Southern Cameroons: Exiled leaders express solidarity with Amba prisoners in French Cameroun jails

23, February 2022

Southern Cameroons: Exiled leaders express solidarity with Amba prisoners in French Cameroun jails 0

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has called on Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora to support Ambazonian prisoners languishing in French Cameroun jails and detention centers.

Dabney Yerima told members of his cabinet on Tuesday that shouting slogans against the Biya French Cameroun regime in the West is not enough and will not secure the release of all Southern Cameroons prisoners.

“Southern Cameroons prisoners are political prisoners and they are regarded as heroes and freedom fighters by all Ambazonians” Yerima noted.

Yerima’s message comes at a time when hundreds of Southern Cameroons detainees have been denied proper medical treatment in French Cameroun jails.

Some fifty-two Southern Cameroons detainees have died in French Cameroun prisons this year.

During a telephone conversation with Cameroon Concord News Berlin correspondent on Wednesday, Professor Carlson Anyangwe of the Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs condemned French Cameroun’s inhumane treatment of Ambazonian prisoners especially those suffering from chronic medical conditions.

Southern Cameroons prisoners are held in several French Cameroun prisons and detention centers where they are denied basic human rights.

The Ambazonia Interim Government recently demanded international protection for Southern Cameroons prisoners.

“Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero and in Ground One are calling on the international community to come out of its silence and help Ambazonia prisoners” Professor Anyangwe said.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Lions keen on Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga, Yaoundé makes offer to switch nationality

22, February 2022

Lions keen on Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga, Yaoundé makes offer to switch nationality 0

Anthony Elanga has impressed for Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United sop far this season, and the youngster could represent three different nations at international level with Cameroon keen on him

Manchester United’s young starlet Anthony Elanga has been approached to switch nationalities as his stock continues to rise at the Red Devils.

Elanga was born in Sweden to Cameroonian parents, but he moved to England at 12-years-old, making him eligible for all three.

However, the youngster has represented Sweden, the country of his birth, at youth level – and Sweden are confident he will represent them.

But after being called up by the first team, Elanga failed to make an appearance after Untied blocked the call-up.

And Cameroon are now attempting to swoop in to secure the services of the youngster.

According to Footazimuts, Cameroon are trying to tempt the youngster into representing the African side on the international stage.

Elanga’s father, Joseph Elanga, represented the Indomitable Lions between 1998 and 2002, earning himself 17 caps.

He was even part of Cameroon’s side for the 1998 World Cup which was held in France.

However, the report also claims that Elanga’s mother and agent aren’t sold on the side and the talks are ‘complicated’.

Source: Daily Star

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Catholic Bishops warn ‘those who take the sword will perish by the sword’

22, February 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Catholic Bishops warn ‘those who take the sword will perish by the sword’ 0

As the separatist conflict continues to escalate in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, the country’s Anglophone bishops warned that “those who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

The Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province covers Cameroon’s English speaking North West and South West Regions. Separatists in the two regions been fighting for the past five years to break away from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking, and form a new nation they call The Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

In a statement after their 72nd ordinary meeting held Feb. 10-11, the prelates noted “with deep pain and regret, the deteriorating socio­ political situation that has prevailed in the North West and South West Regions for a very long time now.”

The bishops expressed “solidarity with the suffering, oppressed and displaced persons and refugees,” and said they will continue to “condemn violent methods of resolving disputes, because violence usually leads to greater suffering and “those who take the sword will perish by the sword,” quoting the Gospel of Matthew.

At least 4000 people have died in the conflict, and more than a million forced to flee from their homes, according to UN estimates.

They bishops said they shared “in the sorrows and anxieties, and joys and hopes of their people,” and invoked “our Lady of Lourdes, to intercede for all our sick brothers and sisters and for all of us in our search for lasting justice and peace.”

Source: Crux Now

Buea Diocese: Southern Cameroons Bishops express communion and solidarity with Bishop Michael Bibi

22, February 2022

Buea Diocese: Southern Cameroons Bishops express communion and solidarity with Bishop Michael Bibi 0

Some in the diocese have reacted negatively the various personnel changes made by the bishop since he assumed the office of apostolic administrator in 2019 (he became the bishop of the diocese in 2021.)

On June 20, 2020, he appointed Prof. Victor Julius Ngoh as Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University Institute of Buea, replacing Father George Nkeze Jingwa, who was asked to take a sabbatical leave.

Members of the University Council disapproved of the change and took the bishop to court, prompting the Vatican to intervene.

Bibi also outlawed certain lay associations which he said were created without due authorization.

In an online petition against Bibi, he was described as “an emperor and a tyrant bishop.”

The petition accuses the prelate of destroying Catholicism in the Buea Diocese, and of committing “xenophobia against innocent priests of God who are duly incardinated into Buea Diocese in accordance with Can. 265.”

But in their Feb. 11 statement, the bshops of the Bamenda province said they were shocked and saddened by the scale of the attacks, and expressed solidarity with Bibi.

“Our hearts were deeply saddened by the unfortunate turn of events in the Diocese of Buea, characterized by gross disrespect of the hierarchy of the Church, casting of aspersions on Bishop Michael Bibi, and deliberate distortion and manipulation of facts in order to misinform, divide and mislead the public through social media and other media organs, on certain important decisions taken by the Bishop in his attempt to bring the Diocese to align perfectly with the mind and practices of the Church.” the prelates said.

“We express our solidarity and communion with his Lordship Bishop Michael Bibi, whose decisions are in perfect alignment with the mind and discipline of the Church on these matters,” the statement added.

They called on the faithful of the Diocese of Buea to stay vigilant and work in communion with Bibi for the purpose of building a united and prosperous Diocese.

“While commending each one of you to Divine Protection through the intercession of Our Lady Queen of Peace, we ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” the bishops continued.

“With knowledge of God’s will, wisdom, and understanding that comes from the Holy Spirit, you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge.”

Bibi will be celebrating his first anniversary of his canonical possession of the Diocese of Buea on Feb. 25.

Culled from Crux Now

34 killed as cholera epidemic spreads in Cameroon

22, February 2022

34 killed as cholera epidemic spreads in Cameroon 0

At least 34 people have died so far in a cholera epidemic that is sweeping the Central African nation of Cameroon, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday.

The epidemic has hit at least four regions, including the Littoral region where the commercial capital Douala is located.

In the Southwest region, 28 people have died, and 1,055 others infected. There are 77 cases and four deaths in the Littoral region, the South region has 52 cases and two deaths and the Far North region has reported eight cases, OCHA said.

Cholera cases were first reported in localities in the Littoral and Southwest regions of the country in early January.

Last week, Cameroon’s Minister of Public Health Malachie Manaouda urged people to stay hygienic and report any infections to the hospital.

Outbreaks of the water-borne disease occur regularly in Cameroon, mainly due to poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean drinking water.

Cholera, which is spread by ingesting fecal matter, causes acute watery diarrhea and can kill within hours if not treated.

Source: Xinhuanet

Pope Francis appoints new Bishop to lead the Diocese of Mamfe

22, February 2022

Pope Francis appoints new Bishop to lead the Diocese of Mamfe 0

Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Aloysius Fondong Abangalo as Bishop of the Diocese of Mamfe. The cleric from the diocese of Buea was until the appointment a lecturer at the St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui.

Cameroon Concord News understands His Lordship Bishop Aloysius Fondong Abangalo was born on June 5, 1973 in Limbe.  He studied Philosophy and Theology at the St. Thomas Aquinas Inter-diocesan Major Seminary in Bambui, in Bamenda.

Bishop Aloysius Abangalo holds a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Université Catholique d’Afrique Centrale UCAC (2011-2014) and a Doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Italy.

He was ordained a priest on April 20, 2006 in Buea and subsequently held the following positions in the Church hierarchy: Vicar of the Holy Family Parish of Limbe (2006-2007); Dean of Our Lady of Grace College in Muyuka (2007-2009); Diocesan Treasurer and Member of the College of Consultors (2009-2011); Teacher and trainer at St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui and Defender of the Bond at the Inter-diocesan Tribunal of Bamenda (2014-2019).

This item is still developing

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

Defying West, Putin orders troops to pro-Russian breakaway regions of east Ukraine

22, February 2022

Defying West, Putin orders troops to pro-Russian breakaway regions of east Ukraine 0

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Ukraine on Monday, defying Western threats of sanctions in a move that could set off a potentially catastrophic war with Kyiv. 

Earlier, the Kremlin leader had recognised the independence of two rebel-held areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine, paving the way for an operation to deploy part of the potential invasion force he has massed around the country.

In two official decrees, Putin instructed the defence ministry to assume “the function of peacekeeping” in the separatist-held regions.

The recognition of the breakaway republics, which form an enclave held by Russia-backed rebels since 2014, triggered international condemnation and a promise of targeted sanctions from the United States and the European Union – with a broader package of economic punishment to come in the event of invasion.

As news of the late-night recognition hit the streets of Kyiv, many were in disbelief, but ready to defend their country if called on.

‘Scariest news’ in 8 years

“I am very shocked,” Artem Ivaschenko, a 22-year-old cook originally from Donetsk, told AFP in the capital, calling the recognition the “scariest news” since he had fled the region eight years ago.

“I live here, I already lost a part of my homeland, it was taken away, so I will protect it.”

After a flurry of calls, US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that Moscow’s gambit “would not go unanswered”.

The US announced its first sanctions, with the White House saying Biden will issue an executive order to “prohibit new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, from, or in” the two rebel regions.

A French presidential official said the European Union was preparing a list of Russian entities and individuals to sanction in a “proportionate” response to the recognition.

In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky convened a meeting of his national security council and was due to make a speech later in the night.   

Earlier, in an often angry 65-minute televised national address from his Kremlin office, Putin railed against ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine as a failed state and “puppet” of the West, repeatedly suggesting it was essentially part of Russia.

He accused the authorities in Kyiv of persecuting Russian speakers and of preparing a “blitzkrieg” against the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in Ukraine’s east.

“As for those who seized and hold power in Kyiv, we demand an immediate end to their military operations,” Putin said.

“Otherwise, all responsibility for the possible continuation of bloodshed will be fully on the conscience of the regime in power in Ukraine.”

Putin said it was necessary to “take a long overdue decision, to immediately recognise the independence” of the two regions.

He then signed partnership agreements with the rebels that declared the presence of Russian military forces “necessary to maintain peace… and ensure reliable security.”

EU ‘will react with sanctions’

The recognition effectively puts an end to an already shaky peace plan in the separatist conflict, which has rumbled on since 2014, after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine, and has left more than 14,000 dead.

Russia will now deploy troops with the support of separatist officials and Ukraine will either have to accept the loss of a huge chunk of territory or face an armed conflict against its vastly more powerful neighbour.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the move “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of the Ukraine”, with the UK cabinet’s emergency COBR committee due to meet Tuesday and foreign minister Liz Truss promising “new sanctions on Russia.”

EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel promised the bloc “will react with sanctions against those involved in this illegal act”.

The United States and allies including France requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council later Monday.

Putin told his Security Council earlier Monday that there were “no prospects” for the 2015 Minsk peace accords aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict.

‘Very big threat’ to Russia

And he made clear the stakes were bigger than Ukraine, whose efforts to join NATO and the European Union have deeply angered Moscow.

“The use of Ukraine as an instrument of confrontation with our country poses a serious, very big threat to us,” Putin said.

The dramatic meeting – with Putin sitting alone at a desk as his government, military and security chiefs took turns addressing him from a podium – came after weeks of tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine.

Western leaders warned that Russia was planning to invade its pro-Western neighbour after massing more than 150,000 troops on its borders, a claim Moscow repeatedly denied.

Tensions then spiked in recent days after an outbreak of heavy shellfire on Ukraine’s eastern frontline with the separatists and a series of reported incidents on the border with Russia.

Monitors from the OSCE European security body on Monday reported more than 3,000 new ceasefire violations in east Ukraine the day before, a high for the year.

Ukrainian officials said two soldiers and a civilian died in more shelling of frontline villages Monday.

Source: AFP

Gas exporters working for ‘reliable’ supplies as Ukraine crisis worsens

22, February 2022

Gas exporters working for ‘reliable’ supplies as Ukraine crisis worsens 0

Qatar’s emir said major gas exporting nations were working to ensure “credible and reliable” supplies as he hosted a forum overshadowed by the worsening crisis in Ukraine on Tuesday.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said the 11-nation Gas Exporting Countries Forum, which includes Russia, was striving to preserve stability in world markets, which have been rocked by growing fears of a conflict.

But the group made no immediate promise of extra production for Western Europe, which has sought alternatives to Russian gas as the crisis drives up prices and threatens supplies.

Russia is a key member of the forum, which is taking place after Moscow ordered troops into two rebel regions of Ukraine, prompting international condemnation.

Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov made no reference to the tensions but he told the forum that “Russian companies are fully committed to existing contracts” for gas supplies.

Russia currently accounts for 40 percent of gas used in Europe, and Qatar five percent.

The United States has asked Qatar to help Europe if Russian gas is cut. But Qatar and other producing countries insist that there are no major reserves that can be diverted to Europe, now paying record prices, unless existing customers, mainly in Asia, agree to give up promised supplies.

Qatar’s emir said forum countries were “working hard to ensure a credible and reliable supply of natural gas to world markets and preserve the stability of those markets”.

The emir and other speakers called for closer contacts with consumer markets to ensure a stable supply of gas, which the forum has been pushing as an essential part of the global drive towards cleaner energy.

The summit was also attended by presidents and prime ministers from Algeria, Iran, Mozambique, Equatorial Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said his country wanted to increase production and exports but was being held back by what he called “cruel and unnatural” US sanctions against his country.

Major powers are negotiating with Iran to revive an accord regulating its controversial nuclear programme that could provide relief from the crippling sanctions.

Even before the sharp rise in energy prices over the past year, the major gas-producing nations had said they needed long-term contracts to ensure a guaranteed supply to consumers.

The European Union has until recently resisted 10, 15 and 20 year contracts typical in the industry. But Qatar and others say that the massive investment needed to increase production meant they need long term deals.

Source: AFP

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Southern Cameroons Revolutionary Leader Forever

21, February 2022

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Southern Cameroons Revolutionary Leader Forever 0

Five years into the war in Southern Cameroons and four years ever since the leader of the Ambazonia Interim Government was arrested by Nigeria’s intelligence agency and handed over to the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the Southern Cameroons iconic leader, is still seen as the man capable of taking Ambazonians to Buea and a fighter who constantly gives Southern Cameroonians hope despite the hardships.

Thousands of Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora are now of the opinion that if President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was out of French Cameroun captivity, the problems that led to the split in the Ambazonia Interim Government would not have taken place, and that Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the artist of skilful diplomacy, would have found a way out of every predicament in the Southern Cameroons struggle.

Millions of Southern Cameroonians all over the globe also say that if Nigeria did not betray President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, he would never have allowed conditions in Ground Zero to move from bad to worse.

The changes in the Southern Cameroons resistance and battle for independence that have developed in Ground Zero, Ground One and in the diaspora since the arrest of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe have become more complex.

The Ambazonian leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine of his top aides were arrested inside NERA Hotel in Abuja, Nigeria.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe posters still hang on buildings and his pictures are drawn on major streets in towns and villages in Southern Cameroons.

His continued detention at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaoundé is now considered by a majority of Southern Cameroonians as a sign of his rejection to discuss the issue of separation on French Cameroun terms that falls short of Ambazonian aspirations for independence and statehood.

A group of Southern Cameroons Interim Government front line leaders including the man he entrusted the job of Communications Secretary, Chris Anu considered Sisiku Ayuk Tabe irrelevant and called for him to be killed in jail.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, who opted for resistance against La Republique du Cameroun following decades of marginalization, has remained defiant hoping that the Hand of God will help the people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia realize their statehood dream.

His aides who distanced themselves from the scandal hit Maryland cabal have always said that Sisiku Ayuk Tabe is not convinced French Cameroun under Biya is ready to make peace with the people of Southern Cameroons.

His successor, Sako Ikome, unlike Ayuk Tabe, was neither a fighter nor an intelligent man and did not believe in anything besides the money donated by the Diaspora for “My Trip To Buea”.

The recent crisis that has rocked the Maryland Sako IG crime syndicate has reinforced the Ambazonian’ belief that the so-called Sako-Chris Anu IG was not a partner for Southern Cameroons liberation war.

The only way to make Biya and French Cameroun change their positions vis-à-vis the crisis in Southern Cameroons would be a change in the positions of all Southern Cameroons diaspora groups. That change should include rallying behind Vice President Dabney Yerima.

The entire Maryland gangs have been thrown into a vicious cycle of instability. They succeeded in painting Sisiku Ayuk Tabe as the man who wanted to govern from prison and they won support from the diaspora and Ground One, but they have failed to neutralize Dabney Yerima, the symbol of the Southern Cameroons resistance who does not go around deceiving the Ambazonian people.

With the collapse of the Maryland cabal, the tools and the scenario in Ground Zero would be different in the coming days and weeks.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Bomb explodes in Yaoundé; Biya regime blames Ambazonia Interim Gov’t

21, February 2022

Bomb explodes in Yaoundé; Biya regime blames Ambazonia Interim Gov’t 0

At least 9 people were seriously wounded in a bomb blast in the nation’s capital Yaoundé today February 21 2022, police and emergency services said.

A box of tomatoes packed with explosives was detonated inside Marche d’Etoudi in the first district in Yaoundé some two kilometers from the presidential palace, a senior police officer in the capital, confirmed to Cameroon Concord News.

The powerful blast caused destruction of a business center in the area, our source added saying 9 people were wounded and were rushed to a local hospital.

No Southern Cameroons group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé through a statement posted on social media has blamed the attack on the Ambazonia Interim Government.

The latest blast comes amid tight security measures in the two Cameroons during the Africa Cup of Nations.  

By Rita Akana

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