French Cameroun social media users revealed yesterday some very conflicting accounts about the health of Cameroon’s First Lady Chantal Biya who has reportedly vanished from public view ever since her daughter Brenda Biya made disturbing revelations on the situation inside the Unity Palace.

Three sources familiar with the happenings in the Biya family have hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report that things are indeed falling apart for the 86 year old dictator. Other unconfirmed social media reports, attributed to senior Beti Ewondo political elites in Yaoundé, said Chantal Biya had died from an undisclosed illness.

In another version, it was stated that Madam Biya contracted the coronavirus and she is self isolating in Mvomeka’a.

What would happen if Chantal Biya died?

Madam Chantal Biya’s absence is raising eyebrows around the nation’s capital, Yaoundé. But as with all coverage of affairs linked to the first family of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate, the swirl of reports and rumours can be treated only with great caution.

Our Yaoundé city reporter who contributed to this report observed that Chantal Biya was alive and expected to make a public appearance soon, but his comments did not clarify whether she had been suffering from COVID-19.

Questions about Madam Chantal Biya’s whereabouts intensified after her daughter suggested in a recent outing on Face Book that secret service officers at the presidency were planning to kill her.

The corrupt French Cameroun media houses have played down reports on the collapse of the Biya family and no French Cameroun news organisation  has published a story on the numerous videos posted on social media by the twenty-two year old Brenda Biya.

However, speculation about possible power struggles and a transition to the ill-prepared Franck Biya is causing deep alarm in both the northern and southern regions of the country.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in London

The Nera 10 substantive Appeal matter comes up this Thursday June 18th, 2020   in the court hall of the Appeal court of the Centre Region

Several countries have expressed concern about the death of Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi while in military custody.

The concerns were raised at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Cameroon and the Central African subregion last weekend.

The government of Cameroon has been urged to immediately investigate the circumstances leading to the death of the 36-year-old journalist and bring the culprit to book.

Wazizi died 10 months ago, but this information was only made public earlier this month. He was arrested by police on August 3, 2019, in a suburb in the conflict-ridden south-west region of the country.

He was transferred to military custody on August 7, then ferried to the capital Yaoundé six days later, Cameroon’s military spokesperson Colonel Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo said. Wazizi arrived in Yaoundé feeling feverish and died on August 17 due to an infection, the military said.

Local and international organisations have also called for an impartial probe, saying that the UN Security Council members should urge accountability for the death of the journalist when it is briefed on the situation in Cameroon at their meeting with the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA).

The United States Mission to the UN also called for an independent investigation into Wazizi’s death and called attention to the conflict in Cameroon, which according to the UN Refugee Agency(UNHCR) has displaced more than 600,000 people.

“The US also calls attention to the conflict in Cameroon, which @Refugees reports has displaced nearly 680K people. We are deeply concerned by the death of journalist Samuel Wazizi while in Cameroonian military detention and call for an independent investigation,” the US Mission wrote on Twitter.

For its part, the German Mission to Cameroon focused on the impact of the conflict on the subregion while calling for accountability in Wazizi’s death as well as respect for human life.

“The situation in #Cameroon and its negative impact on Central Africa remain of particular concern. On the death of journalist #SamuelWazizi in detention, Germany urgently calls for accountability, respect for human rights and freedom of the press,” a tweet from the German Mission to the UN read.

Wazizi worked as a journalist at the privately owned broadcaster Chillen Muzik and TV (CMTV) in Buea, south-west region.

Source: IOL.Co

Hundreds of people with disabilities fanned out across Cameroon’s capital Monday, protesting against the neglect they say they’ve suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The campaigners say social distancing rules have discouraged caregiving for the disabled, leaving many more vulnerable to the virus.  Cameroon has seen nearly 10,000 coronavirus cases and 276 coronavirus-related deaths, making it one of the worst-affected countries in Africa.

Hundreds of people with disabilities visited markets, churches, mosques and public buildings to remind Cameroonians not to ignore them as the central African country deals with COVID-19.

Among the campaigners was Coco Bertin, founder of the Club for the Rehabilitated Young Blind People of Cameroon. Bertin, who is visually impaired, says there are no braille documents explaining measures to combat coronavirus.

“We heard that there were some posters to sensitize the people about this pandemic, but we can not be aware of it because we can not read. We need the government to get involved and to transcribe these documents,” said Bertin.

The campaign was organized by Jean Pascal Somb Lingom, president of the Association for the Promotion of Assisted Technologies and the Education of the Blind.

Lingom, who is also visually impaired, said the government did not contact people living with special needs when explaining COVID-19 prevention measures.

“People who are on wheelchairs need specific measures to be able to have access to hand washing facilities to limit being contaminated by the virus. Hearing impaired persons need facilities that can help them have access to adequate information so that they can know what to do and how to do it so that they will not be affected,” he said.

A tap with a bucket and a bar of soap is available for students to wash their hands as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Lycée Général Leclerc School in Yaoundé, Cameroon, June 1, 2020.

Lingom said blind people cannot see buckets and soap kept in public places for people to wash their hands and avoid COVID 19. He said social distancing measures have scared caregivers from assisting them for fear of being contaminated.

He said people living with disabilities are becoming poorer because they find it difficult to do business or to go to their offices without help.

An estimated three million of Cameroon’s 25 million people are living with disabilities.

Eric Tanda, director of health in the Health Ministry, said the government has started examining what he calls pertinent issues raised for Cameroon’s disabled.

Speaking by telephone in Yaounde, Tanda said the disabled, such as the hard of hearing, need to follow measures put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus.

“The government, especially the ministry of public health, has provided somebody who interprets this message to them by using the sign symbol. Once in the community, they should try as much as possible to respect physical distancing while with their masks on.”

The government recommends everyone wash their hands regularly, keep a distance of at least a meter and a half from others, and always wear face masks to avoid spreading or catching the coronavirus.

Source: VOA

The Vice President of the exiled Southern Cameroons government, Dabney Yerima has called for an investigation of the horrible reports that several Southern Cameroons civilians are being killed by the Cameroon government army.

The Ambazonia Interim Government on Sunday expressed its deep concern about the very horrible scenes in Bamenda and Eshobi in Manyu where armed militias and troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé reportedly killed several innocent civilians.

Bamenda, the chief city in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons had ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic been under heavy gunfire from Cameroon government army soldiers the recent being yesterday the 14^th of June at Mile 7 Mankon where a contingent of Cameroon government military entered and raided homes right towards the Bamenda airport.

A sister publication, Cameroon Concord News reported that the airport deployment had support from a patrol group of 5 armored cars dispatched to the city by the commander of the Rapid Intervention Battalion.

Dabney Yerima said that he had received very disturbing images of deaths, destruction, and looting from Ambazonia Intelligence Services in Manyu on the prevailing situation in Eshobi and Mberere.

Yerima made a passionate appeal to the international community to conduct a prompt, transparent and effective investigation into reports of extrajudicial killings going on in Southern Cameroons.

By Isong Asu for Cameroon Intelligence Report

Heavy gun fire was heard yesterday for over an hour in Bamenda, the chief city in the Northern Zone of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.

Our correspondent revealed that there was confusion in the city as the exchange between armed Ambazonia Restoration Forces and elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion lasted for more than an hour in the city.

Cameroon Concord News learnt that resident barricaded themselves in their homes and three explosions were also heard.

The Francophone administrators of the region have still not commented on the incident.

However, people in the know have opined that serious shooting started at Mile 7 Mankon where a contingent of Cameroon government military entered yesterday Sunday the 14^th of June and moved towards the Bamenda airport.

The airport deployment had support from another patrol group of 5 armored cars.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

Cameroon government authorities have reportedly placed Daniel Ashu Tando in solitary confinement at the Central Prison in Buea for reporting and detailing how three government army soldiers raped his cousin by name Fanny Eda who died in Mutengene.

Daniel Ashu Tando who according to Cameroon Intelligence Report sources has been in detention for over sixteen months, was arrested in Mabonji on his way to Kumba in his car and ever since, the commander of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) has been pushing for charges of belonging to a separatist Southern Cameroons group against him.

The Buea prison administrator moved him to solitary confinement immediately after he met with his lawyer Barrister Peter Nkea Atabong last week. We understand, the journalist will be appearing before a French Cameroun judge at the Buea Military Tribunal on the 17^th of June.

Prisons remain overcrowded both in Southern Cameroons and in French Cameroun and the Biya regime authorities have not undertaken health and sanitation measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Hundreds of Southern Cameroons inmates are afraid of contracting the virus due to the lack of access to medical care and protective gear inside detention facilities, as well as overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

Last week, the Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima wrote an open letter to Ambazonians all over the world urging them to immediately contact their local representatives and clamour for an end to the genocidal campaign going on in Southern Cameroons and the release of all Ambazonia prisoners of conscience including journalists behind bars, as freedom has become a matter of life and death amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Daniel Ashu Tando had a short spell at CRTV under Olivia Tamanjong and thereafter Kolle George and Kedia Basebang. At the time of his arrest he was reporting for Word Empowerment Radio.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai