12, October 2020

Exiled Southern Cameroons Vice President faces death threat ⁰

Swiss and Dutch police have opened a joint investigation into a murder threat against the Ambazonia Vice President, Dabney Yerima as the resistance against French Cameroun regional elections and school resumption heats up. And this was confirmed to Cameroon Concord News Group by an aide to the Vice President, who said he was officially informed of the threat by the Comrade Dabney Yerima.

We understand security has now being increased around the Ambazonian leader. The Vice President was in Switzerland when he started receiving threats from a telephone number he does not recognize. The Ambazonia Interim Government issued a statement late on Sunday stating that threat against the Vice President and any Southern Cameroons public official at this time was a cause for concern.

Reports have been circulating in Europe that the regime in Yaoundé has put a one million dollar “hit” on the head of Southern Cameroons Vice President.

Dabney Yerima told Southern Cameroonians at a recent protest march in Swiss that persons linked to the French Cameroun regime want to have him killed.

“When I’m not under attack from French Cameroun agents who they hire to kill me, I’m under attack from pro Yaounde Southern Cameroonians who they hire to lie about the Interim Government” Yerima added.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Holland

11, October 2020

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo on an ECOWAS Mission in Mali ⁰

The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, who is also the current President of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is on a mission of the 15 nation-bloc in Bamako.

He was received by the transitional president Bah Ndaw on Sunday to take stock of the political transition and discuss the next steps to ensure that the deadline of the eventual election is met.

All activity is towards regional solidarity with the now embargo-free Mali still regrouping post-coup d’état August.

The Ghanaian president is the first head of state to visit the West African nations since the ECOWAS-imposed sanctions were lifted.

Source: Africa News

11, October 2020

Nadal beats Djokovic to win his 13th French Open, ties Federer with 20th Grand Slam title ⁰

Rafael Nadal demolished Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to win his 13th French Open and equal Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles on Sunday.

For world number one Djokovic, the defeat ended his hopes of an 18th Slam and of becoming the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win all four majors twice.

Nadal, 34, claimed his 100th match win at Roland Garros against just two defeats since his 2005 debut.

The Spaniard, the oldest champion in Paris since Andres Gimeno in 1972, claimed the title without dropping a set.

He finished the one-sided affair with just 14 unforced errors to his opponent’s 52.

“Congrats to Novak for another great tournament. Sorry for today. We’ve played plenty of times together – one day one wins, another the other,” said Nadal.

“After all the things I have been through in my career with injuries, I could not have done it without my family.”

Nadal said he wasn’t even thinking about matching Federer’s record.

“It’s been a very tough year. Winning here means everything to me so it’s not about equalling Roger on 20, for me today it’s just a Roland Garros victory,” said Nadal who had skipped the US Open due to the global health crisis and was playing just his second tournament since February.

“Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent most of the most important moments of my tennis career here.

“Just playing here is a true inspiration. The love story I have with this court and city is unbelievable.”

Federer, who sat out the tournament to recover from knee surgery, hailed Nadal’s 13th French Open victory as “one of sport’s greatest achievements”.

“I have always had the utmost respect for my friend Rafa as a person and a champion,” Federer tweeted on Sunday.

“As my greatest rival over many years, I believe we have pushed each other to become better players. Therefore it is a true honour for me to congratulate him on his 20th Grand Slam victory,” Federer wrote.

“It is especially amazing that he has won Roland Garros an incredible 13 times which is one of the greatest achievements in sport. I hope the 20 is just another step on the continuing journey for both of us,” the Swiss player added.

‘King of clay’

For Djokovic, it was just his second loss of 2020 following his default at the US Open.

“Today, Rafa showed why you are the king of clay. I was out-played by a better player.”

Nadal also used his victory speech to thank organisers for staging the tournament, pushed back from its traditional May-June slot due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I want to send a message to everyone around the world. We are facing one of the worst moments that we remember in this world, fighting against this virus. Keep going, stay positive.

“We will get through this and we will beat the virus soon.”

The 56th meeting between the world’s top two started under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier, intensifying the echo of a crowd limited to 1,000 due to the pandemic.

Conventional wisdom suggested that would favour Djokovic but nobody told Nadal who broke three times in the 45-minute opening set.

The Spaniard hit 10 winners and just two unforced errors.

Djokovic’s error count was 13 with the out-of-sorts Serb even squandering three break points of his own in the fourth game.

More worrying for the world number one—Nadal improved to 111-0 when winning the first set of best-of-five matches on clay in his career.

It was the first opening set ‘bagel’ in a Roland Garros final since 2004 when Gaston Gaudio recovered to defeat Argentine compatriot Guillermo Coria in five sets.

Djokovic finally got on the board with a service hold in the first game of the second set but Nadal maintained his relentless push, going to a double break for 4-1 as even the Serb’s usual deft touches on the drop shot deserted him.

Nadal wrapped up a two-set lead with his unforced error count at just six to Djokovic’s 30.

Nadal broke for the sixth time for a 3-2 lead in the third before Djokovic suddenly restored his reputation as the sport’s best returner by carving out his first break of the afternoon for 3-3.

However, there was to be no miracle recovery as a double fault handed Nadal a 6-5 lead and he took the title with an ace.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

11, October 2020

Sako Ikome, Boh Herbert, Chris Anu are French Cameroun crime syndicate figures ⁰

The disgraced former Southern Cameroons Acting President Dr Sako Ikome including his Maryland colleagues are all French Cameroun organized crime figures furthering the Biya- Atanga Nji-Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh agenda in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

These Maryland based successful failures have broken a long-standing tradition of Southern Cameroons leaders of being defiant to the regime in La Republique du Cameroun and they are helping the Biya regime to implement a vicious and malicious policy in Ambazonia which is taking a turn for the worse in the crisis that has rocked the two Cameroons.

Sako and his acolytes are now part of a group which is working tirelessly to stifle the Ambazonia revolution and implement a French Cameroun deal; something that President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the people of Southern Cameroons think it’s the greatest and shameful betrayal of the struggle.

Many in Ground Zero now think that the handful of Southern Cameroonians on this Sako and Chris Anu path sooner or later will have no choice but to end their malign activity. Sako and Chris Anu of course were not known figures in Southern Cameroons until Sisiku Ayuk Tabe brought both men into the limelight-today the two are all-out organized crime figures. The Biya French Cameroun regime has rewarded both men and their crime syndicate by footing the bills of their propaganda network-ABC TV.

So now Sako Ikome with a PhD attached to his name is yelling about how he is the legitimate leader of the people of Southern Cameroons and telling Ambazonians in the diaspora that his wonderful effort designed to take Southern Cameroonians to Buea which is just on the brink of a victory that nobody else sees will somehow be totally thwarted by the legitimate Interim Government of Vice President Dabney Yerima. This is what is making the hard-line French Cameroun CPDM extremist in Yaoundé who bankrolled the arrest and illegal abduction of Ambazonian leaders in Abuja “begeistert”- to use this German word.

All of this is the Paul Tasong-Atanga Nji-Musonge French Cameroun poverty agenda. That’s the reason Sako is still passing for a legitimate Southern Cameroons leader. And so Sako, Fru John Nsoh, Boh Herbert and Chris Anu are quite right, that if they surrender their loyalty to Vice President Yerima who has the support of the people of Southern Cameroons, they shall no longer be front liners in the struggle. What’s really outrageous here is that an organized crime syndicate associated with the enemy and the most radical wing of a French Cameroun genocide project is allowed by Ambazonians in Europe and the US including Canada to operate in the Southern Cameroons social media space the way it is presently doing.

Sako Ikome is a disgrace. Chris Anu is a disgrace and indeed the entire ABC TV panel including Boh Herbert and Fru John Nsoh is an absolute disgrace.

By Chi Prudence Asong

11, October 2020

Ivory Coast opposition rallies against president’s third term bid ⁰

Thousands of opposition supporters have rallied in Abidjan to protest against Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara’s plan to seek a third term, as tensions rise in the lead-up to the country’s high-stakes election.

Three weeks before the October 31 vote, some 20,000 people made their way into a stadium in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital by early afternoon on Saturday, with some holding banners reading: “The people say no to an illegal third term.”

Ouattara, 78, announced in August he will seek another term after the sudden death of his handpicked successor the previous month created a leadership vacuum at the governing RDHP party.

The president’s decision infuriated the opposition who says Ouattara is violating the constitution by seeking another term. Ouattara, in power for a decade, says a 2016 constitutional change means his two-term limit has been reset.

The constitutional council has cleared him and three other candidates to run, including 86-year-old former President Henri Konan Bedie. Those barred include Ouattara’s predecessor Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, both of whom played key roles in a crisis that claimed more than 3,000 lives after disputed elections a decade ago. Both men are living outside the country but retain powerful support at home.

More than a dozen people have been killed in violent protests in recent weeks, sparking memories of the 2010-2011 civil war that broke out when Gbagbo refused to stand down after the electoral commission declared Ouattara the winner.

Opposition figures have called for a civil disobedience campaign and for the election to be postponed, but have stopped short of saying they will boycott the poll, while the RDHP has said the election will take place regardless of whether they participate.

Protester Bohui Armel said the people taking part in Saturday’s rally wanted “to simply to say no to Ouattara’s third term”.

“This is not a political party story. It is not a story of sympathisers but it is a story of the people of Ivory Coast who want to claim their freedom.”

“My advice to President Ouattara is that Ivorians should sit down to discuss. We want peace. We don’t want war,” Eve Botti, a supporter of the FPI opposition party, told the Reuters news agency.

The polls are seen as the biggest test yet of the tenuous stability achieved in the world’s top cocoa producer since the post-election violence that engulfed the country a decade ago.

“This is an extremely big test for Ivory Coast,” Jessica Moody, a researcher in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera last month. “There is a high risk that the election will be contentious and will send the country back to war.”

Amid the rising tensions, envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc, the African Union and the United Nations headed earlier this week to Abidjan where they met officials, the opposition and members of the civil society.

“The joint mission expressed deep concern over the lack of trust among Ivorian political actors,” according to a joint statement from the delegation led by Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Ghana’s foreign minister and current chair of the ECOWAS council of ministers.

The delegation “strongly condemned the acts of violence and hate speech with ethnic overtones, which have unfortunately entered the field of political competition and are likely to have a negative impact on the progress made so far in the country”. it said.

This week’s mission was the second by the UN’s special envoy for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chamba, who last month called for a “peaceful, inclusive, transparent and credible presidential election” after meeting with President Ouattara.

The International Crisis Group last week called for the election to be postponed and for ballot preparations to be overhauled.

“The chances of this election spawning a serious crisis are high,” the independent think-tank said.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

10, October 2020

Trump resumes campaigning with White House event as second debate is cancelled ⁰

US President Donald Trump made his first public appearance since returning to the White House on Monday from a three-day stay in hospital for Covid-19, even as his aides remained silent on whether he is still contagious.

Trump spoke from the White House balcony at an event called ‘a peaceful protest for law & order,’ attended by a few hundred people standing on the lawn below. His appearance is seen as a first step toward resuming full campaigning next week.

Trump appeared maskless, declaring from the White House balcony: “I am feeling great.”

“I want you to know our nation is going to defeat this terrible China virus,” Trump told the cheering crowd, most wearing masks but with very little social distancing at the outdoor event.

“It’s going to disappear, it is disappearing,” the president said of the virus, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans and severely dented his chances of winning a second term on November 3.

The Republican president will travel on Monday to central Florida, a state crucial to his re-election hopes.

He will stage his first campaign rally since his coronavirus diagnosis at an airport in the town of Sanford. The campaign did not disclose if it would be held in a hangar with doors open, as it has in the past, or entirely outside.

As the president prepared to return to the trail, the body that oversees presidential debates said the match-up between Trump and Biden, the Democratic candidate, scheduled for October 15 had been formally canceled.

Trump refused to participate in what was supposed to be the second of three debates with Biden after the Commission on Presidential Debates switched it to a virtual contest in the wake of the president’s illness.

The final debate on October 22 is still set to take place.

‘Superspreader event’

Questions remain about whether Trump, who announced on October 2 he had the virus and spent three nights in a military hospital, is still contagious.

In an appearance on Fox News on Friday evening, Trump said he was tested again for the virus but did not disclose the result. He also said he had stopped taking medications to combat it. “I feel really strong,” Trump said.

The illness has kept him from holding public rallies and attending fundraisers at a critical juncture of the campaign. He trails Biden in opinion polls with just weeks to go before the election.

Attendees at the Florida rally will be given a temperature check, masks that they will be encouraged to wear and access to hand sanitizer, the campaign said.

Biden sharply criticized Trump’s decision to resume campaigning. “Good luck. I wouldn’t show up unless you have a mask and can distance,” he told reporters in Paradise, Nevada. Trump and his administration have faced criticism for their handling of the pandemic, as well as for a lax approach to mask-wearing and social distancing in the White House and – in recent days – confusing messages about how ill the president has been.

At least 11 people who attended a White House event on September 26 where Trump announced his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court have since tested positive.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, on Friday called it a “superspreader event.”

“It was in a situation where people were crowded together, were not wearing masks. So the data speak for themselves,” Fauci told CBS Radio.

‘He wants to be out there’

Nine Covid-19 cases have also been linked to a Trump rally in Bemidji, Minnesota on September 18, the state’s health department said on Friday, according to local media.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the president was eager to resume campaigning but would do so safely. “He wants to talk to the American people, and he wants to be out there,” she told Fox News.

“There are medical tests underway that will ensure that when the president is back out he will not be able to transmit the virus,” McEnany added.

With Trump’s management of the pandemic dominating the campaign, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Americans steadily losing confidence in how he has managed the health crisis – with his net approval on the issue hitting a new low.

McEnany is one of a string of Trump aides, including his campaign manager, who have tested positive in the last week as the virus spread within the White House and Trump campaign.

Biden has continued to campaign during Trump’s illness, spending the day in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At a drive-in rally where people attended in vehicles, Biden ripped Trump for careless behavior since being infected with the virus.

“His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis, the destabilizing effect it’s having on our government is unconscionable. He didn’t take the necessary precautions to protect himself or others. And the longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he gets,” said Biden, who gave the entire speech wearing a surgical mask and his signature aviator sunglasses.

The attendees honked horns to sound their approval.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)

10, October 2020

UN Petition Filed for Cameroonian Journalist Thomas Awah ⁰

Freedom Now and Dechert LLP filed a petition with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Cameroonian journalist Thomas Awah, Jr. Freedom Now and Dechert LLP argue that Cameroon’s detention of Awah violates the government’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The continued detention of Thomas Awah, Jr. is yet another example of Cameroon’s sustained campaign against media freedom,” said Freedom Now Legal Officer Adam Lhedmat. “We are confident that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will conclude Awah’s fundamental human rights have been violated, primarily his right to freedom of expression. Freedom Now calls on the Cameroonian government to abide by its international commitments and immediately release Awah and all other journalists imprisoned in Cameroon.”

Prior to his arrest, Awah worked in the Anglophone region as a correspondent for the privately-owned Afrik 2 Radio, as publisher Aghem Messenger magazine, and communications secretary of the non-violent secessionist Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), a group banned by the government. He had prior encounters with the government due to his journalism and activism and has been detained on several occasions in 2015, though he has never been tried or convicted before.

His most recent arrest occurred on January 2, 2017 when he was seeking to interviewing residents of a town in the Anglophone region of Cameroon. Military officers placed Awah under arrest without a warrant or under any specific charges once he identified himself as a journalist. The officers discovered Awah was carrying SCNC documents when they searched him. Two weeks later, the government banned the SCNC on national security grounds.

After his arrest, Awah was taken to an unknown prison where he was interrogated for four hours about the Anglophone secessionist movement. On the same evening, he was transferred nearly 250 miles away to the capital city, Yaoundé, for pre-trial detention.

In May 2018, Awah was tried before a military tribunal along with two other journalists, Tsi Conrad and Mancho Bibixy, as well as five other Anglophone detainees; despite the men having no apparent relationship. It was here that Awah first learned of the charges against him, which included terrorism, hostility to the fatherland, secession, revolution, insurrection, the spreading of false news, the spreading of false news through electronic means, and contempt for civil authority. After a one-day trial he was found guilty of these charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Awah is currently detained in Kondengui Central Prison, where he shares an overcrowded cell with 25 other prisoners, several of whom are forced to sleep on the ground for lack of beds. He suffers from several medical conditions, including tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis, which have been exacerbated by poor prison conditions.

10, October 2020

MTN Cameroon commits to two-year recruitment drive ⁰

MTN Cameroon has entered into a two-year partnership agreement with the country’s National Employment Fund (NEF) to source and employ local human resources for its operations.

The partnership seeks to scale up employment as well as improve the quality of human resources in the country. It will be implemented through NEF’s three core programmes: Employment Program for Graduate Citizens, Youth Employment Retirement Programme and Support Programme for the Return of Cameroonian Immigrants.

Between 2019 and 2020, the telecommunications operator trained 200 trainees and job seekers over a period of three to six months as part of a youth internship programme.

The NEF’s main responsibility will be to regularly provide MTN Cameroon with its database of job seekers which the telco will consider for its recruitment operations.

“For our future recruitments, the database of job seekers of the National Employment Fund will be made available to MTN Cameroon and the National Employment Fund will accompany us in the shortlisting and selection of the most relevant local profiles… All these services will be provided free of charge,” said MTN Cameroon CEO Stephen Blewett.

He added that the company remains eager to make use of local talent and will continue to offer employees “a pleasant work environment where they can develop and grow while providing customers with products and services”.

“Our belief is that, we can continue to provide Cameroonians with quality products and services, thanks to the expertise of local talent,” Blewett noted, adding that it is MTN’s own contribution to fast-track the development of Cameroon’s digital economy ecosystem.

The agreement was signed by Blewett and Camille Mouté à Bidias, General Manager of the NEF in the economic capital Douala on 8 October.

Source: ITWEB.Africa

10, October 2020

Indomitable Lions: Two players test positive for Covid-19 ahead of Japan game ⁰

Goalkeeper Andre Onana and midfielder Pierre Kunde Malong won’t play in Cameroon’s friendly game against Japan on Friday as both returned positive test results for Covid-19.

Cameroon team doctor William Ngatchou revealed on Thursday in a press conference that both Andre Onana and Pierre Kunde Malong have tested positive for Coronavirus and won’t be part of the Cameroon squad for the friendly game against Japan at the Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht, Netherlands.

According to Dr. Ngatchou, the two players have been in contact with virus carriers for over six weeks although neither of them developed any symptoms, pointing out that In such cases a patient can’t test negative one day and positive the next as all the results of the players’ tests were negative last Monday.

Cameroon’s squad will comprise 17 players only

In compliance with FIFA regulations, the two players won’t be part of Cameroon’s plans for tomorrow’s game, which leaves coach Antonio Conceicao with a 17-player squad for the friendly, as three more players will miss the game due to other medical issues.

Onana contracts the virus a second time

This is the second time for Andre Onana to contract the infection as he had tested positive for Covid-19 in August and managed to recover.

The game against Japan is the Cameroon squads first meeting following the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak that put all football-related activities on hold since last March as the Indomitable Lions are preparing for the third round of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers group stage scheduled for November.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

10, October 2020

What is at stake for the Biya regime and why should Americans care? ⁰

For the last 100 years, food has been used as both a weapon of war and in some cases the driving force behind it. Hunger, in particular, has been at the heart of many of the revolutions of the past. Just over a decade ago the Arab Spring was launched because of the rising price of food. It is therefore understood by many that food, and fear of hunger, can overthrow regimes, shift political power, and even change the course of a nation. But how does food insecurity and the potential unrest it drives impact America? The west African nation of Cameroon is a perfect example of how food insecurity can undermine a stable regime and change the balance of power in an entire region critical to US foreign policy objectives.

Led by 87-year-old President Biya since 1981, Cameroon is seen in Africa as a stalwart of stability in an unstable neighborhood. But all is not rosy in Cameroon today. As has happened across the world, rising food costs and resulting food scarcity often drive human conflict. In fact, conflict in Cameroon threatens the entire sub-region because of food insecurity. With an ongoing insurgency in the Anglophone regions, Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa in the Far North, and non-state rebel intrusions from Central African Republic, Cameroon faces significant deficits in its ability to protect and feed its population. As the largest donor across all sectors in the sub-region – health, military assistance, and food – the United States logically would be expected to lead any response efforts to an unfolding breakdown of the humanitarian situation. It is important that Americans understand how interconnected stability in Cameroon is to the sub-region and ultimately to U.S. taxpayers.

Surrounded by conflict-laden countries, Cameroon hosts over 430,000 refugees. The bulk of assistance is from the United States through the United Nations World Food Program, which provides millions of U.S. dollars of shelter and food to these refugees. In addition, Cameroon is a key trading hub to exporters around the globe. Cameroon plays a role as the regional “food highway”. Many of Cameroon’s neighbors are dependent on its open borders, open ports, and open roads for their trade. Its landlocked neighbors receive much needed food and fuel imports through Cameroon’s main port, Douala.

Cameroon security challenges inside its borders threaten the stability of the government. The first is an ongoing insurgency in the nation’s two Anglophone regions since 2018. This struggle has internally displaced over 679,000 of the three million people living there and those left, over one million people, are believed to be in a severe food crisis. In the insurgency in Northwest and Southwest Regions, Anglophone separatists attack some of the most critical industries in Cameroon, killing workers and burning cocoa, coffee, banana, and plantain fields. By targeting the agricultural productivity of the country, separatists effectively choke off production in these regions. This eliminates large swaths of employment and creates severe food shortages driving food insecurity, and hunger further fueling the conflict.

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Far North region has faced ongoing conflict from extremist groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa since 2014. Raids by the terrorists are common on Lake Chad and along the Nigerian border. These raids target cattle, food, fuel, and kidnaps-for-ransom. The violence has internally displaced over 297,000 Cameroonians and combined with severe weather has caused severe food shortages in that region. The country also hosts over 114,300 Nigerian refugees, victims of conflict forced across the border fleeing violence. Cameroon’s response is a military strategy that had been successful through 2018. However, on the heels of Cameroon’s 2018 presidential elections, Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa increasingly targeted Cameroonian security forces and pushed further into the country. The conflict activity has also reached Cameroon’s border with Central African Republic where incursions by non-state rebel groups target already vulnerable UN refugee camps which host over 274,000 refugees. As Cameroon searches for the force balance that allows it to address security challenges, insecurity reigns in the troubled areas in the Lake Chad basin, along the eastern border with CAR, and in the Anglophone Regions.

So, what is at stake for Cameroon’s neighbors and why should Americans care? Equatorial Guinea’s second and fourth largest imports in 2017 were from Cameroon. Without regulated trade and cross border staples fluidity from Cameroon, the majority of Equatorial Guineans would face severe levels of food insecurity. Cameroon is the Central African Republic’s main trading partner. It accounts for 58 percent of all of its exports and 41 percent of imports in 2018 alone. Because CAR is landlocked, nearly all exports and imports are over land through Cameroon. Any impact to the CAR-Cameroon border could destroy CAR’s economy. Many of Cameroon’s neighbors are already in dire straits. Almost half of the CAR’s population is food insecure. In Chad, 43 percent of children under five are stunted. And in Equatorial Guinea, where data are hard to obtain, over 26 percent of children under five are stunted. The United States is the number one responder to food security shortfalls in the sub-region. Through the USAID Food for Peace, Cameroon received over 70 million USD, CAR over 118 million USD, and Chad over 187 million USD. Disruption to food flows through Cameroon to these countries caused by a complete breakdown of political stability would have catastrophic effects to these countries and require an immediate response by western governments and non-governmental organizations.

Between the security challenges stretching Cameroon’s armed forces, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s stability is precarious—and therefore, so too is the entire West and Central African region’s food security. As we know from history, food insecurity and instability can enter a dangerous feedback loop. Conflicts, and their consequences, never stay confined within a nation’s borders. What Americans should understand is that an unstable Cameroon doesn’t just hurt Cameroon, as tragic as that is alone. Cameroon is the doorway into Central Africa. Knock down that door, and the hunger crisis that awaits the world would be large in scope and terrible in outcome. As the largest foreign assistance provider in the sub-region, the United States would be on the hook to lead response efforts, footing the bulk of any bill.

Culled from agri-pulse.com