24, December 2022

VP Yerima says Ambazonians confronting an enemy that only understands language of force ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has condemned the continued detention of Antoinette Kongnso one year after a Southern Cameroons court decision granted her including her 14-month-old baby born in detention bail. She was a former girlfriend of Mbashie Clement the dreaded Ambazonian fighter known as ‘General No Pity’.

Cameroon Concord News understands Antoinette Kongnso was arrested without a warrant on October 2, 2021 in Buea after Francophone army soldiers raided several areas in the South West regional capital. Commenting on the matter, Vice President Dabney Yerima stressed that the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime only understands the language of force.

Yerima stated that the ruling French Cameroun criminal administration led by President Biya is seeking to hide its 40 years of successful failure by means of shedding the blood of ordinary Southern Cameroonians.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader added that the barbaric crimes of the French Cameroun regime will never undermine the determination of Ambazonian resistance fighters in Ground Zero and Ground One. On the contrary, it shows that the spirit of resistance runs high among all Southern Cameroonians.

Vice President Dabney Yerima also called on all Southern Cameroonians to preserve Ambazonian unity and tighten the noose around French Cameroun occupational forces.

By Asu Isong

London Bureau Chief

23, December 2022

Football: French World Cup winner Matuidi retires ⁰

Blaise Matuidi, a World Cup winner with France in 2018, said on Friday he is retiring, a year after he last played.

The 35-year-old, who started the World Cup final win over Croatia in Russia four years ago, had been omitted from Inter Miami’s squad for this season.

Midfielder Matuidi won Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain and Serie A with Juventus after spending time with Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.

He made 84 international appearances, scoring nine times before his final Les Bleus game in 2019.

“I’ve decided to end my career as a professional footballer,” he said in a video on YouTube.

“I had the chance to play for the biggest European clubs, wear the France shirt, give my family a buzz, live my passion and they are images that will stay with me,” he added.

He is the first member of France’s 2018 squad to retire.

“My head, my heart, tell me to stop and to think about those close to me, my wife, my children, and this life I built,” he said.

“I think I’ve come to the end of what I’m able to bring to the table.”

Matuidi was present last Sunday as France lost in the final of this year’s World Cup to Argentina in Qatar.

Source: AFP

23, December 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amnesty International urges release of Abdul Karim Ali ⁰

Amnesty International calls on the Cameroonian authorities to urgently provide the legal basis for the detention of Abdul Karim Ali, a peace activist, who has been held without charge since 11 August 2022 and kept in inhuman conditions or release him immediately.

“In the absence of information from the justice system what we know is that Abdul Karim Ali was arrested after he denounced torture committed and broadcast online by the leader of a pro-government militia in the south-west region of the country. If this is the only reason for his arrest he should be released immediately and unconditionally since his detention would stem solely from the exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” said Fabien Offner, a researcher at Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Regional Office.

According to Abdul Karim Ali’s lawyers, he was arrested on 11 August 2022 in Bamenda in the north-west without a warrant by gendarmes and was taken to the regional légion de gendarmerie where he was detained for 84 days, including being held incommunicado for several days, in violation of international and regional human rights norms. Being held incommunicado meant he was deprived of any contact with the outside world and denied the possibility of receiving visits from family and lawyers. He was detained in a cell with no window, deprived of food and water for several days, and had to use a single bucket both as a toilet and for bathing.

Abdul Karim Ali, 41 years old, was then transferred to Service Central des Recherches Judiciaires (SCRJ) of the SED (Secrétariat d’Etat à la Défense) in the capital city Yaoundé, where he is currently detained. He was taken to the military court building in Yaoundé on 7 November 2022, where he was kept in a mosquito-infested cell with others all day. He was returned to the SED late that night without establishing any charges against him or being taken into court.

Two others are currently detained at the SED with Abdul Karim Ali on allegations that they work as his drivers. Rabio Enuah is a cousin who was reportedly arrested in Bamenda on 23 August 2022 and detained in a cell at the légion de gendarmerie for 84 days before being transferred to the SED in Yaoundé. An acquaintance of Abdul Karim Ali, Sulemanu Yenkong, was reportedly arrested on 19 November 2022 in Nkwen, near Bamenda. He was detained in several locations, and held incommunicado, before being transferred to the SED on 28 November 2022. In both cases, their lawyers have reported that the gendarmes who detained them asked for ransoms in exchange for their freedom.

In the absence of information from the justice system, both of them should also be released immediately and unconditionally.

Amnesty International has learned that Abdul Karim Ali’s wife has received threats through anonymous calls, which have led her to flee their home. The calls warned her not to alert people outside Cameroon about his situation and asked her to bring her husband and family’s passports to the military who were detaining Abdul Karim Ali.

“The detention of Abdul Karim Ali is taking place in a period where the Cameroonian authorities continue to arbitrarily arrest and detain those who criticise the government or denounce human rights violations in the context of armed violence in Anglophone regions of the country. The authorities must immediately present a legally recognizable charge against Abdul Karim Ali or release him.”

Abdul Karim Ali was previously arrested on 25 September 2019 and taken to the SED. He was held, initially without access to a lawyer for five days, before finally being released weeks later, on 1 November 2019, without charge.

Distributed by APO Group

23, December 2022

After Rigobert Song dispute, Onana ends career with Indomitable Lions ⁰

Cameroon goalkeeper André Onana ended his career with the national team on Friday, one month after the 26-year-old player was sent home from the World Cup in a dispute with coach Rigobert Song.

The Inter Milan player posted a statement on his Twitter account saying “my story with the Cameroonian national team has come to an end.”

“Players come and go, names are fleeting, but Cameroon comes before any person or player,” Onana wrote, without citing reasons for his decision. “Cameroon remains eternal and so does my love for the national team.”

The last of Onana’s 34 international games was the 1-0 loss to Switzerland on Nov. 24 at the World Cup in Qatar.

Onana later released a statement referring to his disagreement with Song over team tactics that led to him being dropped for the next game, a 3-3 draw with Serbia.

“I have put all my efforts and energy into finding solutions to a situation that a footballer often experiences, but there has been no will on the other side,” Onana said then. “Some moments are difficult to assimilate.”

Song later said he needed all his players to “show discipline and respect.”

Cameroon went on to beat Brazil 1-0 in its final Group G game but did not advance to the round of 16.

Source: AP

22, December 2022

Congolese musician Tshala Muana will be buried tomorrow in Kinshasa ⁰

Congolese musician Tshala Muana will be buried in Kinshasa Friday, December 23, four days after the internment of her counterpart, Kiamuangana Mateta Verckys.

Tshala, who was also popularly known as Mamu Nationale (Mother of the Nation) and the ‘Queen of Mutuashi’, died on December 10 after a long illness.

Just like Kiamuangana’s, her body is lying at the Hospital du Cinquantenaire in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital.

Verckys, who was a seasoned saxophonist, composer, band leader and musicians’ rights campaigner, died in October.

According to a tentative funeral programme released in Kinshasa on Tuesday, a two-day funeral vigil for Tshala was due to be held at the Maisha Park.

Funeral service

Fellow musicians, fans, and state officials were Thursday expected to converge on the Palais de People (People’s Palace) for a funeral service.

Friday will mark Tshala’s final journey before she is laid rest at the Necropolis Cemetery on the outskirts of Kinshasa.

A service at the People’s Assembly was to pay a special tribute to her, as a former nominated Member of Parliament.

According to reports from Kinshasa, the government and the family agreed to have the funeral held before the Christmas weekend.

Hosting mourners

Her partner and music producer Claude Mashala has been hosting mourners at their residence since she died. They include former DR Congo first lady Olive Lembe Kabila.

Tshala, who started her entertainment career as a dancer and went on to become one of the leading Congolese female singers, will be remembered for having popularised her Tshiluba language from the country’s southern Kasai region.

Unlike other leading Congolese musicians who mainly sing in Lingala, one of the official languages, Tshala recorded most of her songs in Tshiluba.

She excelled at promoting the sexy traditional mutuashi cultural dance, expressing feminism.

Her hit songs from when she left DR Congo to hone her talent in West Africa, performing in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, and other cities, include, “Karibu Yangu”, “Tshibola, Kalume”, and the ever-green ballad “Vuluka Dilolo”.

Source: The East African

22, December 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: General No Pity’s breastfeeding girlfriend still in detention ⁰

Authorities in Cameroon have continued to hold a breastfeeding mother in detention a year after a court ordered her release on bail. An Appeal Court in the Southwest region of the country on December 15, 2021 granted bail to Antoinette Kongnso but she remains incarcerated one year after the court decision, together with her 14-month-old baby born in detention.

Lawyers say her continued detention is an abuse of the justice system in the country and is an example of the injustice felt by Cameroonians.

A former girlfriend of Mbashie Clement – a dreaded armed separatist fighter in the country known as ‘General No Pity’ — Kongnso was arrested “without a warrant” on October 2, 2021 in Buea, the headquarters of the Southwest region, one of two English-speaking regions of the country ravaged by a six-year-long bloody armed conflict.

Military crackdown

About 6,000 people have been killed after a protest by lawyers and teachers in the English-speaking parts of the majority French-speaking country over perceived and real marginalisation which resulted into a conflict following a military crackdown on protesters.

Militia groups have since sprouted and increased demands for the secession of the minority English speakers and the creation of an independent English-speaking country which they want called Ambazonia.

‘General No Pity’ heads one of the militia groups which the government has repeatedly accused of attacking and inflicting casualties on the military in the Northwest, another of the two English-speaking regions.

Though her relationship with ‘General No Pity’ ended long ago, Kongnso was accused of “failure to report acts of terrorism” of her former boyfriend and was arrested while she was eight months pregnant and initially detained incommunicado at local police headquarters before being transferred to the Buea Central Prison. She gave birth in November 2021.

The International Crisis Group and the US State Department have reported on retaliation against women and girls in connection with their relationships – family or romantic – with fighters on both sides of the conflict.

Granted bail

The military tribunal had earlier denied Kongnso bail but the Inquiry Control Chambers of the Appeal Court “which has exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals on bail-related issues from the military tribunal” granted the bail following an appeal from her lawyers.

According to barrister Legenju Vitalise, one of the lawyers defending Kongnso, she was supposed to be released following the appeal court’s decision – given that no new charges have been brought against her.

“Her continuous detention is a clear testament that there is a breakdown in the rule of law in Cameroon”, barrister Legenju told The EastAfrican, adding that “her continuous detention is illegal and will remain illegal”.

The human rights lawyer explained that Kongnso was charged with failure to report acts of terrorism – a crime for which she will not be sentenced to more than a year in jail.

“Even if she was to be tried and sentenced, she would not spend over a year in jail. No right-thinking judge would sentence someone who fails to report what does not exist for over a year in jail,” barrister Legenju said.

Monitor Kongnso’s trial

The Clooney Foundation for Justice’s TrialWatch initiative announced on Thursday last week that it will monitor Kongnso’s trial as she clocked one year in jail following the bail pronouncement.

TrialWatch monitors criminal trials globally against those who are most vulnerable, including women and girls, and evaluates the proceedings against applicable regional and international standards to advocate for the rights of individuals who are unfairly imprisoned.

Citing Kongnso’s lawyers, the monitor said authorities have refused to free the breastfeeding mother because, among other things, they are insisting on a letter from the Ministry of Justice authorising the release.

Under the international and regional treaties that Cameroon has ratified, “maintaining a person in detention after release has been ordered by a court competent to exercise control over the legality of detention” violates the right to freedom from arbitrary detention.

“TrialWatch will continue to track the case and will release a further report in the coming months,” the monitor said.

Source: The East African

22, December 2022

Yaoundé: Former CRTV General Manager sentenced to 12 years in prison ⁰

Amadou Vamoulke, the former general manager of the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation (CRTV), was sentenced Tuesday, December 20, 2022 to 12 years in prison by the Special Criminal Court and he was also fined 47 million FCFA.

Vamoulké spent six years in detention without being convicted on any charge-a situation described by Reporters Without Borders as falling far below even the most basic standards of justice and human dignity.

Adjourned 90 times, his trial is the longest to have been held as part of the anti-corruption drive known as Operation Sparrowhawk that the Biya Francophone government launched in 2006.

Arrested on 29 July 2016, Vamoulké was the subject of two distinct grotesque proceedings on charges of misusing public funds as general manager of the Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) – charges for which absolutely no evidence and no witness has ever been produced by the prosecution.

The denouement lasted more than 16 hours, before the reading of a 600-page document that provided a detailed account of the trial since the beginning in 2016.

Amadou Vamoulke was found guilty of embezzlement of the sum of 617.5 million FCFA in coaction with the former Minister of Finance, Polycarpe Abah Abah, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The former general manager of CRTV was arrested and remanded to Kondengui Central Prison in 2016. He stayed there for six years before his fate was finally decided this week. Despite multiple calls for his release by the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), nothing was done.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as President Biya’s court is no misnomer. Cameroon Concord News Group calls it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which President Biya is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit.

An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused. A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence. A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility. It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world. This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon. There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court. Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

With the war against Boko Haram, the fight against corruption using the Special Criminal Court has afforded Paul Biya justification contest in the next institutionally flawed elections in order to eternalize power purportedly to direct the war against terror and the war against corruption. True to the name the President’s Court, Biya has exclusive preserve in referring cases to the Special Court and the power to terminate them. He decides who will be arrested, who will be investigated and who will serve time and who will not.

In one instance, he ordered a detained Minister Bapes Bapes released from remand custody at Kondengui when a warrant was issued for his arrest without the presidential fiat. Cameroonians want the rule of law to be the guarding principle on which justice is administered in the name of the people.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

22, December 2022

Pele to spend Christmas in hospital as cancer worsens ⁰

Brazilian football great Pele will spend Christmas in hospital, his medical team and family said Wednesday, as he receives treatment for worsening cancer as well as kidney and heart problems.

The 82-year-old “requires greater care related to renal and cardiac dysfunctions,” said the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo.

It also reported a “progression” of his cancer, but said Pele was not in intensive care.

Considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, Pele was hospitalized in Sao Paulo on November 29 for what his medical team called a re-evaluation of his chemotherapy treatments, which he has been receiving since having surgery to remove a colon tumor in September 2021.

Doctors have also diagnosed Pele — whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento — with a respiratory infection.

Earlier this month, Pele’s daughters Kely Nascimento and Flavia Arantes sought to reassure fans about his health, denying reports that Pele had been placed in end-of-life care as supporters held a vigil outside the hospital.

They said Wednesday on Instagram that they would be spending Christmas with their father at the hospital.

“Our Christmas at home has been suspended,” they wrote.

“We decided with the doctors that, for various reasons, it would be better for us to stay here with all the care that this new family at Einstein gives us!!”

Accompanied by a picture of them smiling, the sisters thanked Pele’s fans for their support and wished them a happy festive season.

“We are going to turn this room into a Sambodrome (just kidding), we will even make caipirinhas (not kidding!!),” they joked, referencing Brazil’s famous cocktail.

The siblings promised an update next week.

‘The King’

Pele dazzled from an early age and took the 1958 World Cup by storm when he was 17 years old, netting a hat trick in the semifinals and two more goals in the final, catapulting his own career and launching the soccer dynasty of the Brazilian national team.

Pele scored more than 1,000 goals in one of the most storied careers in sport. He is the only player in history to have won three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970).

In recent years, the man dubbed “The King” has faced deteriorating health and his public appearances have grown rare.

He has dealt with his ailments with trademark good humor, remaining active on social media.

Pele posted regularly during the Qatar World Cup, including a message of congratulations to captain Lionel Messi after Argentina took the top prize.

“Congratulations to Argentina! Diego (Maradona, who died on November 25, 2020) is probably smiling now,” he wrote.

Pele also watched from hospital as star player Neymar equalled his goal record of 77 with the “Selecao.”

Pele has received messages from well-wishers all over the world, also recently from French striker Kylian Mbappe who called on fans earlier this month to “pray for the King.”

It was with Mbappe that Pele made one of his last public appearances, in April 2019, in Paris, for a promotional event.

World Cup host nation Qatar also showed its support for Pele, lighting up buildings with a “Get well soon” message.

Source: AFP

21, December 2022

Biya: the ’embarasser-in-chief’ ⁰

For many years now, many Cameroonians, especially those in the Diaspora, are being considered as those who are hurting the country’s reputation because of their call for a regime change in Cameroon.

The Yaoundé government, which has been struggling to project itself as being progressive and responsible, has been facing tough challenges from its Diaspora.

In North America, the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora is doing its best to give the beleaguered Yaoundé government a really big and bad name.

There are more than two million Southern Cameroonians in North America and they are not sparing any opportunity when it comes to demonstrating that the Yaoundé government led by the 90-year-old president, Paul Biya, is the worst thing that has ever happened to the country.

Recently in Washington DC, demonstrators bearing the Southern Cameroonian flag and public address systems brought the world’s attention to the bloody massacres being committed in the country’s two English-speaking regions during the US-AFRICA Leaders Summit held in the US capital.

Though uninvited, the demonstrators made sure their opinion was heard. They chanted songs depicting Mr. Biya as the architect of the bloody political and economic mess in Cameroon.

But it was Mr. Biya himself who actually stole the show in Washington DC. His mental confusion made many African leaders to ask if he was actually capable of running the country.

In a video which has really gone viral, Mr. Biya’s dementia was put on display for all to see. Mr. Biya confused questions in a high-level meeting were testimonies to his senility.

In another video, despite the tons of steroids he took in Geneva before heading to the US, Mr. Biya could not even get out of his own car and was bundled out of the car like a baby in diapers.

No Cameroonian is hurting the country’s reputation like the country’s senile president who has made up his mind to die in power though he is no longer effective as a leader.

His behavior has made many in Cameroon to view him as the country’s “embarasser-in-chief.”

Many Cameroonians are very disappointed with Mr. Biya who was supposed to have transformed the country into an earthly El-Dorado.

The country’s economy has taken a nose-dive, leaving millions in a dire situation. The rate of unemployment is unprecedented, causing many young Cameroonians to look outward in search of opportunities.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

21, December 2022

African team can reach 2026 World Cup final – CAF boss Motsepe ⁰

African football boss Patrice Motsepe told a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday he believes a team from the continent can reach the 2026 World Cup final.

“Morocco opened the door by reaching the semi-finals this month and I am confident an African nation will go further at the next World Cup,” said the South African billionaire.

“The main objective of CAF (Confederation of African Football) is for an African nation to win the World Cup and that goal is within reach.”

There will be nine or 10 African qualifiers for an expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup in the United Stages, Canada and Mexico — up from five in Qatar.

Morocco made history in Qatar by becoming the first African representatives to reach the semi-finals.

The Atlas Lions stunned Belgium in the group stage, then eliminated two more powerful European sides, Spain and Portugal, in the knockout stage before losing to France in the semi-finals.

“There are at least 10 African nations that can compete at the highest level and win the World Cup,” added Motsepe.

He also hailed Cameroon and Tunisia for shock group victories over five-time World Cup winners Brazil and twice champions France respectively.

“We should be proud of what Cameroon and Tunisia achieved. These and other African countries must learn from Morocco,” said the CAF president.

The shock victories were not enough to get Cameroon and Tunisia past the first round, but Senegal did make the last 16 before being eliminated after a heavy loss to England.

Reigning African champions Senegal suffered a massive pre-tournament blow when star forward Sadio Mane was ruled out by injury.

Motsepe disclosed that a dispute between CAF and sports agency Lagardere had been “resolved amicably”, but refused to give details, citing a confidentiality clause.

Lagardere signed a one billion dollar (940 million euros) contract with the Cairo-based African football body in 2017, which was supposed to last until 2028.

However, just one year into the television and marketing deal, it was scrapped after two legal judgments said it breached competition rules.

A senior CAF official, who requested anonymity, told AFP his organisation would pay Lagardere 25 million dollars in instalments to settle the dispute.

Motsepe said Algeria, Benin, Morocco, Nigeria and Zambia were among countries wanting to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after Guinea withdrew recently, saying they were “not ready”.

Source: AFP