18, February 2019

Yaounde says information claiming death of army general is “fake” ⁰

Cameroon army Thursday dismissed as “fake” claims from armed separatists that they have killed an army general in an ambush in Southwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of the country.

“Information relating to the death of General Bouba is circulating at this moment. While finding this joke of very bad taste, I beg you to consider this information as fake,” Colonel Didier Badjeck, spokesman of the Cameroon army said in a statement.

Separatists claimed that the army general was killed when they ambushed his convoy on Feb. 8 but the government “has been hiding the information.”

The armed separatist forces want the two regions, North West and South West to secede from the majority French-speaking nation and form a new nation called “Ambazonia.” Clashes started in November 2017 and about 430,000 people have been displaced internally according to United Nations.

Xinhuanet

18, February 2019

Bui County: Catholic school shut after kidnap drama ⁰

The Roman Catholic Church has shut down one of its biggest boarding schools in Kumbo in the restive Northwest Cameroon after unidentified gunmen briefly kidnapped students and employees.

The gunmen stormed the campus of Saint Augustine’s College, Nso on Saturday and seized 170 students, two security guards, a teacher and three of his children, Fr Elvis Nsaikila, the Diocesan Director of Communications, said.

“The abductees were released in the afternoon of Sunday and conveyed back to the college campus in the evening,” Fr Nsaikila said, without disclosing who was behind the kidnap and whether the school paid any ransoms to the abductors.

However, the Sun newspaper reported that “only petrol money” was given to the kidnappers.

Parents and guardians

Fr Nsaikila said authorities of the boarding school had requested parents and guardians to take their children back home as soon as possible as “the school has closed down”.

The Kumbo school attack, just two days after a 10-day lockdown imposed on the region by separatist activists, was not the first in the restive English Northwest region. A similar incident took place in November last year in the regional headquarter, Bamenda, where more than 80 people, including the principal, a teacher, a driver and 79 students, were kidnapped from the Presbyterian Secondary School, Nkwen by suspected secessionists.

Saturday’s abduction marked an escalation of the over two-year long crisis that has gripped the two English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

Internally displaced

The crisis in the anglophone Cameroon started as an industrial strike by lawyers and teachers in 2016, but snowballed into an internal armed conflict in 2017 when separatists joined in and symbolically declared the independence of the state of Ambazonia. No country has recognised the self-declared state.

Though the majority of teachers’ unions called off their strike in February 2017, separatist activists have continued to pressure the local population to keep their children out of school, promising “to deal with” those seen in the institutions.

According to the latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), over 444,000 people have fled their homes and were currently internally displaced in the regions due to the violence.

In addition to the internally displaced, over 32,600 others have fled across the border and were registered as refugees in neighbouring Nigeria with many of them exposed to varied dangers, including risk of food insecurity, the report adds.

The East African

18, February 2019

Southern Cameroons: Kidnapping at Catholic school in Kumbo ⁰

There is more bad news from Cameroon and again from the town of Kumbo where Independent Catholic News reported deaths through violent action by security forces.

A kidnapping occurred at 5am local time on Saturday 16 February at St Augustine’s Secondary College, a Catholic school. Secessionist rebels supporting setting up a new state ‘Ambazonia’ entered the school and kidnapped at least 145 pupils, the majority girls, who were subsequently released.

Early reports suggested a figure nearer 200 including members of staff but this has not been corroborated. The number is lower than it would have been in the daytime during the working week.

Kumbo is the second largest centre in the North West Region, having its own bishop. It is 110 km from Bamenda where a Presbyterian school suffered a kidnapping and whose auxiliary bishop Michael Bibi was twice kidnapped while travelling on church business.

This is in the context of legitimate grievances by English speakers against the government led by French speakers seeking to impose their language on the educational and legal systems.

Cameroon’s 86 year-old President Paul Biya, in power for 36 years, was declared re-elected recently. His main opponent Maurice Kamto has been arrested and charged with rebellion.

Philip Egan, bishop of Bamenda’s twinned diocese Portsmouth, has urged his flock to write to the Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin urging the British government to bring pressure on Cameroon to reduce local tensions.

Source: Independent Catholic News

18, February 2019

France: Yellow Vests protesters march through Paris ⁰

Yellow Vests demonstrators took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to continue their months-long protest.

One of the leading figures of the Yellow Vests, Ingrid Levavasseur, was described as a “traitor” and booed by several demonstrators.

The protests are taking place for the 14th week in a row, despite the French government suspending tax hikes and announcing increases to the minimum wage.

Presstv

18, February 2019

French court rules on priest’s attempt to block child abuse film ⁰

A French court on Monday will decide whether to block the release of a film by acclaimed director François Ozon based on real-life victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, just two days after it picked up a prize at the Berlin Film Festival.

Ozon, 51, worked for years in secret on “By the Grace of God”, which won plaudits and the runner-up Silver Bear Grand Jury prize at the Berlinale on Saturday. It is the most-high profile dramatisation of the systematic cover-up of widespread sexual molestation by clergy since the Oscar-winning “Spotlight”, set in Boston and released in 2015.

But even before the Berlin premiere, a priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys, Bernard Preynat, had gone to court to demand that the film not be shown in France until after his trial, which is due to start later this year.

A lay voluntary worker for the Lyon diocese, Regine Maire, has also issued a legal challenge to have her name removed from the picture, which is set for release in French cinemas on February 20. The court’s ruling comes as Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, and five others including Maire await a verdict on charges of covering up the abuse.

Ozon — best known for “Swimming Pool” and “8 femmes” — told AFP he had hoped the tortuous series of cases would have finished by now, but the film should be shown for “the public good”.

‘Breaking the silence’

“When you try to break the silence, there is always resistance,” he said. “I don’t think this is happening by accident, because it is a film which is trying to break an omerta, and which deals with the silence.” The scandal first broke in 2015 when a former scout, François Devaux, went public with allegations that Preynat had abused him as a child 25 years earlier.

Preynat was suspended by the church later that year and it eventually emerged that the cardinal had confronted him about “the rumours” in 2010 but the priest claimed he had changed.

Four years later Barbarin went to the Vatican about him without contacting the police. The film traces those events but sticks close to their emotional impact on three victims-turned-activists, who begin to confront their trauma publicly with the generally strong support of their families.

Ozon said he had consulted several members of the survivors’ group, La Parole Libérée (Freed Speech), Devaux set up, which has gathered the testimony of 85 people who claim to have been abused by Preynat in Lyon.

But the director said he tried to be “as even-handed and objective as possible. It is not a film of goodies and baddies, it is much more complex than that for the affected families and the institution itself, and I tried to show that”.

“By the Grace of God” centres on Devaux and Alexandre Dussot-Hezez, “a fervent Catholic who discovers at the age of 40 that a priest who abused him is still alive and has access to children” through the church.

Devaux told AFP that Ozon’s approach to the victims’ painful experiences had been “very humane and very passionate” given the fact that for them and their families, they had been like “time bombs” waiting to go off.

Church stance on paedophilia ‘changing’

Ozon said he wanted to show the “negative repercussions (victims can suffer) and the distressing boomerang effects on their partners, children, families and friends”.

Asked about Preynat’s bid for an injunction, Ozon insisted there were no major factual revelations in the film for anyone who has been following the case.

“We are facing some pressure regarding the release of the film but everything in it is already well-known in France,” he told reporters in Berlin.

“Most of the people attacking us haven’t seen the film yet,” Ozon added. The filmmaker hopes his intimate portrait of the victims’ fight for justice will spark greater understanding of a difficult subject that mainstream cinema has rarely confronted.

Ozon said the reaction from several French bishops and senior clergy who have seen the film had been positive, adding that he hoped it would provoke debate beyond France. “The church seems to be changing its stance on the scourge of paedophilia and the silence hanging over it,” he said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

18, February 2019

Ambazonia Independence Struggle: Why we think Dr Sako is still the man of the moment ⁰

Cameroon Concord News Group has consistently cautioned Southern Cameroons front line leaders on the use of abusive language and blackmail against the Ambazonian Interim Government and Southern Cameroons cabinet ministers. Good journalists and news reporters know that the international community will not use social media communication such as Face Book as basis of understanding the Southern Cameroons case.

Our recent criticism of Acting President Samuel Sako has falling on many different grounds of interpretation with some observing that Cameroon Concord News Group is seeking change at the head of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government. Far from it!! We of this publication simply want Dr Sako to sit up, go out there and meet Southern Cameroonians all over the world and motivate Ground Zero to feel him as a leader.

Until now it is only the Secretary of Communications, Hon. Chris Anu who has travelled to Europe to energize the Southern Cameroons European Diaspora base in the UK and Germany and raise funds for the struggle. That is part of the duty of the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia which he must take up immediately!

Cameroon Concord News Group has examined the leadership of Acting President Ikome Sako which we believe is fair and balance. But he needs to do a Southern Cameroons meet the people tour and raise funds for the struggle. What is actually distressing is that Acting President Sako’s inaction is affecting the European and the South African Diaspora bases including thousands on Ground Zero. Sako has very strong leadership qualities!! To be sure, he was at his best when he rejected Secretary Chris Anu’s resignation. He is level headed. He is not vindictive and he is a good communicator. Therefore, Dr Ikome Sako should take note of the Cameroon Concord News Group criticism because it was written to help him become a good Acting President.

Cameroon Concord News Group will also want the Southern Cameroons Interim Government to implement without delay the reform which Acting President Sako promised the Ambazonian people-which is to bring the county heads into government to be the direct representatives of Southern Cameroonians on Ground Zero.

We are also calling on the Acting President to improve contacts with Ground Zero through the county heads and other national and international media outlets. Cameroon Concord News Group reiterates that the Southern Cameroons Interim Government should not communicate to the Ambazonian people via Face Book because it is free for all and French Cameroun agents can either get to Face Book in order to distort or silent Ambazonian communication.

Cameroon Concord News Group also believes and fervently that ABC TV is the right thing as the Southern Cameroons Interim Government should own and run a media house. ABC TV is incorporated in the USA, regulated and protected by American constitutional guarantees which the SCBC does not have in South Africa. We got intelligence that the Yaoundé regime is now aware that the hosting satellite of SCBC is in a European country.

So far, the people who have opined that Acting President Sako should be removed from office are also not fit to govern the Ambazonian nation and its people. Cameroon Concord News Group wants Sako to sit up and we are very sure he can do it in difficult times like this!

Acting President Sako has urgent business at hand among them is rallying Southern Cameroonians to fund the defense of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe including the hundreds of Ambazonians in enemy jails all over French Cameroun. Dr Sako should put more effort for our refugees in the bushes and in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He should rally and push for more diplomatic effort deep within the UN, US Congress, the House of Common and the Bundestag.

Acting President Sako’s decision to denounce people committing crimes on Ground Zero was the right thing to do!! Cho Ayaba and his criminal gang had become a serious opponent to the Southern Cameroons revolution with kidnappings, killings, robbery and extortion from the population. All what we have seen from the Cho Ayaba gang is simply a display of guns without carrying any actions against occupying forces.

Acting President Sako should sever all relationship with Milan Atam and SCOOP. SCOOP has never contributed anything to Ground Zero or to our refugees. Dr Sako should denounce Milan Atam with the same vehemence that he denounced Cho Ayaba. Ambazonians do not need criminals to succeed in this ongoing revolution.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

17, February 2019

Financing the Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t: Everything you need to know ⁰

What a way to start the week in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia – settling down to watch one of the major events of the Southern Cameroons revolution that affects your donations to the Interim Government.

In his presentation, the Secretary for Economy and Finance will make public the Interim government’s spending for the war in Southern Cameroons.

Here is an essential guide to readers of the Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report.

When is the Secretary’s Statement?

It is on Monday, 18 of February, at about 8 pm Amba Time on SCBC

Five things to watch for in Secretary Tabenyang Brado’s Statement

The presentation will be base on a rebuttal of the spurious and slanderous statements towards his integrity.

Focus will be on the Treasury, Bank accounts/ payment platforms signatories and access,

Financial Reports, Internal Audit, My Trip to Buea, Ethics Commission, Accountability/Transparency,

SCBC saga/payments,

APNC involvement and why President Sissiku Julius Ayuk Tabe spoke from jail

Who is Ambazonia Secretary for Economy and Finance?

Arguably, the third most powerful person in the Southern Cameroons government, behind Communications Secretary, Chris Anu and Acting President Ikome Sako. He was appointed as Secretary for Economy and Finance by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe

Is this the only Economy and Finance presentation that matters?

No. Many issues regarding the state of the Southern Cameroons revolution, as well as support for the county-by-county initiative. Expect more on those in the coming weeks.

What are the big talking points?

The Tabenyang Brado presentation comes hot on the heels of a major crisis deep within the Interim Government during which Communications Secretary Chris Anu announced he was stepping down from his cabinet portfolio.

The Secretary for Economy and Finance needs to raise extra money somehow and tomorrow provides him that opportunity.

The Ambazonian Interim Government has committed to funding Ground Zero operations via the county-by-county initiative and the IG intends to help weaker counties. Ministers have indicated it will be funded by the Southern Cameroons Diaspora, so all eyes are on the Secretary for Economy and Finance for a solution.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in London

17, February 2019

Four killed in Cameroon road accident ⁰

Four people were killed in a road accident Saturday in southwestern Cameroon, according to local authorities.

Witnesses said the accident happened when a private car collided head-on with a motorcycle and another vehicle.

“The driver was driving very fast and apparently lost track. His car collided with a motorcycle and another oncoming vehicle. The motorcyclist, two passengers and the driver of the private car died on the spot,” Gilles Mulang who witnessed the accident told Xinhua.

Other injured passengers were immediately rushed to hospital to receive medical attention, according to officials.

On Friday, Cameroon’s Minister of Transport Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe made public a list of 13 travel companies that violated Highway Code in 2018 and warned that they would be sanctioned if they didn’t “improve on quality.”

Last year, Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport estimated that at least 1,200 people died in road accidents each year in the country.

Xinhuanet

17, February 2019

Southern Cameroons crisis ‘worsening’ ⁰

The humanitarian crisis in the restive English-speaking Northwest and Southwest Cameroon continues to worsen due to an upsurge of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), a new report has said. The two regions have been rocked by violence since late 2016.

According to the latest Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), there were over 444,000 IDPs due to the violence, with heightened insecurity that reduced the already limited access to the affected populations.

The increase in the IDPs has also impacted host communities who have had to share their already scarce resources and basic social services with the new arrivals, according to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.

Food assistance

The main needs of the displaced populations include shelter, food assistance, protection and access to health and education, according to the report.

In addition to the internally displaced, over 32,600 other Cameroonians have fled across the border and were registered as refugees in Nigeria with many of them exposed to varied dangers, including risk of food insecurity, the report adds.

The burning

Despite calls by the 86-year-old President Paul Biya for separatist fighters to drop their arms, the conflict has deteriorated since the beginning of 2019 with attacks on the education and health facilities.

Last week, at least four people died when the Regional Hospital of Kumba, the largest city in the Southwest, was set ablaze.

While separatists accused government forces of orchestrating the burning to tarnish their image, the latter maintained that the former were behind the burning of the medical facility.

Formerly administered as part of Nigeria as a UN trust territory under British control, Southern Cameroon (today’s Northwest and Southwest regions) was incorporated into Francophone Cameroon in 1961.

The East African

17, February 2019

U.S. Embassy equips youth with skills to avoid kidnapping in Cameroon ⁰

The U.S. Embassy in partnership with El-Zoe Foundation and the Government of Cameroon has organized a football clinic for youth in Banyo, from February 8 to 11, 2019.

The program included presentations and discussions on topical issues such as tolerance, fair-play, teamwork, and the importance of education.

Participants were also equipped with skills to avoid kidnapping and make positive life choices.

The second part of the program consisted of a three-day football tournament for ninety boys and girls aged 10 to 15. In addition to the knowledge and skills acquired, each participant went back home with a school kit.

Ghananews