12, July 2022

War in Ukraine: Latest developments ⁰

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Ukraine claims arms depot hit

Kyiv says it has destroyed an arms depot as part of a barrage of rockets and missiles on Russian military targets in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian military officials say the strikes in the Kherson region destroyed artillery, armoured vehicles “and a warehouse with ammunition in Nova Kakhovka”.

Russian authorities in the city say Ukrainian strikes damaged civilian infrastructure and left at least seven people dead, a toll that could not be independently verified.

EU approves one billion euros in aid

European Union finance ministers approve one billion euros ($1 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine, a first instalment of a promised nine-billion-euro package for Kyiv agreed in May.

“This will give Ukraine the necessary funds to cover urgent needs and ensure the operation of critical infrastructure,” says Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

‘Massive’ strikes on southern city

Russian forces launch “massive” strikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, with missiles hitting two medical facilities and residential buildings, the city’s mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych says.

The regional head, Vitaliy Kim, says 12 people have been wounded in the attacks.

Netherlands pledges weapons

During a visit to Kyiv, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the Netherlands will join other Western allies and send more advanced artillery to the front lines.

But a top US official cautions that Moscow is also receiving a weapons boost, with Iran planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Fast-tracking passports

After Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a decree fast-tracking Russian passports for all Ukrainians, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to open a representative office for separatist authorities in Moscow.

Source: AFP

12, July 2022

Mali arrest 50 soldiers from Ivory Coast ⁰

Malian authorities arrested nearly 50 soldiers from Ivory Coast who came to Mali to work for a contracting company of the United Nations mission in Mali. The government made the announcement Monday calling the Ivorian soldiers “mercenaries,” in a move that could raise tensions between the two West African countries.

Two aircraft arrived at Mali’s international airport Sunday with the 49 soldiers “with their weapons and ammunition of war, as well as other military equipment,” said Malian government spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Maiga. They “were illegally on the national territory of Mali,” and the transitional government considers them mercenaries, he added.

U.N. mission spokesman Olivier Salgado said these Ivorian soldiers “are not part of one of the MINUSMA contingents, but have been deployed for several years in Mali as part of logistical support on behalf of one of our contingents.” He said that their arrival as relief would have been communicated beforehand to the national authorities. They are working for a German company that is contracted by the U.N. mission known as the Sahelian Aviation Services.

Government spokesman Maiga said they would put an end to the protection activity of the Sahelian Aviation Services by foreign forces and demand their departure from Malian territory. The government invited “the airline “ Sahelian Aviation Services “to henceforth entrust its security to the Malian defense and security forces,” he said.

Mali’s transitional government affirmed in June that it will not authorize the U.N. mission to investigate ongoing human rights violations in Mali, adding to further tensions as France also withdraws its forces.

Source: AP

11, July 2022

Autopsy in Spain for ex-Angola leader amid foul play claims ⁰

An autopsy has been carried out on in Spain on former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died last week in Barcelona, at the request of one of his daughters who suspects foul play, her lawyers said Monday.

The results of the autopsy are not yet available, a spokesperson for Tchize dos Santos’ lawyers said.

A Barcelona court authorised the post-mortem on Friday, the day of his death, a court spokeswoman said.

Dos Santos, who ruled Angola between 1979 and 2017, had lived in Barcelona since April 2019.

The 79-year-old was taken to hospital and placed in intensive care after suffering a cardiac arrest on June 23.

His 44-year-old daughter — whose full name is Welwitschia dos Santos — swiftly demanded the hospital retain his body “until an appropriate autopsy is carried out.”

She said in a statement on Saturday there were “a series of signs” that her father’s death occurred under “suspicious circumstances”.

Tchize has filed a legal case in Spain against the former Angolan president’s widow, Ana Paula, and his personal physician for “attempted murder”.

The complaint also includes allegations relating to “failure to exercise a duty of care, injury resulting from gross negligence and disclosure of secrets by people close to him,” her lawyers said in a statement on Friday.

Tchize claimed her father and his wife had been separated for some time, meaning that his spouse had no right to make decisions about his health.

Police confirmed receiving the complaint and said they had opened an inquiry.

Tchize also argues her father wanted to be buried privately in Spain and not in Angola in a state funeral “which could favour the current government” in the former Portuguese colony.

Born in the slums of Luanda, dos Santos was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.

Critics say he used his nation’s oil wealth to enrich his family while leaving his people among the poorest on the planet.

When he stepped down, dos Santos handed over to former defence minister Joao Lourenco whom he had handpicked to succeed him.

But Lourenco quickly turned on his erstwhile patron, starting an anti-corruption drive to recoup the billions he suspected had been embezzled under dos Santos.

Source: AFP

11, July 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Yaoundé to borrow CFA178bn on the BEAC market in Q3 2022 ⁰

The Cameroonian government planned to borrow CFA178 billion on the Beac public securities market in Q3 2022. According to its Q3 2022 provisional schedule of public securities issues, the government wants to raise CFA118 billion through issues of fungible Treasury bills (BTAs), which are securities with a maturity of up to one year, and CFA60 billion through issues of fungible Treasury bonds (OTAs), which are long and medium-term securities. In detail, the first issue is scheduled for July 11. It is a syndicated issue of 26-week BTAs for CFA83 billion. A second BTA issue is scheduled for July 25. The maturity is 52 weeks and the government is seeking CFA15 billion.

In addition, two operations on BTA with 52 and 13 weeks of maturity are planned for August 8 and 22, respectively. They aim to raise a total of CFA20 billion, at a rate of CFA10 billion per operation.

On August 29, 2022, Cameroon will launch its first OTA issue for the 3rd quarter. The Treasury seeks CFA20 billion through 6-year bonds. On September 15, another 7-year OTA issue is planned to raise CFA40 billion. As a reminder, in the amending finance law validated by the Parliament in June 2022, the Head of State raised the threshold for government debt through the issuance of public securities to CFA550 billion. This is CFA200 billion more than the amount in the initial budget law, voted in November 2021.

This measure will further increase the country’s public debt, which is already high although below the 70% of GDP threshold set in the CEMAC region.

Source: Business in Cameroon

11, July 2022

Southern Cameroons: 13 killed in road accident ⁰

At least 13 people have died after a truck collided with a bus in southwestern Cameroon, according to local police.

The accident occurred Saturday morning along Kumba-Muyuka highway in Southwest region of the country.

The truck lost control and collided head-on with a bus that was carrying 30 passengers at a locality called Bombe Bakundu which is located along the highway, police said.

Several people were injured and rushed to a local hospital, according to officials.

According to the police, fatal accidents are common in Cameroon due to reckless driving, dangerous overtaking, drunk driving and poor state of road.

The Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the central African nation.

Source: Xinhaunet

11, July 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The government is stranded! ⁰

Never underestimate your enemy and never hold that old ways will always deliver the same results. This is the lesson the Yaoundé government is learning after realizing that the military violence which had put an end to the Marquisard movement which rocked the country shortly after independence cannot roll back the massive rebellion staged by the country’s English-speaking minority.

When the issues in the two English-speaking regions of the country started, the government thought it would resort to its old ways to roll back the uprising. It did not know that times had changed and a change in attitude was necessary.

For more than five years, the English-speaking parts of the country have been transformed into an open killing field for both soldiers and civilians. The government had underestimated the anger that had been eating up English-speaking Cameroonians and its poor choice of outdated solution has only made matters worse.

For close to six years, Cameroon has been bleeding. Thousands of its sons and daughters have been sent to an early grave. A protest, designed to draw the government’s attention to the sorry plight of the English-speaking minority, has been poorly managed and it has today become a millstone around the government’s neck. Many children are out of school because they are being denied their right to education by separatist fighters in many towns and villages in Southern Cameroons.

Sex has become a weapon of war, with women being raped and young girls impregnated by people they do not even know. Soldiers who are supposed to protect honest and ordinary citizens have themselves become a major threat to the people they are supposed to protect. The Southern Cameroons crisis has become their stock in trade and their bosses in Yaoundé are doing their best to ensure that the war does not come to an end anytime soon.

The Amba fighters, whom many people thought would protect the population in their poorly organized war for independence, have become the law onto everybody. They have turned against their own people, using the war to earn fast cash. Uneducated gun-totting rascals have become judges, lawyers and even archbishops. They settle disputes they know nothing about, and their decisions are never based on any sentencing guides. To them, anything is just an opportunity for them to demonstrate their newfound power, power exercised through the barrel of the gun.

The Southern Cameroons crisis is a real disaster in its superlative degree and there is no end in sight. Many lives have been lost and people’s livelihoods have been ruined because the government’s poor decisions. This is a war which could have been avoided through dialogue and negotiations if the government had embraced new and innovative ways of dealing with conflicts.

The government, especially its extremist members, who thought that violence was their weapon of choice to crush the rebellion, is now seeking to find new ways which will help the country heal. The talk in Yaoundé now is how to bring in moderate Southern Cameroonians into the government so as douse some of the fire which is destroying the country.

Any Southern Cameroonian who has some leverage over some of the people in Southern Cameroons and abroad is today being wooed to play a key role in the country’s government. According to a secret service agent in Yaoundé who spoke to Cameroon Intelligence Report on condition of anonymity, human rights activist, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla, had been contacted for him to join the government as a way of demonstrating that the government was warming up to the idea of an inclusive government.

Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla, who has been a key player in the socio-political events playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country, tactfully declined the proposal brought to him by a Beti Minister whose identity the Cameroon Concord News Group has decided to protect.

According to the secret service agent who received the minister’s report and feedback, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla told the minister that he was focused on the post-Biya era, as the government had demonstrated a lot of bad will when it comes to dealing with the main issues Southern Cameroonians have presented to the government. The government is clearly stranded, and it is now using any means to find a lasting solution to a problem it said did not exist.

For months, the Unity Palace has been struggling to put together a government of national unity which will include a brand new and neutral prime minister who does not belong to a political party and has extensive leverage over the separatists who have demonstrated that they are made of the stuff which can destabilize the Yaounde government.

According to a secret service agent who operates within the Unity Palace, government officials are losing sleep because of the chaos which is playing out in Southern Cameroons. They have run out of solutions and even the most zealous among them are now eating a massive humble pie. Their threats and intimidation have not cowed Southern Cameroonians who are more determined to address many issues now rather than later to spare future generations the pain of dealing with a decades-old problem.

The Unity Palace has been talking with non-CPDM members for a possible replacement of the current prime minister, Dion Ngute, who has fallen short of the ruling Mafia’s expectations. He has not succeeded to disconnect the Southwest region from the rebellion as expected and he is even accused of killing his former henchman, Kenneth Nanji, because of money.

It is being reported that the leading candidate for the post of Prime Minister is insisting on the government releasing all Southern Cameroonians arrested during the conflict which is tearing the country apart. To the candidate, such a gesture will demonstrate that the government is honest and serious about bringing peace to the country.

The candidate, an international civil servant, who, according to sources at the Presidency, clearly stands for an American or a Canadian-style federal system, is also calling for a general amnesty for all those who have been directly or indirectly involved in the war which has already consumed more than seven thousand lives as evidence that the government wants to walk away from this conflict which has cost much money and ruined the economy. He has also advised the government to rapidly deal with the issue of dual nationality which will be a demonstration of its willingness to work with its expanding Diaspora.

The government is stuck, and it wants to relief itself of its self-imposed pain. Its arrogance has brought more pain than gain and if it really wants to put the country back onto the path to peace and development, it must make peace with the various factions which disagree with it, especially its English-speaking minority which has proven that winning a war does not depend on the size of the military. If peace must really return to Cameroon, Biya regime must change its ways. It must consider English-speaking Cameroonians as citizens of Cameroon in their own right, and it must learn how to live up to its own commitments.

There is no issue in Cameroon that cannot be addressed if the political will is there. For more than five years, the government has been chasing shadows. It must learn how to focus on the objects, if not its issues will continue to stalk it like a stubborn shadow. The Southern Cameroons crisis will not go away until the government adopts new ways. Silence and arrogance have not cut it for five years. This demonstrates that the wrong solutions have been adopted and the results leave much to be desired. The government cannot be trusted. It has always been speaking on both sides of its mouth and that is why reasonable Southern Cameroonians are reluctant to be part of any solution engineered by the government.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with correspondent files

10, July 2022

Dion Ngute’s Replacement: Discussions are still underway! ⁰

Discussions about who will be replacing Dion Ngute as the country’s Prime Minister are still going on. The current Prime has fallen out of favour with the ailing president and the ruling party wants to cut out the ineffective Prime Minister from the Star Building and his removal is being considered because of his inability to end the conflict in the two English-speaking regions and his participation in the killing of the former mayor of Ekondo-Titi, Kenneth Nanji.

Sources at the country’s Presidency have informed the Cameroon Intelligence Report that there are two candidates whose profiles fit the ruling party’s mold. The sources added that one of the candidates works at the World Bank in Washington DC while the other one is a South-westerner at the African Development Bank Group who has massive leverage in the unfortunate events which have been playing out in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

The sources added that the AfDB candidate had been received by the Cameroon Ambassador in Abidjan sometime last week and might be concluding arrangements if certain conditions are met. The sources said that the two candidates might help broker a deal which might help the country recover from its self-inflicted wounds.

Though both candidates hold that an American or Canadian-style federalism might help stem the bloodshed, the government is still insisting on its decentralization policy which has not produced any meaningful results over the last twenty-five years. This is the sticking point, and this could be responsible for the delay in the appointment of a new cabinet.

“We are all waiting for a new government. Things are at a standstill, and we need fresh blood that can breathe new life into our political and economic systems. I have been informed that the candidate in Abidjan is insisting on major changes so that real peace can return to Cameroon. Things are not working. We need someone who is really respected and has the credibility and trust of the people,” the frustrated CPDM official said.

“Our country is going down the drain and we need someone who can make Cameroonians see the government in a different light. The economy is not working and the killings in the two English-speaking regions have escalated. We cannot be indifferent to this ugly situation. The country’s authorities are really tired, and they too want an end to this unfortunate situation which could have been averted through dialogue,” the source said.

“We really want the Diaspora to be represented in the government. There should be a Ministry in Charge of the Diaspora, and this should be given to someone who knows the issues facing our people who are living out of the country. I know there is the issue of dual nationality which has been pending for long but since the President is now sending delegations to talk to members of the Diaspora in Europe and North America, I think the attitude will soon be different. I even thought this would be discussed during the ongoing parliamentary session. We need to move very fast if we really love our country,” the Yaoundé-based politician stressed.

“There is tension within the ruling CPDM as news that the Unity Palace is moving closer to announcing a new government and a new Prime Minister from outside the usual circles. Though many oppose the appointment of an independent person, they truly do not have a choice. The president wants someone with the credibility needed to talk to the separatists and all those who have been in government are tainted. Even the French and certain international organizations hold that the fighting can only be stopped through dialogue and only someone who is not a real politician can put an end to the fighting,” the source said.

“The leading candidate who is in Abidjan is considered as a very strict person who believes in transparency and dialogue. It is even alleged within the government that the secret service has also spoken with him, and a report has been made and submitted to the President. The man is known for his courage to express his mind and is very patriotic. It is being said that he was a civil servant before leaving the country and it is believed that he can deliver the goods. We really need a straightforward person in Cameroon. Our country is falling apart, and we cannot be looking the other way while things crumble,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the Cameroon Concord News Group will soon publish the findings of an investigation it commissioned many months ago following the death of Kenneth Nanji, the former Mayor of Ekondo-Titit, who was killed with others as they were heading to Ekondo-Titi to lay the groundwork for the Prime Minister’s visit to Ndian Division.

Evidence gathered points to Prime Minister Dion Ngute being the brain behind the Bekora killings when he found out that Mr. Nanji was using the violence in Ndian Division to enrich himself at his expense. The D.O. and CPDM sub-section president who also died were simply collateral damage as the real target was Mr. Nanji who used to be the Prime Minister’s henchman but became dishonest and was not aware that those he planned the school killings with had actually thrown him under the bus.

He was fleecing the Prime Minister out of his money and was not delivering the exact amount of money the Prime Minister was handing to him for him to deliver to General TWO KOBO who had promised Mr. Ngute that he and his boys would not be creating chaos in Ndian Division.

Mr. Nanji was the mastermind of the killing of students and a teacher in Ekondo-Titi and the G.H.S Ekondo Titi killings were designed to force the Prime Minister to continue providing millions to him for him to deliver to Two Kobo and to get his fair share. The Prime Minister had entered into an agreement with Two Kobo who had agreed to keep a low profile in that area of the country. Details of this saga will soon be published in a special editorial.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with reports from Rita Akana

9, July 2022

Who is more corrupt? Franck or Chantal Biya ⁰

An authoritative French newspaper Nouvel Observateur has reported that members of President Paul Biya’s family have spent more than three billion FCFA to buy luxury homes in Paris, Monaco and in different locations in France.

An investigative report published on Thursday, July 7, 2022 entitled “Luxury real estate: how France attracts the dubious money from around the world,” Nouvel Observateur revealed that Franck Emmanuel Biya and Chantal Biya respectively the eldest son and wife of the President of the Republic of Cameroon, are among sixty dubious persons who have invested hundreds of millions of Euros in France to buy houses and luxury apartments- a phenomenon on which there are strong suspicion of money laundering.

Five investigative French journalists who wrote the report stated that Franck Biya bought a luxury house near the principality of Monaco for nearly three million Euros in 2004 when he was aged 33.

Nouvel Observateur noted that the Franck Biya house has a swimming pool and it is located in a popular private estate at Cap-Martin, not far from Monaco. When French authorities asked him how he raised the money for the purchase, he did not answer.

The French paper also reported that Chantal Biya, the first lady owns three apartments in different locations in France.

The newspaper article also revealed that Chantal Biya is too extravagant evidenced by how much she spends on her hairstyles and her flashy stays in Geneva with President Biya.

The French journalists opined that Chantal Biya has never worked but registered a company in France that she used in spending more than 2 million Euros to buy three apartments in the 16th district of Paris, Levallois-Perret and in Nice between 1997 and 2009 – two of which were paid in cash and the third financed by a loan from BNP.

The first lady acquired the houses through a Cameroonian Senator, Pierre François-Xavier Menye Ondo, who is also a notary and a business partner, with only 1% share in two of the three purchases.

A leading French lawyer, William Bourdon quoted in the report said “From Saint-Tropez to the 16th district of Paris and from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to Montfort-l’Amaury, 62 people including Franck and Chantal Biya have spent, between 1985 and 2020, more than 744 million Euros to buy real estate in France”.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

9, July 2022

Wimbledon: Jabeur to do it for Mama Africa ⁰

Ons Jabeur can become Africa’s first Grand Slam women’s singles champion on Saturday, admitting the seeds of her history-making charge to the Wimbledon final were sown 12 months ago when she pledged: “I’m coming back for the title.”

Jabeur became the first African woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the modern era when she beat close friend Tatjana Maria in the semi-finals.

She will face Russian-born Elena Rybakina, now representing Kazakhstan, for the title.

Jabeur will seek to go one better than Irene Peacock (Roland Garros, 1927), Renee Schuurman (Australian Open, 1959) and Sandra Reynolds (1960, Wimbledon).

The trio of South Africans all reached Slam finals but missed out on the trophy.

Twelve months ago, Jabeur, 27, made the quarter-finals for the first time, losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

But on the way she knocked out five-time champion Venus Williams, 2017 winner Garbine Muguruza, as well as current number one Iga Swiatek.

Having never previously got past the second round at the All England Club, that run gave her the taste for more.

“Not to lie to you, the dream kind of started last year when I enjoyed playing here, enjoyed the crowd,” said the world number two.

“I didn’t play so many Wimbledons before. Usually it was the first and second round. It’s tricky on grass but I knew I was playing good on grass because of my game and everything.

“Melanie (Maillard), my mental coach, reminded me when I lost in the quarter-finals I told her like, ‘I’m coming back next year for the title’.”

‘One step away’

Maillard did not need convincing.

“She was like, ‘You will’. She knows that if I put something in my mind, I do it. I’m one step away from achieving it,” said Jabeur. “I hope it’s going to happen.”

Jabeur coasted through the first four rounds at Wimbledon this year before needing three sets to defeat Marie Bouzkova and then three more to see off Maria.

Her run to the final came after a dispiriting first-round exit at the French Open in May.

Jabeur had been one of the favourites for the title in Paris having won the Madrid clay court title followed by a runners-up spot finish to Swiatek in Rome.

But a quick reset after her disappointment in the French capital put her back on course.

“I have a great team behind me, even though sometimes — I’m not going to lie to you — I maybe thought I was never going to make it or never going to make a Grand Slam title or a Grand Slam final,” said Jabeur.

“I had to remind myself why did I start playing tennis, what kind of joy that tennis brings to me. As soon as I remind myself that, I get pumped, motivated to go.”

Jabeur, one of only three Tunisian women with a world ranking, has a 2-1 winning edge over Rybakina, with her most recent victory in Chicago last year.

Russian and Belarusian players are banned from Wimbledon this year following the invasion of Ukraine.

But there will be a Russian presence in the final after Rybakina, playing in her first Slam final, switched allegiance to Kazakhstan in 2018.

“I’m really happy representing Kazakhstan. They believed in me. There is no more question about how I feel,” said the 23-year-old.

“It’s already a long time my journey as a Kazakh player. I played Olympics, Fed Cup.”

Rybakina had never got past the quarter-finals of a Slam before this year’s Wimbledon.

But the grass courts of Wimbledon are the perfect platform for her game.

She has fired 49 aces so far and boasts the second-fastest serve in the women’s tournament at 122 miles (196 kilometres) per hour.

Saturday’s match throws up a radically different clash of tennis styles — Jabeur’s slice and change of rhythm facing down Rybakina’s raw power.

There could also a sharp contrast in celebration.

“She’s not someone who screams a lot every point. I respect that about her,” said Jabeur.

“I know she’s a very shy person even outside the court. Maybe I’ll be the one screaming on Saturday.”

Source: AFP

9, July 2022

Southern Cameroons: Deadly floods in Fako point to a looming climate emergency ⁰

Flash floods triggered by sudden rains swept through the Likomba-Mutengene main road in Fako Division in the early hours of Saturday. The Saturday disaster came with no warning.

“The local Likomba River was flooding with massive boulders. The trees were falling! It was terrifying” Cameroon Concord News Buea Bureau Chief said.

Likomba and Mutengene are in the mountainous Fako Division, where deadly cascade of rock, debris and water regularly wreak havoc.

Many are attempting to understand what caused the avalanche. But the massive flooding illustrates the risks of development in an area vulnerable to the accelerated effects of climate change.

An Environmentalist contacted by Cameroon Concord News say the construction of houses and building development works all over Fako Division have put the inhabitants in a precarious position.

Cameroon government military, paramilitary and police as well as disaster management officials were conspicuously absent as passengers in vehicles dug through mud, sand and rocks that swamped the Likomba-Mutengene road. Several passenger vehicles were on the road when the rains struck.

By Toto Roland Motuba