1, March 2025

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 9 Amba fighters surrender in Bali ⁰

Nine Ambazonia fighters, including a commander, have surrendered to troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé in the Northwest region, local officials said on Saturday.

The fighters turned themselves in to government officials in the town of Bali. On Friday, they were presented to the public at a ceremony attended by local authorities, soldiers and residents.

“We have come to apologize for any wrongs we have committed. We ask for your forgiveness,” one of the former fighters said while addressing the crowd.

Bali is one of the hotspots of the separatist insurgency.

Authorities said the surrender is a crucial step toward achieving lasting peace in the war-torn region and urged other fighters to lay down their arms.

Since 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatists seeking to establish an independent state in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions, Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

27, February 2025

Football: the rise and rise of Etienne Eto’o’ in La Liga ⁰

Carrying the weight of his father’s legendary name, Etienne Eto’o is carving out his own path at Rayo Vallecano. The 22-year-old striker, son of Cameroonian icon Samuel Eto’o, has experienced a turbulent early career with stints at Mallorca, Oviedo, Vitoria Guimarães U23, and lower-division clubs Poblense and Unión Collado.

However, his move to Rayo Vallecano’s reserve team last summer has brought stability and success. After netting 15 goals in the Spanish fifth division last season, he continues to shine, leading his team’s push for promotion while earning opportunities with the senior squad.

With Sergio Camello injured, Eto’o was called up for Rayo Vallecano’s La Liga match against Villarreal, making a brief but significant debut.

Already featuring in four La Liga matches and scoring in the Copa del Rey, he expressed his joy: “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. When I was called, I thought about all the sacrifices, my family, my mother, and everyone who supported me.”

His coach, Iñigo Pérez, sees great potential in him, hinting at more playing time. Meanwhile, Eto’o continues to dominate in the reserve team, scoring 21 goals in 23 matches, including six braces and a hat-trick this weekend. His journey is far from his father’s legendary career, but his steady rise in Spain is undeniable.

Source: en.africatopsports

27, February 2025

Southern Cameroons: football match-fixing scandal rocks Victoria United ⁰

The president of Limbe- based Victoria United club, Valentin Nkwain, is accused of kidnapping and torturing his team’s goalkeeper, Eric Parfait Djomeni Fokam , just 19 years old, for three days.

The goalkeeper is also a player for the Cameroon U-20 national team and, according to the media; everything happened after the president accused him of placing bets and selling his team’s matches.

After the news that has already “broken through”, the club itself has denied anything about such an incident.

Dynamics: police station, then seizure

Nkwain initially accompanied the doorman to the local police station to confess to the crime, but Erik denied everything and was immediately released. At this point, according to Cameroonian media reports, the president allegedly hired two people and sent them to Djomeni’s house to kidnap him and take him to his villa, where he was tortured for three long days in order to extract a confession.

The goalkeeper’s mother is said to have reported the incident; after going to the club’s offices to seek information, she was rudely expelled by the president. The National Union of Cameroonian Footballers (Synafoc) stood by the goalkeeper.

“Justice for Eric Parfait Djomeni! The young goalkeeper of Victoria United was kidnapped, held captive and tortured by the infamous president of his club, Valentin Nkwain. Eric Parfait Djomeni, you have my full support,” wrote Jacques Marcel Itiga, head of communications for Cameroon’s trade unions.

The president is a friend of Eto’o

President Nkwain was already at the center of a scandal 18 months ago for promoting his team to the first league thanks to the help of Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Federation and his friend, who were wiretapped in a telephone conversation.

“You have to stay calm. Our club has to be promoted to the first category, that’s our goal. But you have to give me a hand, you can’t make too much noise, you have to stay calm,” the club president said.

Denial of the club and the goalkeeper

The club wanted to deny the incident in a statement.

” False rumors are circulating that are throwing mud at our team. There is no truth to it .”

Shortly afterwards, a video of the goalkeeper himself denies everything.

“As you can see, I was not kidnapped. We are training normally, there is no problem. What came out on the internet is not true. I saw my mother yesterday,” says the goalkeeper.

The doubt remains that this is a mandatory denial.

Source: Voxnews

27, February 2025

Cameroon is currently not high on the US foreign policy agenda—but it should be ⁰

The country, at the crossroads of Central and West Africa, faces uncertainty across political, social, economic, and security environments. This is happening at a time when the United States’ global competitors are opportunistically seeking engagement in Cameroon and the region, boxing out the United States as it looks to protect its interests there.

Paul Biya, Cameroon’s ninety-two-year-old leader, has been in power as president since 1982, and from 1975 to 1982, he was the prime minister. Currently rumored to be in poor health, Biya is not seen frequently in public, has little direct contact with US or other foreign officials, and remains relatively recluse. The country faces economic and security challenges despite having a resilient, young population and a capable (yet stretched) military—one with significant experience gained from navigating armed conflict (at home and abroad); counter-piracy, counterterrorism, and peacekeeping, campaigns; and efforts to contain an insurgency in the English-speaking regions of the country.

Biya’s age and the country’s elections, due to be held in October 2025, bring into question what comes next for Cameroon. Navigating the aftermath of Biya’s presidency will require a coordinated and elevated strategic approach by senior US officials. If crisis breaks out in Cameroon, US missteps could play a part in thrusting the country and the region into significant upheaval and instability.

On paper, the president of Cameroon’s Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji (who was appointed by Biya), would succeed the Cameroonian president in an untimely vacancy. Njifenji—currently at ninety years old and reportedly in poor health—would be tasked with holding elections between 20 and 120 days after the office becomes vacant, as outlined by Cameroon’s constitution. That is a relatively difficult job, even for the nimblest governments. As the ruling political party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement and its allies retain all facets of political power in the country. Many key opposition leaders have been divided, fled to self-imposed exile, or have passed away over time. Those in government hold relatively little power for actual change. In recent years, it has seemed possible that Biya would elevate his son as a successor in what has become a trend for the region, but the success of that approach is far from guaranteed.

Absent a unifying leader—one that is unlikely in a country not easily unified by ethnicity, religion, or language—a dangerous and violent scenario could unfold. Acute political instability would unsettle both West and Central Africa and would provide oxygen to armed groups in the Anglophone Crisis as well as in the Chad Basin (where the extremist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State—West Africa Province are active) and in the porous eastern border with the Central African Republic. Opportunistic criminal networks could exploit any power vacuum in Cameroon and nearby, including next door in southeastern Nigeria.

The question remains: Why should the US government care about Cameroon, a country roughly the size of California with a gross domestic product around the size of Alaska’s, internal and external security issues, and a paralytic gerontocracy? Thus far, despite Cameroon’s strategic location, large economy, and incredible diversity, the United States and Cameroon have been unable to set up a winning partnership that benefits the Cameroonian people. As Cameroon increasingly looks to China as a development partner of choice, the United States should realize that its influence in Cameroon can’t be taken for granted.

US-Cameroon relations have historically been prickly and sometimes even outright rocky. Cameroon has come to distrust the United States after a series of real or perceived slights, including misunderstandings about contested presidential elections in 1992 (that ultimately saw Paul Biya prevail), suspension from the African Growth and Opportunity Act during the first Trump administration, and certain US policy decisions regarding conflict in the Anglophone regions of the country, which led to severe restrictions on US foreign assistance and military cooperation. US-Cameroon relations have also been affected by the fact that a small minority of the Cameroonian diaspora in the United States has engaged in the Anglophone Crisis, including by rallying funding, commanding fighters, and publicly coordinating messaging campaigns for militia groups seeking independence from the Francophone-dominated government. While the US government took some steps to reign in these actions, Cameroonian officials saw extended timelines on the US response and limited results as fundamentally unhelpful. At the same time, some members of the Cameroonian diaspora felt that the US government should have exerted more pressure on both the Biya-led government and armed groups to negotiate an end to the conflict. Back in Cameroon’s capital, the Biya-led government (in keeping with its history as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement) kept its options for international partnership open by engaging with Russia and China, in addition to France, Israel, and the United Kingdom.

From Cameroon’s standpoint, US engagement lacks consistency, seeing as Washington has been one to walk away, reduce foreign assistance programming, or limit security cooperation when Cameroonian human-rights or governance issues (which Cameroon perceives as domestic issues) become bilateral foreign policy irritants. Regardless, US policymakers expect Cameroon to accept the US worldview even if it doesn’t meet the country’s development, security, or economic goals.

One reason the United States should care about Cameroon is because of the country’s role as an economic hub for the region. Cameroon, located on the Gulf of Guinea, connects landlocked Central African countries such as Chad and the Central African Republic to the Atlantic Ocean. Cameroon’s ports at Douala and Kribi (the latter a project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative) provide a significant economic lifeline, facilitating the export of crude petroleum, natural gas, and timber and the import of refined petroleum, food, and clothing. Like many global ports, these port facilities also function as hubs for criminal networks and conflict actors. For example, according to the Africa Report, the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group used the port of Douala to enrich themselves and move their assets further inland.

The United States also has an economic interest in a secure and transparent Cameroon. Currently, Cameroon struggles with corruption, although efforts to combat such corruption remain ongoing. A loyalty-based patronage system as well as paper-based procurement processes (through which it is easier to exchange bribes) contribute to this climate. According to the US Department of State, US firms have said that corruption is most pervasive in government procurement, the award of licenses or concessions, monetary transfers, performance requirements, dispute settlements, the regulatory system, customs, and taxation. Efforts to hold officials accountable for corruption are mixed. In 2012, Cameroonian authorities found former Minister Hamidou Marafa Yaya guilty of corruption, but Marafa denied making any attempt at embezzlement and said his detention is politically motivated—and a United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded his detention is arbitrary, saying his right to a fair trial had been violated. In 2023, a Cameroonian court sentenced former Minister of Defense Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, his wife, and three other co-defendants to prison for corruption charges involving military contracts (Ngo’o and his wife denied any wrongdoing).

There is much at stake in Cameroon. Here are ten recommendations for the Trump administration.

Recommendations for the immediate term

Develop a high-level interagency Cameroon strategy. It should include visits by senior US Department of State and other executive-branch officials. This effort can reinforce the work of the US ambassador to Cameroon as a potential crisis looms. In an era of great-power competition, this strategy should include a clear definition of US goals in Cameroon, in addition to a review of the US foreign policy tools available to assist Cameroon with its development, security, and governance challenges.

Intensify engagement and meetings with all parties involved in the upcoming presidential elections. Avoid statements or appearances that could be interpreted as picking potential successors, which were the source of ruffling in the US-Cameroon relationship in 1992.

Focus on creating stronger economic ties with Cameroon while also supporting human rights and good governance. This is what Cameroonian officials tell US officials that they want. Previous US policy reduced economic and commercial ties in Cameroon out of concern for human rights and governance, using standards that may not be universally applied to other non-African countries facing similar challenges. Instead, the United States can push for improved human rights and governance (for example, by advocating for the release of high-profile political prisoners such as Marafa) while also pursuing stronger economic and commercial ties.

Seek wider perspectives beyond government-to-government contact. Engage credible voices on Cameroon in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere in real and consistent policy discussions instead of one-off roundtables that lack staying power and impact. Doing so can ensure that the United States has access to a full range of views about the political process and to networks that the administration can draw upon in a crisis.

Proactively engage congressional leaders and their senior staff on Cameroon matters. This can be accomplished through testimony, hearings, the Congressional Research Service, and other legislative branch tools. Encourage congressional staff and member delegations to Cameroon to inform other congressional staff and members of what is at stake.

Recommendations for the short-to-medium term

Task the intelligence community with assessing the political, economic, social, and security situation in the country. This assessment should outline critical public messaging themes that can help unify Cameroon in a potential crisis, the key players in the country’s future, and potential successors among the political, economic, and military elites. The assessment should include listings of monetary assets, real estate and commercial holdings, and any US dollar-denominated bank accounts. The intelligence assessment should also shed light on money laundering and terrorist financing vulnerabilities for this regional banking hub, and it should map and analyze the relationships key Cameroonians have with Russia, China, and Israel for potential leverage points during a crisis.

Hold a tabletop exercise to plan for realistic political scenarios. The tabletop exercise should include agencies from across the US government and also the US embassy in Cameroon. Such an exercise would help the US government understand what the various scenarios mean for US personnel, Peace Corps volunteers, and US facilities in the country. In Cameroon, most official US personnel and facilities are based in Yaoundé, so evacuation may be difficult: While Yaoundé has an international airport, the Cameroonian international airport that offers the most flights and destinations is in Douala, nearly five hours away. Such challenges require early contingency planning.

Learn from past mistakes in Cameroon and more recent ones made elsewhere, for example in Sudan. Political transitions can happen quickly. Ensuring that the US government has a strategy and network to draw from in a crisis or post-crisis scenario can help decisionmakers as they articulate what a positive relationship with Cameroon could look like—potentially with an untested or unknown leader. Doing so may go a long way toward building credibility.

Develop a quick response package. Drawing on an interagency Cameroon strategy, an intelligence assessment, and lessons learned from the past, the US administration should take proactive steps to prepare diplomatic and economic statecraft tools that can be rapidly deployed in the event of crisis. For example, the US administration should consider sanctions targets and be ready to announce them quickly. Government departments and agencies—including State, Defense, Treasury, the Development Finance Corporation, the Millenium Challenge Corporation, and others—should have humanitarian aid, economic support, and incentives for security sector reform ready to deploy quickly in a crisis.

A recommendation for ongoing strategy

Do not wait on traditional allies such as the United Kingdom, France, or others to act in concert. US and ally interests in Cameroon often do not align. France, now on the back foot in several African countries, may not be able to help. Russia and China are in Cameroon for themselves. Global competitors are already aggressively pursuing their political, economic, and security goals in Cameroon.

Cameroon faces an uncertain future. US policymakers have the opportunity to change Cameroon’s trajectory by accompanying the country as it navigates its future uncertainties. Should Cameroon’s future bring wider violence, the potential for the country to fracture around ethnic, linguistic, religious, or other lines could look similar to, or potentially worse than, the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in southern Europe in the 1990s. But if Cameroon can successfully navigate the period ahead with the United States as a viable partner, it will have contributed to stabilizing the heart of Central Africa, building a brighter and stronger future, and keeping US global adversaries at bay.

Source: Atlantic Council

25, February 2025

Jose Mourinho in Turkey: From the Special One to the Crying One ⁰

Jose Mourinho’s tenure at any club is guaranteed to be colourful, but his eight-month reign as Fenerbahce manager is turning caustic.

The 62-year-old Portuguese has repeatedly revisited his favourite subject of refereeing – an issue Turkish football has struggled with of late – which led to him being accused of racism on Monday night.

BBC Sport breaks down the latest chapter in Jose v Turkish football.

What happened?

Monday’s Istanbul derby between the country’s two biggest clubs Galatasaray and Fenerbahce ended in a not-so-thrilling 0-0 draw – the fireworks coming afterwards in Mourinho’s media conference when he accused the Galatasaray bench of “jumping like monkeys”.

Galatasaray responded by accusing Mourinho of racism – something Fenerbahce deny, with the club’s vice-president insisting Mourinho’s comments were “100% nothing to do with racism. In this situation [Galatasaray are] trying to manipulate simply just resembling [animals]”.

So far, so messy.

Experienced Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic had been drafted in to take charge of the domestic match – the first in nearly 50 years by a foreign official – following a request from both clubs., external

Mourinho thanked Vincic in his post-match media conference for not booking a Fenerbahce player early in the game – believing many refereeing decisions are heavily influenced by Galatasaray.

He then aimed a dig at the Turkish fourth official, in which he is reported to have said: “If you were a referee this match would be a disaster.”

All of which follows months of complaints by Mourinho about officiating in the Turkish Super Lig, including saying he would not have taken the Fenerbahce job if he had known the standards of officiating.

Turkish football’s chaotic past

“The Galatasaray and Fenerbahce derby is the biggest sport event in Turkey,” says Burak Abatay from BBC Turkish.

“Life stops on derby evenings – even the terrible Istanbul traffic is relieved. It is very big tension. The match [last night] was played in this tension.

“There has been a great chaos in Turkish football for a long time. The main discussion is usually about the referees.

“Last season a referee was attacked by a club president in the centre of the pitch. And two teams withdrew from the pitch last season. Another club did the same this season.

“In the middle of this season, foreign referees started to work as VAR referees in all matches, but this did not reduce the controversy.

“President of the Turkish Football Federation Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu stated that the reason for a foreign referee to officiate the derby was ‘to prevent these discussions and not to put the referees in a controversial position’.”

Abatay added: “Galatasaray’s manager Okan Buruk called Jose Mourinho ‘The Crying One’ after the match. He also criticised [referee] Vincic.

“Many football analysts say that Turkish football needs more structural and long-term change.”

And Mourinho’s own club claim change is required, with Fenerbahce vice-president Acun Ilicali claiming there is no protocol for selecting referees in Turkey, “unlike England”.

“In England, if somebody [is] from Newcastle, you cannot be a ref of a Newcastle game,” he told Sky. “[The] problem in Turkey is nobody’s asking referees ‘Which team do you support?’ We don’t know – they can be a Galatasaray fan or Fenerbahce fan.”

Uefa told BBC Sport it “works with its 55 member associations on refereeing”, but the responsibility lies with individual associations to manage the process for its own officials.

In England, professional referees have to declare which teams they support as part of transparency measures – so they avoid games involving their own team.

Is this just more Mourinho antics?

Mourinho is famed for winning some of football’s biggest prizes, all while performing some of the game’s biggest wind-ups.

And while his method of getting under competitors’ skins by criticising referees, managers, players and football authorities has yielded results, it has also formed a questionable reputation in the game’s dark arts.

“Fenerbahce must have known what they were getting into when they hired Jose Mourinho. He is no stranger to headlines,” says BBC Sport chief football news reporter Simon Stone.

“As recently as October, he stated a desire to return to England – and join a club that didn’t compete in Uefa competition as he believed his red card against former club Manchester United was confirmation of an agenda against him.

“The following month he was banned for a game and fined £15,000 by the Turkish FA for an attack on the impartiality of Super Lig officials.

“He maintains to this day his Roma side were badly treated in their Europa League final defeat by Sevilla in 2023, a game when 13 players were booked. Mourinho waited for referee Anthony Taylor in the car park as he was leaving the stadium and expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the Premier League official had handled the game.

“Taylor and his family were subsequently attacked by Roma fans at Budapest airport. Uefa gave Mourinho a four-match ban.”

Culled from the BBC

25, February 2025

How Biya and Archbishop Nkea protected the sanctity of the family in Cameroon ⁰

Biya did not sign any Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law and he also did not give homosexuality a life sentence. But the “old fox” was actively involved in many behind-the-scenes actions with powerful religious voices including Archbishop Andrew Nkea to prevent former US President Joe Biden from making numerous strides to uplift the LGBTQ community deep within the Central African region.

Joe Biden’s pro-LGBTQ highlights included numerous professionals he reportedly assigned to US federal agencies. His administration made numerous comments in support of the LGBTQ community and on April 15, 2021, Biden announced that his administration was sending a gay person, Christopher John Lamora, to be the next United States Ambassador to Cameroon.

The decision did not go down well with many people in Cameroon. In Cameroon just like in many African countries, the business of being gay is a risky business. It is not fashionable in Cameroon for a man to bend over forward for another man but the Biden Administration wanted to change that. African men love their beautiful women and their best style is the missionary style.

The fight to undermine the American gay stance was not easy and everyone in the West African country was aware that the American gay ambassador would leave the country bruised and frustrated. His business lacked a market in Cameroon.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that on April 19, 2021, John Lamora’s nomination was sent to the US Senate. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 9, 2021. The committee reported him favorably on June 24, 2021 and on December 18, 2021; Lamora was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote.

The gay arrived in Cameroon on March 5, 2022 and presented his credentials to foreign minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella who is not really young on March 21, 2022. An unprecedented fracas had occurred in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital. Biden and his men knew that if Cameroon fell, the entire CEMAC region would fall too!

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Bamenda, His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea fired the first salvos and sounded a note of caution to the regime in Yaoundé. Archbishop Andrew Nkea also sent powerful signals to the Vatican saying marriage was a union between a man and a woman and anything outside that was witchcraft in its superlative degree.

Many CPDM regime insiders were concerned about a gay US ambassador in Yaoundé and the impact that may have on the wider CEMAC region. Four secret meetings were held inside the Unity Palace on how to deal with the situation without destroying the long standing relations with the United States of America.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the CPDM wise men supported by a well placed Cameroonian citizen in the US successfully identified the so-called “husband” of Ambassador Christopher John Lamora and included his name on the list of people banned from entering Cameroon. Etoudi decided not to make it public for fear of reprisal from the Biden administration. Cameroon will not tolerate homosexuality and the business of gay sex was not lucrative in Cameroon.

Life in Yaoundé became boring for Ambassador John Lamora to the extent that he was heard murmuring privately that he wanted his tenure to come to end for him to leave. Yaoundé had become a massive living Hell to him. He had a choice – Enjoy organic sex with a beautiful Cameroonian lady or spend time masturbating in his bathroom.

His saving grace came when Donald Trump, a man who has a bone to pick with homosexuals, asked all of them to resign and return home where they can engage in their ungodly habit.

President Biya and Archbishop Nkea successfully protected the sanctity of the family in Cameroon through strategic thinking and determination. Homosexual sex is not admired in Yaoundé. It is hated more than the garbage heaps which have become the town’s hallmark.

Yaoundé might be dirty and it is disgusting. But throwing homosexual sex into the mix will ruin any morality which still exists in the country. Who says Biya is not working? Fighting homosexuals is not a walk in the park. Biya has won a battle. He however still has many more challenges to deal with. He has rolled back homosexual sex in Yaoundé; at 92, will he be able to roll back the opposition that is advancing to Etoudi?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

25, February 2025

Gold toilet worth £4.8m ‘stolen in five minutes’ ⁰

Thieves stole a £4.8m solid gold toilet from Blenheim Palace in an “audacious raid” which took just five minutes, a court has heard.

The toilet was plumbed in and fully functioning as part of an art exhibition at the Oxfordshire stately home in September 2019.

Michael Jones, 39, from Divinity Road, Oxford denies a charge of burglary. Fred Doe, previously known as Frederick Sines, 36, from Windsor, and 41-year-old Bora Guccuk, from west London, have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to transfer criminal property.

Their trial at Oxford Crown Court was told the toilet was most likely broken up and was never recovered.

The toilet was part of an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace

Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC told the court that a gang of five in two vehicles drove through locked gates of Blenheim Palace in the early hours of 14 September 2019 and smashed their way into the building with sledgehammers.

The court heard that the sledgehammers were left at the scene.

A photograph was taken about 17 hours before the toilet was stolen and Mr Christopher told the court that Mr Jones had taken it while he was “there as part of the reconnaissance for the burglary”.

Mr Christopher told the court the raid took just five minutes.

He added: “The work of art was never recovered. It appears to have been split up into smaller amounts of gold and never recovered.”

A fourth man, James Sheen, 40, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to burglary, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to do the same in April 2024, jurors were told.

Entitled America, the 18-carat gold toilet was part of an exhibition by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.

It weighed 98kg and was insured for $6m. Gold prices at the time would have seen the gold alone worth £2.8m in September 2019, the court was told.

The prosecutor said a series of messages, voice notes and screengrabs discovered on Mr Sheen, Mr Doe and Mr Guccuk’s phones showed the trio negotiated a price of £25,632 per kilo for around 20kg of the stolen gold.

It was claimed Mr Guccuk, who ran the jewellers Pacha of London in Hatton Garden, would make a profit of about £3,000 for every kilo he sold on.

The palace is a Unesco World Heritage Site and was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.

The trial continues.

Source: BBC

25, February 2025

Rev Father Nixon Mullah, S.S.J., dies at 51 ⁰

A memorial Mass for Josephite Father Nixon Mullah will be offered Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at St. Luke in Washington, D.C.

Father Mullah, who earned a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, died Feb. 18 in his native Cameroon following a battle with cancer that lasted several years. He was 51.

Father Mullah was ordained to the priesthood in 2005 for the Archdiocese of Urbino, Italy. Attracted to the ministry of the Josephites, he joined the Baltimore-based Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 2007.

He served as an associate pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Baltimore (2007-10) and was vice rector of St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C.; rector of St. Martin de Porres House of Studies in Ibadan, Nigeria, and pastor of Holy Family in Baytown, Texas, before being appointed rector of St. Joseph Seminary in 2019.

Source: Catholic Review

24, February 2025

7,000+ killed in eastern DR Congo since January ⁰

More than 7,000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo since January, Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said on Monday.

Armed members of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, who have seized large swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC, including the main eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu, have met with the limited resistance of the fleeing Congolese armed forces.

“The security situation in eastern DRC has reached alarming levels,” Tuluka warned, addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

She said the fatalities include “more than 2,500 bodies buried without being identified” and 1,500 bodies were still in the morgue.

The prime minister said “for the moment… we have not yet been able to identify all of these people.” She noted, however, that “there is a significant mass of civilians who are part of these dead.”

According to UN reports, the rebels, backed by some 4,000 Rwandan troops, have made rapid advances, sending thousands of people fleeing from the region.

Protesters have attacked the embassies of the United States and France in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The rebel forces took control of the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu recently, after first capturing Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province.

Congo’s prime minister said more than 3,000 people had been killed in Goma alone.

The M23 is the most potent of the many armed groups vying for a foothold in Congo’s east, which has trillions of dollars of mostly untapped mineral wealth such as lithium, which is used in technology for batteries in devices such as mobile phones and laptops.

In related news, Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Congo’s territorial integrity was “non-negotiable.”

The EU’s top diplomat said Brussels defense consultations with Rwanda have been suspended while their memorandum of understanding (MOU) on critical raw materials production is under review.

The EU and Rwanda had signed the MOU to “nurture sustainable and resilient value chains for critical raw materials,” she said.

The African country “produces tin, tungsten, gold and niobium, and has potential for lithium and rare earth elements,” she said.

Source: Presstv

24, February 2025

2024 Cameroon Ballon d’Or: Nominees Set for Feb. 28 ⁰

The 2024 Cameroon Ballon d’Or ceremony will take place on February 28 in Yaoundé, with the list of eight nominees revealed over the weekend. John Bosco Nchindo is widely seen as the favorite. The prolific striker was named best player of last season’s playoffs with Yong Sports Academy (YOSA) of Bamenda, which came close to winning the Cameroon championship. Nchindo is also one of the few players in the MTN Elite One league to have already received a call-up to the national team. However, his slow start with his new club, Coton Sport de Garoua, could play against him.

Like Nchindo, Wilfried Nathan Doualla of Victoria United has also made a strong impression. The winger caught the eye of former Indomitable Lions coach Rigobert Song, earning a spot in the squad for the last Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire. Since then, Doualla has cemented his status as one of the biggest stars of Cameroon’s domestic league. His teammate at Victoria United, René Donald Bitjick, is also in the running. The full-back is widely regarded as one of the best in his position and is committed to a professional career, having even put his studies on hold despite his parents’ wishes for him to attend university.

Colombe Sportive du Dja-et-Lobo, last season’s Cameroon Cup winners, has two representatives on the list. Team captain Randy Ntuwe Kwalar, a defensive midfielder known for his leadership and ability to recover and distribute the ball, is among the nominees. Off the pitch, he enjoys immense popularity among fans. Striker Yvan Mvondo Olama, also in contention, gained national recognition during the Cameroon Cup final, where he was named man of the match. His playing style has earned him the nickname “La Pulga,” a nod to Argentine football legend Lionel Messi.

Adrien Boris Mfoumou, AS Fortuna de Mfou’s forward, has a strong case as well. Last season’s top scorer, he has already earned a call-up to Cameroon’s A’ national team. Known for his elegance on the ball, he can also operate as a wide midfielder. Jules Armand Kooh, another prolific Elite One striker, is also a nominee. He previously played for Les Astres de Douala before moving to Europe at the end of last season.

Rounding out the list is Junior Trésor Bembong, hailed as the key figure in Aigle Royal de la Menoua’s survival in Elite One. However, his playing time has diminished since joining Fauve Azur.

The 2023 Ballon d’Or was won by Emmanuel Mahop, the former Canon Yaoundé and Coton Sport de Garoua striker. The year before, the award went to Marou Souaïbou, also a former Coton Sport forward.

Source: Business in Cameroon