Jean-Louis Beh Mengue, former general manager of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART), was sentenced Monday, November 1, 2021, to 20 years in prison by the Special Criminal Court in Yaounde.

The Beti-Ewondo French Cameroun political elite was prosecuted for misappropriation of public funds of nearly CFAF 400 million during his time at ART.

Claiming his innocence before the President Biya’s court, the former baron of the regime reportedly pleaded not guilty.

On October 8, his lawyers denounced the fact that the prosecution, based solely on the report of the control mission of the Supreme State Council.

Sacked in 2017, Jean-Louis Beh Mengue was placed in detention in the Kondengui Maximum Security prison on August 8, 2019.

With his conviction, he joins and extends the long and endless list of former strongmen of the Biya regime now incarcerated for embezzlement and or corruption.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as the President’s court is no misnomer.  Cameroon Concord News and the Cameroon Intelligence Report call it President Biya’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President 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 for trial. 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 country 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-eight years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

With the war in Southern Cameroons and the Boko Haram crisis, 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 so-called terror and the war against corruption.  True to the name the President’s Court, the President 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 late Minister Bapes Bapes released from remand custody at Kondengui when a warrant was issued for his arrest without the presidential fiat.  Prof Titus Edzoa a former Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic benefitted from a purported presidential pardon whose primary purpose was the release of a French citizen Thiery Atangana from jail.

The fear of a presidential referral to the Special Criminal Court on additional charges of corruption under a practice devolved under the supervision of Paul Biya called “rouleur compresseur” pushed Titus Edzoa   to rejoin the CPDM Party without a public resignation or repudiation of his membership of the party on which he intended to contest presidential elections prior to his incarceration.  Edzoa was a victim of this system of presidential justice when new charges were brought against him when his first imprisonment was about to end in other to maintain him in prison.

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

The Toronto meeting is finally over, with warring factions and stakeholders agreeing on key issues and the way forward.

The meeting, which brought together representatives of various groups in the Diaspora and on Ground Zero, has ended its deliberations and will be releasing an end of event press release very soon.

Be the first to know as our correspondents at the event will be offering you insightful analyses and perspectives.

Cameroonians across the globe have been scanning the horizon for five good years in search of hope and the Toronto meeting seems to be that bright spot the people of Cameroon have been searching.

After a few days of deliberations, the various factions are gradually inching towards meaningful agreements which might change the situation in Southern Cameroons.

Many factions present at the august meeting now hold that dialogue is the ideal way forward and key actors are gradually gyrating towards a federal system that will be similar to what obtains in Canada.

Speaking at one of the major sessions, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla made a strong case for federalism, arguing that Cameroon could still be united within a solid federal structure patterned on the Canadian system which has brought peace to Canada, a country that has had a history of dealing with linguistic minorities.

Participants at the Toronto meeting are narrowing their differences and now understand that fighting alone will not deliver the results they want and that the international community has little or no appetite for secession, especially those based on language.

The participants were carefully chosen and the civil society was invited and Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla who is known worldwide is a symbol of those who hold that Cameroon could be federally united and indivisible and his involvement in human right activities and legal justice make him a key player in the negotiations.

Conspicuously absent at the meeting are key members of the Sako faction which is currently embroiled in a bitter internecine fighting.

The fight between Dr. Sako Ikome, whose faction has been losing clout for sometime now, and Secretary Chris Anu has kept their faction from any preliminary talks.

A source at the Toronto meeting has hinted Cameroon Concord News Group that Dr. Sako who was once popular after the arrest of Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe is gradually being dumped on the ash heap  of history because of his extremist views.

The organizers of the conference which include the US State Department, the Vatican, Canada and Greenclee which negotiated the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland are hopeful that the meeting will deliver hope to a people who have been hopeless for more than four years.

“The objective of the meeting is to help all the factions to strike a good understanding of the situation and ensure that the message of peace being promoted by the Swiss team and other stakeholders is clearly and fully being understood by all the participants, including the Cameroon government which is using back channels to call for peace through talks,” a meeting participant who elected anonymity said on the sidelines of the meeting.

“All of us attending the meeting are gradually coming to terms with the fact that a military victory is impossible in Southern Cameroons. If we need peace, we must talk. We have to rise above our egos in order to bring peace to our people who have been suffering over the last five years because of a disagreement that could have been easily addressed,” the source added.

“We can never thank the organizers of this meeting enough. We are hoping that the government which has been using diplomatic means to pressure the various factions, will accept the proposals which will be submitted to it at the end of this important meeting,” the source stressed.

“The government must come to terms with the fact that Cameroon has changed for good. The current crisis is a clear indication that the country’s current political configuration needs an overhaul and that must come sooner rather than later. A new page of our history is being written in Toronto, Canada, and I hope future generations will be pleased with this major step that will help us put an end to the scourge of war that has killed many Cameroonians,” the source underscored.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

As of today, some one million Southern Cameroonians are either  internally displaced or are seeking refuge in a neighboring country due to a conflict many observers say was avoidable.

Thousands of army soldiers whose consciences could not allow them to kill innocent civilians have left the country to escape the harsh punishment the government inflicts on soldiers who do not want to implement the decisions of the top military brass.

The Toronto meeting is not a panacea and it is not designed to sweep key issues under the carpet. It is indeed an opportunity that will lead to other meetings which will be attended by most of the warring factions.

According to another participant who also elected anonymity, the meeting actually brought in many stakeholders, including  observers from the USA, Ireland, Britain, Switzerland, Norway, and Canada.

 Additionally, there were presentations by Canadian Professors and discussions on the Irish experience regarding the liberation war against the British, which also involved the IRA and Sein Fein.

The Toronto meeting has succeeded in its overall objective of bringing together the significant Southern Cameroonian groups in the Diaspora and Ground Zero.

Meeting participants resolved to work in synergy in the critical aspects of the struggle for decolonization.

They also resolved to begin discussions on working together as a cohesive visible movement with a clear and articulate agenda moving forward, in the key areas of the fight for freedom and humanitarian work.

The meeting, according to other participants, was just the first of many which will be held out of Cameroon, with each having a clear agenda, action points and time lines.

Cameroonians have a reason to be hopeful and both the participants and organizer of the Toronto 2021 meeting are relieved  that the very first step forward has been taken.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with correspondent reports

Another explosive has gone off in Lasin,  Bui Division, Northwest region of Cameroon, throwing the occupants of the targeted vehicle who were gendarmarie officers into the air.

The explosive went off on Monday after a similar incident in Buea in the Southwest region where a taxi was hit by an IED on Monday in the morning.

The targeted vehicle in Bui Division was damaged while its occupants had only mild injuries. The Yaounde government has recently increased the number of soldiers in the northwest region because of the increased violence but the deployment is unfortunately not delivering the expected results.

The use of IEDs in Cameroon’s dirty war has increased over the last four months, and it seems Southern Cameroonian fighters are now using mostly IEDs which, in their opinion, have proven to be very effective against the country’s military whose morale has taken a nosedive.

A source in the nation’s capital, Yaounde, has told the Cameroon Concord News Group that government officials are confused and do not know how to handle this new situation which is sending many young army soldiers to an early grave.

The war in Cameroon, which started as a disagreement between the Yaounde government and lawyers and teachers of English expression, is already into its fifth year, has already resulted in the death of some 10,000 Cameroonians, with army soldiers accounting for about 35% of the deaths.

The war has also resulted in massive displacements, with more than half a million of English-speaking Cameroonians seeking refuge in many regional countries, especially in Nigeria which borders Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

An improvised explosive device (IED) has gone off in Buea, Southwest region of Cameroon, riddling a taxi that was packed at the popular checkpoint where a five-year-old girl was killed some weeks ago and sending the taxi driver to a local hospital. No other casualties have been reported.

The explosion occurred today as the entire Southern Cameroons is observing ghost town orders. Ghost towns have been in effect for almost five years as a measure designed by separatists to cripple the government. 

It should be mentioned that Southern Cameroonian separatists are seeking the total independence of Southern Cameroons from the Republic of Cameroon which uses French as its official language.

For sometime now, some government-sponsored groups have been seeking to counter orders by separatists for ghosts town operations in the country’s two English-speaking regions and this is not going down well with the separatists who hold that ghost town operations have been effective and they have hit the country’s economy and goverment where it hurts the most.

According to a separatist fighter who elected anonymity, the IED that went off today in Buea was intended to remind residents of the city that they must respect the rules set by the separatists.

The separatist who called Cameroon Concord News Group said “we must enforce the law. Ghost towns mean ghost towns. Today’s explosion is simply a reminder to those who think they can change the rules.”

“We targeted the taxi because the driver thought he was above the law. This is Southern Cameroons and we will be in charge of this territory till further notice. Anybody who does not like our determination to bring justice and prosperity can move to another country. La République will be happy to receive such a person as he or she will only be one more slave who will serve the arrogant and heartless masters in Yaounde,” he said.

“We will continue to fight  for our independence until the corrupt Yaounde government comes to the negotiating table. Our efforts have already dealt a crippling blow to the economy and the corrupt Yaounde regime is feeling the pinch. We will bring the fake government to the negotiating table, using all the means available to us,” he reiterated.

It should be recalled that the two English-speaking regions of the country account for more than 40% of the country’s  gross domestic product, especially as the country’s oil and petroleum products come from the Southwest region and the Southwest region is the highest cocoa producer in the country. Cocoa production has declined over the last five as the fighting against the Yaounde dictatorial regime intensifies.

 It should also be reported that today’s incident occurred just a few days when a Southern Cameroons delegation of explosives experts left the country after training the fighters on how to manufacture deadly explosives and how to place them for greater impact.

A member of the delegation had informed the Cameroon Concord News Group’s editor in London that the fighting in the two English-speaking regions of the country would enter a new phase and explosives would be going off even in civilian locations to warn anybody who thought the insurgency was losing steam.

He added that the fighters were prepared and equipped to take the fight to the enemy, stressing that the Francophone majority must be dragged into the fighting by spreading fear and death.

He pointed out that the people in the South and Center regions of the country already knew how painful it was to lose a loved one because most of the soldiers killed in the battlefield were from those two regions of the country, adding that the worst was yet to happpen as death might now be coming their way as a mushroom cloud.

In recent years, Cameroon has become totally insecure, creating fear among the population that the country might become the next Zaire once the country’s president, exits the political scene or the world. The country’s crime rate has been on a steady increase, with women and children being the primary victims. Unemployment is on the rise and killings have increased across the country as the economy continues its unfortunate downward slide to total chaos.

In Mamfe today, there are reports of heavy gunfire, with many residents suggesting that the Yaounde government is incapable of restoring peace and security.

An 80-year-old woman in Mamfe has called his son who lives in Europe to indicate that she would be better off living out of Cameroon because of the escalating violence that is spreading across the country like wildlife.

The lady, whose name has been omitted for fear or reprisals, expressed her desperation and frustration by weeping over the phone, adding that at her age, she should be living happily in her native country, but the recklessness, incompetence and greed of the country’s leaders had set Cameroon on the path to an apocalypse whose consequences would endure and linger for a long time.

This new escalation of  violence comes at a time when the various factions in the war are meeting in Toronto, Canada, to find a way out of the conflict that has already consumed more than 10,000 lives, with soldiers accounting for more than 35% of the deaths.

The choice of Canada is only appropriate. Canada has always wanted to help broker a long-lasting agreement, given its own experience with minorities and its own version of democracy and federalism have brought solid peace to the country and generated wealth for all Canadian citizens regardless of their language of communication.

Toronto is also ideal for the meeting because it is the heart of the country’s private sector where much of the money that is financing the fighting in Cameroon comes from. Over the last twenty years, thousands of Southern Cameroonians have settled in the Greater Toronto Area, with many involved in various businesses which have transformed them into dollar millionaires.  They think they should participate in their country’s politics but the government’s greed and refusal to accept dual citizenship is robbing them of their dream.

Though there is no visible Cameroon government participation in the Toronto meeting, sources close to the Cameroon Concord News Group have said that the Yaounde government is using back channels and diplomatic means to call for negotiations that will not be humiliating to the country’s president.

“As you know, it was the country’s president who declared this war and other declarations by President Paul Biya have only made the war to escalate. In Yaounde, the appetite for peace and negotiations is high, but those close to the president want to save his reputation and image in any negotiations,” a source told the Cameroon Concord News Group’s North American correspondent.

“That was a huge blunder. As a statesman you must watch your words. Our president jumped the gun and this is hurting the country. Declaring that the form of the state was non-negotiable is one blunder that has come to bite Mr. Biya and his collaborators. They are ashamed of themselves. Nothing in this life is cast in stone. Cameroon will change and those of us within government circles know that many government officials are already talking about a 10-state federation, but will the separatists accept that offer? That is one thing that the meeting in Toronto has to deal with. Both parties involved in this conflict must learn how to yield some ground. They must meet each other halfway if peace must return,” the source said.

The Toronto meeting holds out a lot of hope for many Southern Cameroonians. Though it will not put an end to the conflict, it will indeed  lay the groundwork for further peace talks.

With the government pushing for peace talks behind the scenes, many hold that there is some light at the end of the tunnel though many observers warn that separatists must be very careful, adding that the Yaounde government cannot be trusted because it has the nasty habit of speaking from both sides of its mouth.

The world is watching and the general expectation is that an agreement should be reached in Toronto, Canada, so that more talks can take place.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with correspondent reports

Southern Cameroons Secretary of the Economy, Tabenyang Brado says the people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia are waiting for the French Cameroun regime under the 88-year-old Biya to adopt practical measures that will recognise the territorial integrity of the two Cameroons, stating that Southern Cameroonians have already had enough of empty words made by La republique du Cameroun.

Hon. Tabenyang Brado was reacting to recent statements made the the French Cameroun Minister of External Relations Lejeune Mbella Mbella expressing Yaounde’s frustration with the Ambazonia Interim Government.

The French Cameroun political elite Lejeune Mbella Mbella reportedly summoned ambassadors to a meeting on Thursday last week where he laid out the Biya Francophone regime’s position on the Southern Cameroons crisis.

“The government of Cameroon has undertaken the most expensive and extensive structural and administrative reforms in its recent history,” Mbella Mbella said. “As a key recommendation of the major national dialogue, the government tabled the bill to institute the special status. His excellency Paul Biya has also granted a general full amnesty to combatants who voluntarily drop their weapons.”

Secretary Brado Tabenyang noted that it is natural for the Ambazonia Interim Government not to think of dialogue with La Republique du Cameroun in any format until realities on the ground change.

Tabenyang stressed that the Southern Cameroons front line leaders meeting in Toronto, Canada is intended to ensure a definite, committed and practical return of unity among all restoration groups.

The Ambazonian war cabinet member went on to dismiss the French Cameroun government’s claim that Biya and his Francophone elites have unndertaken all steps for peace to return to Southern Cameroons, stating that Southern Cameroons is not a French Cameroun colony and  Yaounde’s plan and actions have so far failed to prove such a claim by Mr. Mbella Mbella.

Tabenyang Brado furthered that the people of Southern Cameroons have already had enough of empty words from France and their French Cameroun surrogates. “What Southern Cameroonians need now is action which includes the withdrawal of all Francophone army soldiers delpoyed to Southern Cameroons, released of all Southern Cameroons detainees including His Excellency President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides and the holding of an international summit on the crisis in Southern Cameroons in a neutral third country.”

By Isong Asu and Chi Prudence Asong

Troops loyal to the Francophone regime in Yaounde have killed six Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards in the Northwest, a senior Cameroon government military official said on Saturday.

Among those killed was a renowned Amba commander identified as “General Cross And Die”, Brigadier General Valere Nka, commander of the Francophone dominated army’s  5th Joint Military Region with command post in Bamenda, chief town of the Northwest region told reporters in Bamenda.

He said, the commander and five other Ambazonia Restoration fighters were killed in separate Cameroon government military operations on Friday in the localities of Bali and Mankon.

“The military is intensifying operations in the region to bring peace,” Nka said and added that the separatist commander was responsible for several attacks on civilians and military positions in the region.

In 2017, the people of Southern Cameroons under their leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe proclaimed their “independence”  from the majority French-speaking La Republique du Cameroun.

Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards have been clashing with government forces since then.

By Fon Lawrence with files from Xinhuanet