30, December 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Atanga Nji Boys planning new attacks in Bamenda ⁰

Southern Cameroons Interim Government has accused the pro French Cameroun militia group sponsored by Minister Paul Atanga Nji of plotting imminent attacks against Ambazonian citizens residing in Bamenda.

Vice President Dabney Yerima announced in a statement to Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces in Ground Zero on Tuesday that Atanga Nji Boys backed by some elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion deployed to the Northern Zone by the French Cameroun dictator, were planning to launch attacks against Southern Cameroons civilians in the coming days.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader observed that Yaoundé intends to blame the attacks on Ambazonia Restoration Forces and to use the attacks and remilitarize Buea, Mutengene, Tiko, Limbe in order to guarantee security for the African Nations Football Championship (CHAN) initially scheduled to have taken place in April 2020 but was postponed to early 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic and it is now set to run from January 16 to February 7 2021.

Dabney Yerima also pointed out to the fighters that the Interim Government has recently developed a plan that will be implemented in 2021 to protect every Southern Cameroons County.

Yerima added that self defense actions against the French Cameroun enemy will no longer be made public and that order of operations will remain secret.

By Fon Lawrence

29, December 2020

France: Fashion designer Pierre Cardin dies at 98 ⁰

Legendary French fashion designer Pierre Cardin died Tuesday at the age of 98 at a hospital in Neuilly in western Paris, his family told AFP.

Cardin was born in Italy in 1922 but emigrated to France as a small child.

Cutting his teeth working at top couture houses such as Christian Dior, Cardin went on to launch his own brand and pioneered the use of licensing in fashion, plastering his label’s name on products of all kinds. His savvy business sense brought him a mix of admiration but also scorn from fashion purists at the time.

In the 1960s and ’70s he upended traditional fashion with his futuristic, avant-garde looks. He became known for his visionary creations, shaking up fashion with bubble dresses and geometrical designs. Cardin was also one of the first to bring high fashion to the masses by selling collections in department stores beginning in the late 1950s.

While he no longer presented runway collections in his later years, Cardin remained active in the industry, attending parties and events and taking young designers under his wing.

He had previously been a mentor to prominent designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.

His death was also announced by France’s Academy of Fine Arts on Twitter.

“It is with great sadness that the members of the Academy of Fine Arts announce the death of their fellow member Pierre Cardin,” the academy tweeted.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

29, December 2020

Biya’s New Year Speech will instead sow more anger, confusion and doubts ⁰

Biya and his Francophone Beti Ewondo gangs are already setting out new political terminologies in a bid to steady a failed nation and a diving economy in the president’s 2020 end of year address to the nation. But this time around, those empty speeches will instead sow more anger, confusion and doubts that the 87-year-old dictator is up to handling the fast-worsening political and security situation in the two Cameroons.

The French Cameroun monarch did not speak to the Cameroonian people during that dreadful moment of the coronavirus pandemic when the rhythms of everyday Cameroonian life was shutting down — with schools and businesses closing, local football league suspended, hospitals were being deserted by HIV and cancer patients who feared for their lives.

Cameroon state radio and television (CRTV) instead fed the public with stories that the President unveiled via Prime Minister Dion Ngute several measures to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. In the next 48 hours, Biya’s speech will leave many Cameroonians in Limbo. However, millions of Southern Cameroonians will follow but the 2021 policy speech of the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government, Dabney Yerima.

Millions of Southern Cameroonians cannot put food on the table! Thousands are living in the bushes and thousands are now refugees in neighboring countries. The story is becoming more intractable in La Republique du Cameroun with a majority of French Cameroonians now saying Biya is the worst ever in their nation’s history.

Biya is indeed the worst leader Africa has ever seen and after 38 years as head of state, he is now a good example to illustrate that practice does not make perfect. He is not only proven to be incompetent but he is indeed truly inhumane. With the backing of the French government and French multinationals, he does not give a damn about anything but lying about it all, claiming that he is a wise leader and faking his own greatness through some half-baked French Cameroun political elites. This has been demonstrated by everything French and Southern Cameroonians have seen over the last 38 years and we of the Cameroon Concord News and the Cameroon Intelligence Report are saying that this complete and total mess must be his legacy and those such as Simon Achidi Achu, Chief VE Mukete, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Yang Philemon, Itoe Benjamin, Dion Ngute, Paul Tasong, Paul Atanga Nji and a host of other Southern Cameroons stooges and enablers who have ignored and empowered Biya and solicited this brand of his own horrible actions towards citizens of the two Cameroons. Biya must be remembered as the worst leader ever and many Southern Cameroonians should be ready to spit on the graves of his Southern Cameroons acolytes once their remains are brought home to Ambazonia.

Biya’s ruling CPDM crime syndicate is made up of dangerous white collar criminals, all rotten to the core. Africa has never seen anything like Biya. His kind of insensitivity to humanity, his disregard for justice, the Holy Roman Catholic Church that raised him up and he is literally no friend to Islam and he’s been the President of La Republique du Cameroun for 38 good years?

We of the Concord Group do not care what your religion is? But who governs like this and still receives Holy Communion? Who does this by all accounts and is still being referred to as the Father of the nation? What is this Biya thing really about?

Everyone within the consortium of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate including the army now seems confused. But the good news is, the man Biya is the worst ever. He’s been terrible for his own family because nobody knows what the hell he is about anymore and neither do his blood relations.

After 38 years as head of state, the two Cameroons are now on their knees and the only chance for the citizens to get to a better place is for the army to step in and get rid of this outrageous man.

By Chi Prudence Asong

29, December 2020

CHAN to take place in Cameroon with spectators in attendance despite Covid-19 ⁰

CAF has confirmed the African Nations Football Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon to take place with fans allowed into the stadia with COVID-19 measures implemented.

Initially scheduled to have taken place in April 2020, the tournament was postponed to early 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic.

It is now set to run from January 16 to February 7 2021.

According to the Journal du Cameroon, the Sports and Physical Education Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi was informed of this decision during a working visit to the Amadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé.

Mouelle Kombi stated that during group matches, the stadiums will be filled at 25 per cent capacity.

“CAF has delivered a satisfactory certificate to Cameroon in which she indicates the percentage of stadia occupation in line with health exigencies outlines by FIFA,” said Mouelle Kombi.

“Twenty five per cent of spectators will be admitted in the different stadia during the first phase of the competition, that is group matches.”

He suggested that this could rise to 50 per cent in the knockout phases of the competition.

In a previous stadium visit in Douala, Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute added that he was “sure” that by the time the competition starts, the COVID-19 situation in Africa will have improved.

To date, there have been more than 26,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cameroon, resulting in the deaths of 448 people.

The cities of Yaounde, Douala and Limbe are set to host matches at the Championship.

CHAN is one of two international continental men’s football competitions sanctioned by CAF along with the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Africa Cup of Nations allows all players who play internationally for African teams to compete, while the CHAN only permits players involved in domestic leagues to compete.

Cameroon’s side will be solely made up of Cameroonian players playing football in their home league.

Source: Ghanasoccernet

29, December 2020

Biya regime orders investigation after bus crashes kill 39 ⁰

Scores of Cameroonians have been visiting mortuaries to identify and collect the bodies of relatives who perished in two bus crashes Sunday that left 39 people dead between the capital Yaoundé and the western commercial city of Bafoussam.

Flavien Awanou, a social worker in the western commercial town of Bafoussam said he has been in search of his two children since he was informed of Sunday’s accidents.

He said a phone call from the police informed him that his son and daughter were involved in a deadly accident in Nemale village in the Ndikinimiki administrative unit.

Awanou said after a fruitless search at Ndikinimiki and Makenene hospitals, he has come to Yaoundé to find out if his children are in any hospital or their bodies are in any mortuary. Awanou said his children were returning from Bafoussam where they had spent Christmas with him to celebrate the change from 2020 to 2021 with their mother in the capital Yaoundé.

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameron minister of territorial administration who was sent to the scene by President Paul Biya, described what he found.

Nji said the first accident occurred at 3 a.m. Sunday when a 70-seat bus from the western towns of Foumban and Bafoussam crashed on the Nemale bridge near the town of Makenene. The bus landed in a 30-meter-deep dry riverbed.

The second occurred when another bus hit civilians and rescue workers who were helping victims of the first accident.

“Two accidents occurred in the same place. We have come here to extend the heartfelt condolences of President Paul Biya to the bereaved families and also the wish of the head of state that the wounded should be treated quickly, Nji said. “We will have a report which will be sent to the head of state and to the prime minister head of government so that we can have further instructions.”

Cameroon transport minister Jean Ernest Messina Ngale Bibehe was also sent to the scene by Biya. He said the government has ordered investigations on the causes of the accidents.

Bibehe said it was a black Sunday in Cameroon as so many lives were lost in less than 24 hours. He said the government took all necessary measures to avoid road accidents during this end of year period when many people are traveling by warning drivers against excessive speed. He said unfortunately, some drivers disrespect the driving code especially on roads where there are no police officers who can charge the drivers for misconduct.

He said road users should respect driving norms and stop the many accidents and deaths that occur every year in Cameroon.

During the past 10 years, Cameroon has reported an average of more than 16,000 road accidents killing close to 2,000 people each year.

The government blames the over-importation of secondhand cars, mechanical failure, the use of old and worn tires, hazardous overtaking, excessive speed and the bad state of roads.

Source: VOA

28, December 2020

“Do you think Southern Cameroons should produce the next president in La Republique du Cameroun” ⁰

The Southern Cameroons Crisis is now in its fourth year and showing no signs of ending!! Thousands of Southern Cameroonians including women and children have died since President Biya declared his war against the English speaking people of British Southern Cameroons.

More than a quarter of the Southern Cameroons population has fled their homes. Of these, 70,000 are refugees in neighbouring Nigeria.

Even though bloodshed has receded in intensity over the last few months, violence between Cameroon government army soldiers and Ambazonia Restoration Forces remains chronic. Southern Cameroons Self Defense groups loyal to Vice President Dabney Yerima and the Ambazonia Interim Government hold sway over two-thirds of Southern Cameroons territory.

In keeping the two Cameroons together, Biya is not a cure; Biya has never been a cure. Biya was never going to be a cure. In the words of Cameroon Concord News Group London Bureau Chief Isong Asu, Biya was a French virus injected to make the peoples of the two Cameroons sick.

In this last edition of the 2020 AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE, we are asking our readers to make known their positions to the world on this very important issue:

DO YOU THINK SOUTHERN CAMEROONS SHOULD PRODUCE THE NEXT PRESIDENT IN LA REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN?

28, December 2020

Football: Brazil’s Neymar plans huge New Year’s party despite Covid pandemic ⁰

Brazil’s star footballer Neymar is at the center of a new controversy storm after several Brazilian media reported that he’s organizing a huge New Year’s Eve party despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Acelmo Goes, a columnist for the O Globo newspaper, claimed that the Paris Saint-Germain forward is hosting 500 people for a week-long party at his luxury beachside mansion near Rio de Janeiro that started on Saturday and will last until New Year’s Day.

Brazil has suffered the second largest number of Covid-19 related deaths in the world with more than 191,000, while 7.4 million people have contracted the virus.

Neymar, who is no stranger to controversies over his parties, allegedly even installed soundproofing equipment to try to avoid bothering his neighbors.

Leo Dias, a columnist for the Metropoles website who is renowned for his scoops on celebrities, even named the artists due to perform at Neymar’s party, such as Ludmilla and Wesley Safadao.

Guests’ mobile phones are allegedly due to be confiscated on the door to prevent any evidence finding its way onto social media.

Representatives for Neymar denied the rumors, releasing a statement saying there would be “no party” in Neymar’s villa.

A specialist events agency, Agencia Fabrica, released a statement confirming it had been contracted for a New Year’s event in the Costa Verde region where Neymar’s villa is located “that will host around 150 people … while respecting all the health rules determined by the public bodies.”

Neymar’s villa is in Mangaratiba, a small town in an area of luxury seaside resorts in Rio de Janeiro state.

The local town hall has pleaded with its 41,000 inhabitants not to hold end of year parties and has erected barriers to prevent people congregating.

“We don’t have any information about this party,” the town hall said in a statement sent to AFP.

Neymar, who hasn’t played since December 13 when he injured his ankle against Lyon, hasn’t commented on the party and in recent days has posted pictures of his family on social media without commentaries.

His Mangaratiba mansion is located on a 10,000m2 plot of land that includes a heliport, sports pitches, spa, sauna, massage parlor, gymnasium and dining areas.

It’s where he previously spent his time recovering from injuries and also where he headed from March to June when the coronavirus was raging in France leading to the suspension of professional football.

Source: AFP

28, December 2020

French Cameroun Crisis: Armed Central African Republic fighters take 3 gendarmes hostage in Adamaoua ⁰

Three French Cameroun gendarmes have reportedly been taken hostage by French backed rebels fighting the legitimate government in the Central African Republic. Local media says the incident took place on December 26, 2020 in a village in Adamaoua, near the border with the mineral-rich but poverty-stricken nation that has been unstable since independence 60 years ago.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the rebels have demanded the sum of 15 million FCFA from each of the French Cameroun security agents.

The three gendarmes were put on mission to strengthen border security in the Adamaoua region when they were ambushed by elements of the rebel faction loyal to General Abbas Sidiki, the leader of Central African Republic’s so-called “3R” (Return, Claim and Rehabilitation).

We understand the three French Camerounian gendarmes are currently being held in Ngaoui, a village in the Adamaoua region near the Central African Republic.

The group that is receiving financial and material support from France in its war against the regime in Bangui claimed via an audio message that “if the sum is paid, the gendarmes will be released but without their weapons or their vehicle.”

The 3R militia is the largest armed group in the Central African Republic. Its leader, Bi Sidi Souleymane alias Sidiki Abbas, is a Cameroonian who has presented himself on the CEMAC political space as the defender of the Fulani people.

In August 2020, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against General Sidiki Abbas. According to the US authorities, the 3R group has killed, tortured, raped and displaced thousands of civilians since 2015 and Mr. Souleymane himself is said to have participated in these atrocities.

General Sidiki Abbas is also on the UN sanctions list.

By Rita Akana

28, December 2020

French Cameroun: 37 killed in road accident ⁰

Thirsty-seven people died in a road accident in Cameroon early Sunday with 19 others seriously injured, according to local authorities.

The accident took place in Ndikinimeki of Mbam-et-Inoubou division in central Cameroon. A 70-seat bus oversped and crashed into a parked truck, according to Absalom Woloa Monono, prefect of Mbam-et-Inoubou.

“The bus then lost control and ran violently over Nemale Bridge and tumbled into the stream and stopped on the bank of the stream,” Monono told Xinhua on phone, adding that the 19 injured have been evacuated to a local hospital for treatment.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash. Such accidents in Cameroon are often linked to the poor state of roads and drivers’ ignorance.

The Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in Cameroon.

Source: Xinhuanet

28, December 2020

Europe rolls out mass vaccinations in bid to beat Covid-19 ⁰

EU countries on Sunday embarked on a vaccination campaign to defeat the “nightmare” of Covid-19, with the first to be immunised expressing emotion after their jab and leaders hailing a milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

The vaccine is a glimmer of hope for a continent yearning for a return to normal from a pandemic that has killed 1.76 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year and caused at least 80 million confirmed cases, according to an AFP tally.

But polls have shown many Europeans are unwilling to take the vaccine, which could impede its effectiveness in beating the virus, while it will take months for large chunks of the population to be immunised.

“It is with deep pride and a deep sense of responsibility that I got the vaccine today. A small gesture but a fundamental gesture for all of us,” said Claudia Alivernini, 29, an Italian nurse who was the first in her country to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech jab Sunday morning.

In Greece, the first in line was nurse Efstathia Kampissiouli who flashed a V-sign while being vaccinated and later told Ert TV it was “a great honour for me but also for those working on the front line.”

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the campaign start as a “touching moment of unity and a European success story”, adding the process will “help to get our normal lives back gradually.”

Countries are however showing different strategies, with Italy focusing on health workers, France the elderly and in the Czech Republic, Greece and Slovakia political leaders at the front of the queue.

Things ‘might actually get worse’

But the introduction of the vaccine worldwide is far from the end of the crisis. In a bleak assessment, top US government scientist Anthony Fauci warned Sunday that “as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse”.

Israel on Sunday began a nationwide two-week lockdown—its third since the pandemic started—after a sharp rebound in the infection rate.

A new strain of the virus that emerged in Britain has already reached several other European countries as well as Japan, Canada and Jordan and intensified fears of more Covid-19 havoc to come.

The new strain—which experts believe is more contagious—prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK.

Echoing concerns from officials across the continent, Health Minister Olivier Veran said France has not ruled out imposing a third nationwide lockdown if coronavirus cases continue to rise after the holiday season.

He said it would become clear in the next months if the vaccine might not just stop people falling sick but also prevent the virus from being passed on.

“This would allow us to leave this nightmare quicker,” he said.

‘Felt nothing’

Some EU countries began vaccinating on Saturday, a day before the official start, with a 101-year-old woman in a care home becoming the first person in Germany to be inoculated and Hungary and Slovakia also handing out their first shots.

Araceli Rosario Hidalgo Sanchez, a 96-year-old living in a care home in central Spain became the first person in the country to be vaccinated on Sunday, in an event broadcast by national television. She said smilingly she felt “nothing” from the shot.

France began its campaign in care homes for the elderly in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, a low-income area hard hit by Covid-19, with a 78-year-old woman named Mauricette the first to receive the jab to applause from staff.

“We have a new weapon against the virus—the vaccine,” tweeted President Emmanuel Macron.

But a poll published in the Journal du Dimanche saying 56 percent of French people do not plan to take the jab.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described the vaccine as a “ray of light in the darkness”. One of the first Swedes to get the vaccine, Stig Larsson, 89, said he “did not hesitate” about being inoculated.

‘Winning formula’

Britain, China, Russia, Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Serbia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have already begun their vaccination campaigns.

Vaccines other than the Pfizer-BioNTech jab are also in the pipeline, and the United States, where over a million people have already been vaccinated, last week began jabs with the vaccine developed by US biotech firm Moderna.

Meanwhile the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca have applied to the UK authorities for permission to roll out their Covid-19 vaccine, which chief executive Pascal Soriot described as a “winning formula”.

Source: AFP