported.

The announcement came after Moon hosted talks with high-ranking North Korean officials, including Kim Yong-nam, the North’s 90-year-old nominal head of state, and the younger sister of the North’s leader, along with other officials at the presidential Blue House in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in (3rd R) talks with Kim Yo-jong (2nd L), North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, and North Korea’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam (3rd L) during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on February 10, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

 

The talks, which took place after the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, mark the most significant diplomatic encounter between the two countries in years.

The elderly Kim is technically the highest-level Northern official ever to go to the South and the North Korean leader’s sister is the first member of the ruling Kim family to cross the border into the rival South since the end of the 1950 to 53 Korean War.

Bearing a smile, Moon shook hands with each of the delegates ahead of their talks at the presidential palace and as and television footage showed, the 28-year-old Kim was carrying a blue folder emblazoned with a seal.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with the ceremonial head of state of North Korea Kim Young-nam as Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, looks on at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, February 10, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

 

The South Korean president and the delegation from the North had their first face-to-face encounter at the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday and they cheered as athletes from the two neighbors entered the arena and marched under a unified peninsula flag.

Seoul hopes to use the games as an opportunity to restore regular communication with Pyongyang and resolve the standoff over its missile and nuclear programs.

Moon’s efforts received a boost when Kim called for improved ties in his New Year’s Day speech.

A delegation of US officials led by Vice President Mike Pence also attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.

Pence, who was seated in the same box, had no interaction with the North Koreans at any point, according to US officials, and the VP did not shake hands with Kim Yong-nam while making a brief appearance at a leaders’ reception ahead of the ceremony.

North Korea’s official KCNA news agency had earlier cited a senior Foreign Ministry official as saying that Pyongyang had “no intention” of meeting with Washington’s officials during the Winter Olympic Games.

The two neighbors have been separated by a heavily-militarized border since the end of Korean War.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula has been tense due to Pyongyang’s development of its nuclear and missile programs, which the North views as a deterrent against potential foreign aggression by the South’s allies, particularly the US.

North Korea has been the target of harsh international sanctions for its military program.

The tensions have seen a sharp rise under US President Donald Trump, who initiated a war of words with the North Korean leader after taking office in January 2017.

 

Source: Presstv


Cameroon’s army denies alleged atrocities in Southern Cameroons

10, February 2018

Cameroon’s army denies alleged atrocities in Southern Cameroons 0

The Cameroonian army on Friday denied its troops were responsible for alleged atrocities against separatists in English-speaking regions after unverified footage apparently involving soldiers was posted online.

“These accusations of atrocities are dreamt up. We are victims of disinformation and fake news,” army spokesperson Colonel Didier Badjeck told AFP, just days after the appearance of the latest of a string of grisly video clips.

None of the clips could be independently verified by AFP, with Badjeck insisting the army had “a culture of respect for human rights” and accusing the separatists of being “skilled at disinformation”.

Since October, troops have staged a crackdown targeting activists in Cameroon’s restive western regions where the English-speaking minority has staged protests against the government in this predominantly francophone country.

Dozens of people have died. Official figures, though, refer to the 23 police and soldiers killed but do not provide a detailed count for civilian or separatist casualties.

In the absence of any formal acknowledgement of the toll among separatists, eyewitness accounts of brutality against civilians have proliferated on social media and in parts of the press.

On Wednesday, the European Union condemned the violence in Cameroon, referring to the recent deaths of three members of the security forces and a number of civilians as “unacceptable” and calling on the police and army to exercise restraint.

“It remains crucial for the security forces to be proportionate in their use of force while carrying out their duties,” it said in a statement which followed similar condemnation from the US State Department a day earlier.

But the Cameroon army spokesperson said they were at risk of falling foul of a campaign of disinformation.

“It’s important that the bodies with which we maintain good relations don’t just listen to one side,” he said.

 ‘We are harassed’ 

Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest Regions are home to an anglophone minority that accounts for about a fifth of the country’s population and which has long complained of discrimination at the hands of the French-speaking majority.

In October, separatists issued a symbolic declaration of independence for the putative state of Ambazonia, prompting a crackdown by a government firmly opposed to secession.

Anglophone separatists have responded by escalating their own operations against state institutions. The spiralling violence has forced an estimated 30 000 Cameroonians to flee to neighbouring Nigeria.

Badjeck said a soldier had died on Thursday after being stabbed in the eye with a knife in the main western town of Bamenda, with his death raising the toll among the police and security forces to 23.

“Our soldiers are struck down every day. We are harassed. It may happen that there are reactions on the ground, that a soldier loses his self-control. But it hasn’t happened yet,” he said.

And last weekend, at least four civilians were shot dead by troops during several incidents in the Northwest Region, witnesses said. One told AFP that men “in military uniform came and started smashing up houses.”

Source: AFP


Roman Catholic Church says Ambazonian crisis worsens poverty in Nigeria

9, February 2018

Roman Catholic Church says Ambazonian crisis worsens poverty in Nigeria 0

The Catholic Church in Nigeria says the continued influx of Cameroon refugees into Nigeria’s Cross River State was worsening the poverty situation in host communities.

According to Caritas Nigeria, a wing of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), poor communities were suffering from the burden of hosting fleeing Cameroonians.

Head of Caritas Nigeria, Rev. Fr Evaristus Bassey, in a press statement said the Anglophone crisis in south and northwest Cameroon was beyond the political and security parameters, posing a huge humanitarian condition.

“While Caritas Nigeria has carried out assessments in Cross River State where the refugees have the largest concentration, it is seeking for guidance on other areas where the refugees are located to make necessary assessments in the state.

“The assessment revealed that the Cameroonian refugees in Cross Rivers State were mostly based in the communities within Nigeria that are sharing borders with Cameroon.

“Most refugees lived within host communities with relatives or in abandoned government quarters or uncompleted buildings or any available open space.

“They have been dependent on the generosity of their also impoverished host communities for food and clothing as most of them fled for their lives with only the clothes they had on.”

The United Nations refugee body, UNHCR, has reported that persons fleeing the security situation in Cameroon were virtually entering Nigeria with little or nothing. They have been offering immediate relief as they continue efforts at registering them.

Back in Cameroon, the Ambazonia group continues its face – off with security forces. Over 20 security personnel – soldiers, police, gendarmes, have so far been killed. President Biya has declared war against the separatists seeking to breakaway from the French – majority Cameroon.

Calls for effective and sincere dialogue has been made severally. Biya hinted that he supported dialogue but no concrete efforts have materialized in that area. A known separatist leader, Julius Ayuk Tabe and over 40 others were recently deported from Nigeria to Yoaunde.

 

Source: Africa News


Ambazonia Liberation: Lack of vision and a sense of history will make the Reboot Conference to fail

9, February 2018

Ambazonia Liberation: Lack of vision and a sense of history will make the Reboot Conference to fail 0

Cameroon Concord News Group consistently advised the conveners of the so-called Reboot Conference to approach and work with the Interim Government if it intended to have legitimacy. Mistaking angry rhetoric, demagogy and self-importance for liberation strategy, they ignored the advice. The claim to power by some of the organizers is predicated on their longevity in the Ambazonia quest for freedom. This claim is based on a false reading of the history of the Ambazonia liberation struggle.

The Lawyers and teachers who took the struggle to the next level which has compelled the world at long last to start paying attention to the Ambazonia cause were not members of any of the platforms on which these individuals are relying on to justify their claims to leadership of the struggle. These individuals were taken off guard when the lawyers and teachers revolution occurred and transmuted to the Ambazonia freedom revolution, suggesting that the platforms and methods they provided were faulty; short sighted or simply lacked the humbling visionary ideology to rally the people towards reclaiming our independence.

Cameroon Concord News is therefore surprised that the so-called reboot conference is intending to reinvent the wheels of the Ambazonia liberation struggle by attempting to drag Ambazonia back to the divisive and visionless politics of self-fulfillment that stifled the cause for a sizeable period of our fifty-six years enslavement. Over a period of several years, these individuals solicited and obtained contributions from Ambazonians without accountability. None of them has contributed to the thousands of Ambazonian refugees in Nigeria nor have any of their appeals for funds targeted the welfare of the refugees.  Some of them spend time issuing threats to Ambazonians who have questioned their motives and their methods.

The involvement of CRTV journalists in the reboot conference poses serious problems. Can they be relied on to lead this struggle?

Cameroon Concord News Group requested to know the objectives of the so-called reboot conference, but their objectives are fuzzy. Coming at a time when Ambazonians have placed three critical issues on the agenda of our liberation struggle, the reboot conference as Cho Ayaba has stated in an audio message through a proxy, is to delegitimize the Interim Government and to validate their old wine in new skins which personalized power over the years.   Absent from their agenda are a clear strategy on how to defend our homeland, our refugee crisis, the liberation of our President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, members of the interim government, Mancho Bibixy and thousands of our citizens in captivity. Also absent is a credible diplomatic roadmap taking into consideration the sub-regional and international dynamics of our struggle and strategic interests.

The conveners of the reboot conference are strange bed fellows united by their search for power, access to contributions from Ambazonians and the delegitimization of the Interim Government.  The reboot conference may signal the last time the conveners agree on any credible strategy on how to prosecute our liberation struggle. Boh Hebert vehemently opposes the military solution, while Cho Ayaba and Akwanga support it. None of them has the credential or the means to conduct viable diplomacy. They lack the temperament and tack to venture in that field. So therefore, what will unite them after the conference? How will the conference resolutions be implemented?

The attention of the international community is turned towards the President and members in captivity that they recognize as the legitimate leaders of Ambazonia. The reboot conference cannot and will not reinvent new leaders acceptable to the international community outside the Interim Government. The abduction of the president and members of the interim government by a joint force of Nigeria and French Cameroon has greatly legitimized the interim government and its leaders in captivity. The involvement of Nigeria has internationalized the Ambazonia cause.  While they are in captivity, a dissident group of individuals cannot replace them, or even take away the focus from them. The abduction in Nigeria is a serious international matter and places Nigeria as a key factor in the Ambazonia crisis.

No one in the international community will seek out for Boh Hebert, Ayaba, Akwanga, John Mbah Akuro as credible interlocutors in the Ambazonia crisis. The international community rally around the abductions and the request to free our leaders to de-escalate the conflict for an all embracing dialogue to occur.  Had the reboot conference conveners been intelligent enough to read the international mood, they would have moved to work with the Interim Government to own the focus on putting pressure on Nigeria over the abductions, its support for the genocide in Ambazonia, the refugee crisis and the war efforts to defend and free our land.

The abduction of our leaders and the refugee crisis are already at the international domain and key world powers and the UN are already on the files. The war crimes and genocide in our homeland are already being condemned. If the reboot conference conveners think that they can pit one issue, armed resistance, and funding to attain it and hope to attract enough world support for our cause, them they need to go back to school and study strategic diplomacy and world politics. The refugee problems are a critical issue that quickly invites United Nations and world intervention in crisis. That too will put pressure on Nigeria and the abduction will hasten the focus and intervention.

Self defense and its funding which seems to be the focus of the reboot conference is a laudable objective. But the question is what unites Boh Hebert, Akwanga, Cho Ayaba and John Mbah Akuro around this objective? What? Cameroon Concord News begs to ask. Cameroon Concord News strongly advises the conveners of the reboot conference to urgently engage in a discussion with the Acting President and the Interim Government with a view to restructuring the Interim Government to accommodate them so that an inclusive conference can be called to move our struggle energetically and with a respectable visionary focus.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman, Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group


White House warns of another US government shutdown as spending bill stalls in Senate

9, February 2018

White House warns of another US government shutdown as spending bill stalls in Senate 0

The White House has warned that the US government faces a second shutdown in three weeks as Congress encounters obstacles to pass a temporary spending bill before midnight.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget “is currently preparing for a lapse in appropriations,” an OMB official said Thursday, calling on lawmakers to get the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk “without delay.”

With just hours to go before current federal funding expires, the effort stalled in the Senate when one lawmaker blocked a quick vote on the compromise bill in the upper chamber of Congress.

The legislation, which extends government funding for six weeks and raises the federal debt ceiling, would break the cycle of government funding crises.

Republicans and Democrats agreed Wednesday on a two-year deal to increase government spending. But the bill hit a stumbling block after Senator Rand Paul refused to allow the Senate to act expeditiously to pass the spending measure.

Moving legislation swiftly through the Senate requires consent by all 100 members, but Paul objected.

The legislation is expected to increase the bulging federal deficit which is estimated to be around $440 billion for fiscal year 2018.

“I can’t in all good honesty and all good faith just look the other way because my party is now complicit in the deficits,” Paul said.

If the Republican senator from Kentucky stands his ground, congressional rules dictate that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can declare a new session at midnight Friday, then hold a procedural vote on the spending bill one hour into the new day. A final vote would follow.

If passed, the bill would then head to the House of Representatives. If it passes, it would be sent to the White House for a signature by Trump, who supports the measure.

But the deal’s fate in the lower chamber is far from certain. Fiscal conservatives in the House may join with Paul in balking at adding billions of dollars to the national debt two months after passing a $1.5 trillion tax cut package.

The US government shut down for two days last month after a failure to pass legislation to fund government operations and agencies.

There have been four government shutdowns between 1990 and 2017. In 2013, government funding lapsed for 16 full days and more than 800,000 government workers were put on temporary leave.

 

Source: Presstv


France to spend $33bn on upgrading nukes to meet NATO commitments

9, February 2018

France to spend $33bn on upgrading nukes to meet NATO commitments 0

France is planning to spend $33 billion (€27bn) to upgrade its arsenal of nuclear weapons as part of a massive $370 billion (€300bn) military spending over the next few years to meet the NATO military alliance’s requirements, the French defense chief has announced.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, French Defense Minister Florence Parly said Paris wanted to increase its military budget so that it can “hold its own” as a key power in Europe.

“The government’s goal is twofold: reach the target of spending two percent of GDP on defense by 2025, while also ensuring we manage our public finances,” Parly said.

France spends $42 billion (€34bn) or 1.8 percent of its GDP for military purposes, slightly less than the two-percent threshold set by NATO.

Under the new plan, President Emmanuel Macron’s government increases overall spending by $2 billion (€1.7bn) a year starting from 2019 until 2022, when it will reach $53 billion (€44bn). Then the budget would be bumped up by $3.6 billion (€3bn) a year between 2023 and 2025.

By then, Paris is supposed to have completed the expensive revamp of its nuclear arsenal, with work on a third-generation nuclear submarine program and a new generation of airborne nuclear missiles already underway today.

“We are going to make up for past shortfalls and build a modern, sustainable, protective army” that would allow France “to hold its own,” said Parly.

French military forces are currently deployed to West Africa on a declared mission to fight militant groups.

The country is also a main contributor to a US-led coalition that has been targeting alleged terrorist positions in Iraq and Syria since 2015.

The years-long operations have put strain on France’s military forces and equipment.

With thousands of troops overseas, the new program allows the defense department to perform a host of upgrades on equipment, from bullet-proof vests to combat uniforms.

There will also be a 34-percent increase in spending on “modernizing weaponry,” which includes buying new Scorpion armored vehicles, four Barracuda attack submarines and three multi-mission frigates, as well as a new fleet of Griffon multi-role armored vehicles.

There are also plans to develop new spy satellites, light surveillance aircraft, new Rafale fighter jets and armed drones. Air tankers are also on the long list of upgrades.

The development is a major reversal in France’s military strategy over the past years and is expected to please US President Donald Trump, who has put NATO allies under pressure to increase their military budgets.

 

Source: Presstv


Yaounde: Beti Mafia Sets Power Grab Machine into Action

8, February 2018

Yaounde: Beti Mafia Sets Power Grab Machine into Action 0

For over thirty years, Cameroon has been ruled by the Betis, an ethnic group that is mainly found in the centre and south regions of the country and which only accounts for less than 10% of the country’s population. The country’s president, Paul Biya, who many suspect is dead, hails from the south region. Over the last three decades, Mr. Biya has used people from the Beti clan to consolidate his grip on power, something that has attracted a lot of flak from other ethnic groups in the country.

Out of thirty army generals in the country, eighteen are Beti while Anglophones who constitute more than 20% of the country’s population account for just two of the army generals. Out of thirty-four state-owned corporations, Betis head 21 of those corporations while one Anglophone is heading one of the state-own corporations.

Many ministries in Yaoundé are actually being run by Betis even when the minister is not from the Beti ethnic group. Each time a non-Beti is appointed as a minister; there is always a Beti to occupy the post of secretary-General with strict instructions to monitor the minister and his activities. This has given the people of the Centre and South regions a false sense that the country actually belongs to them and that even after Biya, they must continue to rule the country. Our source in Yaoundé pointed out that this is creating a lot of frustration in many ministries and people from other ethnic groups are scared to speak up as they could be dismissed from the civil service.

According to our source in Yaoundé, a Beti himself who disagrees with the way the country has been mismanaged over the last thirty years, the Betis feel that they must continue to govern the country for a long time. He added that since the seat of government is in Yaoundé, the Betis strongly think that they can always manipulate things so as to stay in power.

Their strong desire to head the country even after Biya’s departure has already been manifested a few times through some of their actions. In 1992 when the Social Democratic Front chairman, John Fru Ndi, won the presidential election, the Beti Mafia did all it could to grant the victory to Mr. Biya who has continued to run the country as his personal plantation. He has been using the institutions to his advantage and his method of choice has been the appointment of only those who are loyal to him, regardless of their ages.

Conscious of the fact that Mr. Biya might not be recovering from his illness, the Beti Mafia has resorted to faking Mr. Biya’s signature just to implement its hidden agenda. Over the last three weeks, there have been speculations about the whereabouts of Mr. Biya, who many hold is either bedridden or dead.

Yesterday’s establishment of the constitutional council and the appointment of its members have triggered a wave of speculation and controversy. The presidential decrees establishing the constitutional council provided for in the 1996 constitution and the appointment of members of the said council are in line with the grand scheme that the Beti Mafia has in mind.

It is therefore not an accident that Mr. Clement Atangana, a legal expert of Beti extraction, who has been on retirement for more than ten years, has been  appointed to head the constitutional council. The 77-year-old Atangana was a member of the constitutional court that looked into many election-related disputes in Cameroon since 1992 and he always rejected any appeals made by Cameroon’s opposition parties during his time at the constitutional court.

Mr. Atangana will be the only person who can declare that there is a vacancy at the presidency given his position as the head of the constitutional council; something he will not be doing anytime soon, as the Beti Mafia has him under its thumb.

The Mafia is preparing to keep the news about Mr. Biya’s deteriorating health under wraps until after the March 25 senatorial elections when the current senate president, Marcel Nyat Njifenji, will be out of the picture since his term will no longer be renewed and there are no plans for him to be reappointed by those who are in control of the country’s affairs. The Beti Mafia is hoping that the elections will enable it to have one of its own as the next senate president and someone who will very likely succeed the dying Biya.

Under the country’s current constitution, the constitutional successor is the president of the senate, Marcel Nyat Njifenji, himself 83 years old and a collapsing figure who has been involved in the corruption and mismanagement that have become the country’s hallmark.

Many Cameroonians hold that if the country has to change significantly, figures like the senate president and national assembly speaker have to disappear from the political scene.

The other very old faces that were appointed alongside Mr. Atangana as members of the same council are also members of the ruling party. Ms. Florence Arrey, 69,  the only woman on the Council, has been a senior supreme court judge for years and has for decades been the mistress of Mr. Laurent Esso, the country’s justice minister who is a Biya pawn.

Mr. Esso and Ms. Florence Arrey have three children and Mr. Esso has been protecting Ms. Arrey who is supposed to be on retirement, but is still receiving her civil salary; something which makes many Cameroonians to hold that the country is being ruled by mercenaries and that the ruling CPDM is a crime syndicate.

Ms. Arrey also received her Cameroon civil service salary even when she was working at the International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, for years and has never been questioned by the government for engaging in such fraudulent activities.  It should be noted that Members of the council are all members of the ruling CPDM and people who are personally loyal to the country’s president and his collaborators.

The appointment of these old and retired Cameroonians underscores the fact that Mr. Biya is not yet ready to give Cameroonian youths a place in today’s Cameroon. Besides marginalizing youths, Mr. Biya is still pursuing his policy of Anglophone marginalization by appointing only Francophones to head major government institutions. It should be underscored, at this point, that all heads of important institutions in Cameroon are Francophones despite the ongoing Anglophone crisis which has been triggered by the government’s marginalization of the country’s English-speaking minority.

But for Southern Cameroonians who are sick and tired of the gimmicks of the Yaounde government, Mr. Biya’s succession is the least of their concerns. Southern Cameroonians are still fighting for their secession and they are hell-bent on quitting a marriage that has brought them more pain than gain. There has been serious fighting in many towns in the Southwest region of the country, with many young men being killed in cold blood by army soldiers. Our sources say some of the young men killed had nothing to do with the rebellion that is unfolding in the English-speaking regions of the country.

It should be recalled that some towns such as Kwakwa in the Southwest region have been erased from the country’s map as army soldiers have burnt all the houses and sent everybody into exile. Currently, Mbonge in the same region is being attacked by army soldiers who are killing and maiming any young men they find in the town.

Despite the killings in Southern Cameroons, the government has decided to be indifferent to the plight of the civilian population and has opted for violent military action as the best way out of the conflict, though results on the ground indicate that dialogue will be a much better option than military action.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has been going on now for more than 15 months and the government do not seem to be disturbed that a section of the country is in crisis. Despite appeals by the international community for a peaceful and negotiated agreement, Mr. Biya has remained adamant.

A source at the presidency has indicated that Mr. Biya only listens to himself, adding that all his collaborators are scared of him and cannot even advise him on the right steps to take. Many of his collaborators, our source stressed, have all compromised themselves one way or the other and are dead scared that any doubts in Mr. Biya’s mind about their loyalty might lead them to the Yaoundé central prison where some of Mr. Biya’s former collaborators are languishing.

It is believed that more than three hundred soldiers have been killed during the military campaign and some five hundred civilians have been killed by army soldiers, most of whom are Betis sent to erase Anglophone towns and villages from the country’s map.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaoundé with intelligence files from Pierre Onana


Biya regime’s crackdown is increasing support for a growing number of armed groups bent on secession

8, February 2018

Biya regime’s crackdown is increasing support for a growing number of armed groups bent on secession 0

Daniel was in his home in the village of Bole in Southwest Cameroon on Feb. 2 when he heard gunfire and a commotion. Moments later, his house was ablaze, flames licking the walls.

Despite the fire, Daniel dared not leave. Outside, dozens of Cameroonian soldiers charged with putting down a separatist insurgency had descended from trucks, opened fire on fleeing residents and set buildings alight, he said. Daniel’s brother Ekoda, who was outside the house, said he saw seven dead bodies.

Army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said claims that houses were burned and people shot in Bole last week were “totally false”, and he denied that soldiers were mistreating residents in other villages detailed in this story.

“We are sure that the soldiers are respecting human rights. If we don’t do that we are very foolish,” Badjeck told Reuters by telephone, adding that any misconduct by soldiers is dealt with strongly. “If you want success, you have to have the population on side.”

A government spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. The Bole raid, corroborated by other witnesses, echoes near identical operations by the army in villages across Southwest Cameroon.

The accounts shed new light on the fast deteriorating security situation in Anglophone Cameroon and on the tactics used by the military to quell a growing secessionist movement that has killed 22 soldiers and policemen in a campaign to split Cameroon’s English-speaking minority from Yaounde.

The fighting has become a threat to President Paul Biya’s longstanding rule and to stability in the oil- and cocoa-producing Central African country where presidential elections are scheduled for October.

There are about five million Anglophones in Cameroon, a nation of 24 million. Most of Cameroon’s oil is found off the coast of the Anglophone region, according to the International Crisis Group.

Interviews with a dozen residents and separatist leaders in the English-speaking Southwest and Northwest regions reveal another worrying trend for Biya: the crackdown is increasing support for a growing number of armed groups bent on secession.

“They are fighting against us because they don’t want us to separate from them, but we have already made up our minds,” said Daniel, who spoke from his bed in a nearby hospital, medical gauze covering his left arm, his face charred. Daniel escaped the burning house when the soldiers left, but not before suffering severe burns.

Daniel, like most residents quoted in this story, asked that his full name not be used for fear of reprisals.

ATTACKING WHOLESALE

There have been secessionists ever since Anglophone Cameroon gained independence from Britain in 1961 and voted to join in a federation with neighboring Francophone Cameroon, which had won independence from France a year earlier.

French-speaking politicians held sway in government and the promise of equality for Anglophones faded. They were forced to drive on the right hand side of the road, adopt the metric system and take on the CFA franc currency.

In 1972 President Ahmadou Ahidjo declared an end to federalism, erasing regional autonomy completely. His successor, Paul Biya, centralized things further when he came to power in 1982. He removed the second star from the national flag which represented the Anglophone regions.

 The separatist movement remained on the political fringe for decades until late 2016, when English-speaking lawyers and teachers protested peacefully against having to work in French.

The government cracked down hard and civilians were killed in clashes with police. The crowds grew in response, and so did the violence. In October 2017, more than 20 were killed during marches, according to Amnesty international. The military fired live rounds on protesters from helicopter gunships.

By mid-2017, many who had previously wanted just a return to federalism were calling for secession. At marches, protesters waved the blue and white flag of Ambazonia – the separatists’ proposed new state. An armed group called the Ambazonian Defence Force began attacking government soldiers in Anglophone regions.

“In 2016, people were calling for non-violence, and it was the same for most of 2017. But in 2018, people no longer see that rhetoric as holding water. They have to defend themselves,” said Tapang Ivo Tanku, an Anglophone activist based in the United States.

The formal secessionist leadership, known as the Government of Ambazonia, has distanced itself from attacks on soldiers. Its leader, Ayuk Tabe, was arrested last month in Nigeria and was deported to Yaounde. It was a symbolic blow to the movement, and Nigeria’s cooperation with Younde worries some separatists.

But even supporters say the Ambazonian government risks irrelevance as the separatist movement takes on a life of its own.

The ADF has been joined by newer armed groups made up mostly of young men. The Vipers has claimed responsibility for burning government buildings. The Manyu Tigers says its ranks are growing and it has carried out attacks on military checkpoints.

 “There are hundreds of us, but we are aiming for 2,000-3,000. We want to start attacking wholesale,” said the group’s financial director, Ambe Simon, in a telephone interview. “We are receiving money from all over the world. We have $50,000 at the moment. We are getting weapons from the black market.”

“IN A WAR”

Faced with this threat, the Cameroonian military in December fanned out into the villages among the cocoa farms and forests near the Nigerian border that have become the separatists’ stronghold.

More than 40,000 have since fled to Nigeria, according to the United Nations, and most villages are deserted. Communications are slow in the rural areas and the internet is frequently shut off, but interviews with residents reveal what they were fleeing from.

Residents of Kembong in southwest Cameroon call Dec. 18 “the day of misfortune”, when troops in search of rebels came to the town. An 81-year-old man, James Oben Ndi, had to flee after his house was burned down.

“All my effects were in that house. There was my daughter’s sewing machine, her clothes. Our whole life was in that house,” he told Reuters during an interview in a church in a nearby town where he has sought shelter.

On Jan. 14, soldiers entered the village of KwaKwa, a few kilometers from Bole, looking for information about a soldier killed there. Villagers fled to nearby cocoa farms as the soldiers opened fire.

A resident named Alex returned under cover of darkness the following evening to assess the damage: most of KwaKwa’s wooden houses were burned to ash and dead bodies lay in the street.

He helped bury more than ten bodies behind a burned-out house. His account was corroborated by two other residents.

 “Everybody was running in all directions,” Alex said in a telephone interview. “Things are not going well. We are in a war.”
Source: Reuters



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