19, October 2023

“Genocides are on-going in Southern Cameroons” ⁰

Professor Carlson Anyangwe has slammed the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé for its continued war crimes in Southern Cameroons.

The renowned academic told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the international community continues to ignore the killings in Southern Cameroons and that no world power has suspended foreign relations with the criminal regime in Yaoundé.

Elsewhere in his conversation with CIR, he likened the Biya Francophone regime to “Nazis” due to their brutal aggression in Southern Cameroons.

Since the start of the Ambazonia crisis, Professor Carlson Anyangwe has voiced his support for the Ambazonia Interim Government and has been helping Vice President Dabney Yerima on strategy formulation and implementation.

Anyangwe has repeatedly said La Republique du Cameroun must cease its systematic attacks on Southern Cameroons civilians and has urged the US government and its European allies to condemn French Cameroun crimes in British Southern Cameroons.

By Chi Prudence Asong

18, October 2023

Football: Neymar has torn knee ligament, facing surgery ⁰

Football superstar Neymar has a torn ligament and meniscus in his left knee and will have to undergo surgery after being injured during Brazil’s 2-0 loss to Uruguay, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said Wednesday.

The 31-year-old, who joined Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain in August, was stretchered off in tears just before halftime in Brazil’s 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Montevideo Tuesday.

Neymar will undergo surgery for the injuries at a “yet-to-be-determined date,” the CBF said, after a series of medical exams on the player in Sao Paulo.

“Brazilian and world football need Neymar healthy and recovered, because football is happier when he’s on the pitch,” CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement.

The CBF said its medical department and Al Hilal are in “constant contact” and “aligned” on helping the striker recover.

Neymar, who overtook Pele as Brazil’s all-time top goal scorer last month, twisted his knee in a collision with Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz in stoppage time near the end of the first half.

Carried off on a stretcher, he left the stadium on crutches and wearing a leg brace after the match.

It is the latest in a string of injuries for the star, who underwent surgery in March for an ankle problem that sidelined him for six months.

Fitness problems overshadowed much of his six seasons at PSG, which signed him for a world-record $234 million (222 million euros) in 2017.

He signed for Al Hilal for a reported $95 million in August.

Knee injuries are among the most common — and serious — in football.

The CBF said Neymar’s injury was to his anterior cruciate ligament, one of the worst of all.

Surgery to repair the condition often takes players out of action for months.

Source: AFP

18, October 2023

Turkey to declare three days of mourning over Gaza hospital strike ⁰

Turkey will declare three days’ mourning over a deadly strike on a hospital in war-torn Gaza that killed hundreds, a Turkish official told AFP on Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, has accused Israel of “striking a hospital sheltering women, children and innocent civilians” and urged the world to stop the tragedy in Gaza.

“Turkey will declare three days national mourning,” the official, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.

Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.

Source: France 24

18, October 2023

Israel to allow aid into Gaza via Egypt, PM office says ⁰

Israel would let aid enter Gaza via Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Wednesday, saying only “food, water and medicine” would be allowed into the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Humanitarian supplies will not be able to enter the enclave from the Israeli side of the border.

“In light of (US) President (Joe) Biden’s demand, Israel would not foil the supply of humanitarian aid via Egypt,” the prime minister’s office said, announcing a cabinet decision.

The statement noted that aid to civilians in the southern Gaza Strip would be allowed “so long as these supplies do not reach Hamas”, which rules Gaza.

Source: France 24

18, October 2023

The flow of Chinese investment in Cameroon is expected to strengthen ⁰

The Cameroonian Ministry of Finance issued a note Tuesday informing of the signing of a new cooperation deal with China. The document, signed as part of a visit by Minister Louis Paul Motazé to Beijing, aims to “eliminate double taxation on income and prevent tax evasion and avoidance.”

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), double taxation, recognized as a barrier to trade and investment between countries, “arises when comparable taxes are imposed in two or more states on the same taxpayer in respect of the same taxable income or capital, e.g. where income is taxable in the source country and the country of residence of the recipient of such income.” To avoid this practice, which experts believe hampers international trade, cross-border investment, and the movement of people, states generally signs tax treaties.

National Development Strategy 2020-30

The Ministry of Finance revealed that the new agreement between Cameroon and China is the fruit of “a long negotiation process that began in 2013”. It marks “a decisive step in the implementation of the National Development Strategy 2020-30 (SND30) and towards the emergence of our country by 2035″. “Since China is one of Cameroon’s leading economic and trade partners, it was necessary to negotiate a tax agreement to remove tax obstacles to trade between the two countries, in particular the double taxation of companies operating in both countries,” the ministry explained.

Over the past two decades, China has become Cameroon’s leading customer (25.8% market share in 2021, according to the INS) and supplier (17.5% market share in 2020) as well as a leading investor. According to data contained in the 2021 World Investment Report published by UNCTAD, the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) captured by Cameroon between 2000 and 2020 is estimated at $9,026 million (CFA 5,434.3 billion), mainly thanks to China. “Between 2000 and 2014, Cameroon captured CFA 2,750 billion in foreign direct investment, including CFA 1,850 billion from China. This represents around 67% of FDI entering Cameroon”, points out a document from the Presidency of the Republic, citing UNCTAD data.

The Cameroonian government seeks through the new agreement with China to further enhance the existing level of economic cooperation with the Asian country. “This agreement will undoubtedly boost trade between Cameroon and China, and attract even more Chinese investment to Cameroon,” the Finance Ministry said.

New mining projects in the pipeline?

The signing of this tax agreement occurs at a time when the Cameroonian government is embarking on several mineral exploitation projects, many of which are of significant interest to China. One such project is the Mbalam-Nabeba mining project, a world-class iron ore deposit spanning Cameroon and Congo.

Cameroon has chosen Bestway Finance, an investment vehicle allied with China’s AustSino, to build the railroad that will make the deposit exploitable. The license to mine the deposit was awarded on August 17, 2022, to Cameroon Mining Company, also linked to Bestway Finance, which recently announced agreements with at least four Chinese companies for the project. At the Lobé iron ore deposit in Kribi, in the southern region of Cameroon, China’s Sinosteel was awarded the operating license signed on July 1, 2022.

By inking this agreement with China, Cameroon now has 15 double taxation treaties and two global multilateral agreements. On a bilateral basis, these include agreements signed with France (1976), Canada (1988), Switzerland (1990), Tunisia (1999), Morocco (2012), South Africa (2015), the United Arab Emirates (2017), Germany (2017), the Czech Republic (2023) and the six Cemac member countries. However, these agreements do not always guarantee an increase in FDI for Cameroon. For example, despite signing the agreement with the United Arab Emirates in 2017, the first investment from that country has yet to materialize.

Source: Business in Cameroon

17, October 2023

Yaoundé: National Assembly Speaker heads to France to die ⁰

Cavaye Yegue Djibril, Cameroon’s Speaker of the National Assembly, heads to France for treatment for multiple organ failure.

The speaker’s health is failing very fast and there is no hospital in Cameroon which can help the man who has helped to reduce the country to a living hell for many in Cameroon.

The government he has served for almost 60 years has not built any world-class hospital in Cameroon in decades and their recklessness is now catching up with them.

Like the Senate President, the House Speaker’s health is a major issue and many attribute it to years of alcohol and cigarette abuse.

It has been reported that Cavaye drinks dry gin in his office and he drinks directly from the bottle as if he is drinking water.

Sources close to the Speaker say he has respiratory track problems, diabetes and his heart is also threatening to fail if the old and desperate speaker does not change his ways.

Family members who are already tired of Cavaye’s social chaos and chronic alcoholism say he is a colony of diseases which may yield to the cold and waiting hands of death if something is not done and fast too.

More will be yours as our correspondence in Paris monitors the situation.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

17, October 2023

Soon and very soon Biya will be gone as victory belongs to Ambazonians ⁰

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government (IG) has said that French Cameroun will be gone soon and very soon and the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will be victorious in the final battle to liberate the Southern Cameroons homeland.

“La Republique and its consortium of criminal gangs headed by Mr Paul Biya are collapsing day-by-day,” Vice President Dabney Yerima added in a Monday meeting with members of the IG amid Yaounde’s raids on Southern Cameroons villages.

Yerima hailed the recent ghost town operation that shutdown the entire Southern Cameroons territory, saying that the people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia are moving ahead on the right path toward getting to Buea.

Dabney Yerima emphasized that the IG stands by the oppressed Ambazonia people in Ground Zero and would continue its support for all Amba fighters and restoration forces.

He also encouraged Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces to resist with all their might, saying the Amba fighters who were deceived by the so-called disarmament commission are languishing in abject poverty and suffering in Francophone controlled detention centers.

More than 4000 Southern Cameroonians have been killed and thousands displaced as the Biya Francophone regime presses ahead with its military campaign against separatist forces.

By Isong Asu

17, October 2023

Russian leader Vladimir Putin arrives in China to meet Xi Jinping ⁰

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Tuesday to meet his “dear friend” Xi Jinping, bolstering their relationship at a summit that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.

China this week welcomes representatives of 130 countries for a forum of President Xi’s landmark project, the Belt and Road Initiative, that Beijing is using to extend its global influence.

Putin is at the top of the invitation list, with the Russian leader on his first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion threw his regime into international isolation.

His plane landed in China just before 09:30 am, an AFP journalist on the tarmac saw.

He is due to meet Xi for talks on Wednesday, the Kremlin said.

Source: AFP

17, October 2023

President Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday ⁰

US President Joe Biden will pay a solidarity visit to Israel on Wednesday following the Hamas attacks, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also announced that Israel had agreed to work on civilian aid for Gaza.

Blinken spoke after meeting for nearly eight hours at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the top US diplomat’s second visit since the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

“The president will reaffirm United States solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security,” Blinken said early Tuesday in Tel Aviv.

“Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks,” Blinken said.

Biden “will hear from Israel what it needs to defend his people as we continue to work with Congress to meet those needs,” he said.

Biden will visit Tel Aviv, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington. He also announced that Biden would travel to Jordan where he would meet Jordanian King Abdullah II, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Blinken said that the United States also secured assurances from Israel on working to bring foreign assistance into the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip as Israel prepares a ground offensive against the Hamas-ruled territory.

US officials said that a new US coordinator on humanitarian aid, David Satterfield, would work with Israel to develop more concrete plans.

Biden hopes to “hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hama,” Blinken said.

“At our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza,” Blinken said.

He said the two sides were discussing the “possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way.”

“We welcome the government of Israel’s commitment to work on this plan. The president very much looks forward to discussing it further when he’s here on Wednesday,” he said.

Biden has vowed unwavering solidarity with Israel after suffering the worst attack in its 75-year history. But he also has voiced concern about more severe proposals that could impact civilians in Gaza and earlier pressed Israel to reverse a decision to shut off water supply.

“We share Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid going entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it,” Blinken said.

“If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian aid from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it and we will work to prevent it from happening again.”

Source: AFP

16, October 2023

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Over 875 persons forced to flee Akwaya ⁰

The situation is deteriorating in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon, where separatists are demanding independence.

Armed clashes, targeted attacks resulting in killings, armed extortion, and arbitrary arrests are frequently reported.

In Akwaya subdivision of the Manyu region, over 875 persons have been forced to flee due to targeted attacks by non-State armed groups (NSAGs).

During those attacks, NSAGs killed four people, injured 25 others, and burned 33 houses and seven motorbikes.

The population in local villages and in most of the villages in Akwaya subdivision have fled either to villages in neighbouring Nigeria, to Mamfe or to nearby bushes due to the attack and continuous threats.

Increasing security incidents and blockages of major roads in the North-West caused delays or prevented the delivery of life-saving assistance.

“This also limited the mobility of aid workers and deprived some vulnerable communities of humanitarian assistance,” said a humanitarian spokesperson.

A new wave of acts of violence against humanitarian workers negatively impacted the humanitarian response, especially in the North-West.

In the Donga-Mantung division, international NGO staff returning from a field mission were stopped at an NSAG checkpoint and requested to pay for their safe return.

They were released without payment after access negotiations.

In addition, in the South-West, several enumerators collecting data for a multi-sector needs assessment were held by NSAGs for several hours before being released.

The NSAGs claimed that they were not informed about the activity.

Attacks on education continued as the educational community prepared for school resumption in early September.

The previous month, some NSAGs factions announced a lockdown to disrupt the back-to-school preparations.

Attacks on education in the North-West and South-West regions continue to deprive hundreds of thousands of children of their right to education.

Besides the siege by pro-English separatists, Cameroon is beset by an insurgency by the Islamist Boko Haram from neighbouring Nigeria.

Source: CAJ News