15, January 2019

President Ali Bongo returns to Gabon ⁰

President Ali Bongo returned to Gabon on Monday after a three-month medical leave during which a coup attempt was thwarted, two government sources told Reuters.

His return comes a week after a small military group took over the state radio station. The move to grab power was quickly halted but exposed growing frustration in the oil-producing country over Bongo’s secretive absence.

Bongo suffered the stroke during a conference in Saudi Arabia in October and was flown to Morocco in November for treatment.

He has appeared in television clips in recent weeks, including a New Year’s address in which he slurred his speech and appeared unable to move his right arm. It is not clear if he can walk.

Bongo appointed a new government on Saturday in an apparent effort to shore up his political base, including the nomination of Julien Nkoghe Bekale as prime minister.

The new government will be sworn in in Bongo’s presence on Tuesday, the two sources said. The media will not be allowed to attend.

The Bongo family has ruled Gabon for over 50 years. Ali Bongo took over upon his father Omar’s death in 2009. Ali Bongo won re-election in 2016 by fewer than 6,000 votes amid widespread accusations of fraud, sparking deadly clashes between protesters and police during which the parliament was torched.

REUTERS

14, January 2019

French Cameroun: SDO of Upper Plateau dies under mysterious circumstances ⁰

Bilonougou Felix the senior divisional officer for Upper Plateau Division in the West region is no more! The civil administrator passed away on Sunday night amid political tension in the region.

Awa Fonka Augustine, the governor of the West Region, confirmed the prefect’s death in a press release in which he stated that, “The Governor of the West region announces with regrets the death of the Prefect of the Upper Plateau Division; he died on Sunday, January 13, 2019 in Bafoussam.”

A lot of tongues have been waging ever since Governor Awa Fonka made public the news of the prefect’s demise. The governor’s press release did not provide any details of what killed the prefect who reportedly died near his command post. What we do know is that the prefect’s body has been kept in a private mortuary in Bafoussam, the chief city in the West region.

By Rita Akana

14, January 2019

Death of Jean Foumane Akame end of an era; Its a personal loss for President Biya ⁰

Jean Foumane Akame a former legal adviser to President Biya died on Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland. The former technical adviser in charge of legal affairs at the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic was quickly evacuated by medical aircraft over the weekend after a malaise.

A senior Magistrate and former Chancellor of the University of Yaoundé, Jean Foumane was a key player in the so-called “Sparrowhawk” operation that initiated the dubious anti corruption campaign and targeted opponents of the regime.

A chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate, Jean Foumane Akam made headlines when his name and signature appeared on a motion calling on Biya to run for president in October 2018-a move that revealed to the world that the Constitutional Council was a pro Biya institution.

Born August 31, 1937 in Ndonkol in the South region of Cameroon, Jean Fouman Akam who was appointed a member of the Constitutional Council in February 2018, has held numerous high offices since 1969.

He is presented by the press as the one who makes and breaks careers in the Cameroonian judiciary. He was a close friend to President Biya.

Sama Ernest

14, January 2019

The Ambazonian Interim Gov’t: Recognising some important achievements ⁰

To say the IG has not done anything good in this revolution is just clear evidence that whoever is speaking is not honest. This is a limited list of achievements by the Ambazonian Interim Government:

11 February – dead and buried
20 May -dead and buried
1st October – alive
Consistent Ghost towns- alive
Ambazonia now in the mouth of journalists and law makers in different countries.
LGA by LGA a new strategy of sustainability people leading from bottom up.
Leadership which was incommunicado now known to be alive. IG footing legal bills
ABC TV our own 100% state own TV.
Two resolutions passed in the US Congress in our favour.
UK House of Commons debate on Ambazonia
UK promise over 1.4 million pounds for aid to IDPs of Ambazonia
UN Security Council discussed Ambazonia crisis and ordered Biya to dialogue and get to the root of the matter with us.
Over 500 LRC terrorists sent to hell. Hundred of LRC military vehicles decommissioned.
Huge economic loses to LRC control enterprises.

-CDC

-Lobe palm estate

-Delmonte banana

-Rubber plant

Serious economic crises on LRC military soldiers going without pay for months sending LRC to dive deeper in debts.
Presidential election – dead in Ambazonia.
XAF or CFA suffers and on the brinks of devaluation

Let the people Ambazonia watch out for those who wish they were in control and trying to blackmail the Interim Government so they can have their way. No government in this world is perfect. But you do not discredit a government because of few imperfections.

To say the IG has done nothing in 2017 is clear evidence that such a group or people have an agenda against the IG. The people of Ambazonia should not allow power hungry people to manipulate them.

The Interim Government has inter alia

taken care of our refugees in Nigeria through our HSS department for 2years and counting
stopped la Republique elections of Oct 7th 2018 through nationwide lockdown
banned CPDM across our territory
rejected French Cameroun citizenship and now all known as Ambazonians
Taken care of our abducted people in La Republique dungeons for over 2years now and counting
declared the restoration of the independence of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia on October 1st 2017
stopped AFCON 2019 from taking place in La Republique du Cameroun
provided support to our bereaved families through HSS
provided medical assistance to our injured RFs
Successfully organized the sabotaged Washington AACC of August 2018
provided assistance to our people currently living in bushes across homeland through HSS
Rendered Douala Seaport worthless to CAR
Brought heavy voices of pan Africanists like Prof POL Lumumba, Jerry Rawlings, Massango of Punchline Africa, behind our cause
accomplished a comprehensive modern, 21st century market oriented academic curriculum for our education system
changed self defense game in GZ
established a robust and up to date website (www.ambazoniagov.org)for our cause in order to be able to sell our story across the world
More than 10 undisclosed potential positive diplomatic moves ongoing

14, January 2019

Nigeria’s Top Judge to Face Trial on Asset-declaration Charges ⁰

Nigeria’s chief justice will face trial Monday for allegedly breaching asset-declaration rules, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) said Saturday, a month before a presidential election in Africa’s most populous country.

Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen is the head of Nigeria’s judiciary, which plays a key role in election matters and has helped resolve disputes in past votes.

The conduct tribunal, which tries asset-declaration misdemeanors, said in a statement Saturday that Onnoghen would face six separate counts, without giving further details.

Onnoghen could not be reached for comment.

Under Nigerian law, state officials must declare their assets before taking office and after they leave. The court did not say why it had brought the charges against Onnoghen almost two years into his tenure.

The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) accused the ruling party of plotting to destabilize the judiciary ahead of elections by seeking to remove Onnoghen, which could cause a constitutional crisis.

Nigerians go to the polls on Feb. 16 to elect a new president in an election where incumbent Muhammadu Buhari will seek a second term and is campaigning on his anti-corruption record.

In 2016, the tribunal charged Senate President Bukola Saraki, the country’s third most-powerful politician, with false asset declaration. Saraki was later cleared of wrongdoing.

Source: VOA

14, January 2019

Chad, Central African Republic Threaten to Abandon Douala Port, Blame Corruption ⁰

Landlocked Chad and the Central African Republic have dispatched senior customs officials to Cameroon to look into allegations of corruption in the Atlantic Coast port of Douala.

At the port, heavy equipment is excavating and relocating huge quantities of abandoned material at the Douala seaport.

Some of the containers, with vehicles and other goods destined for Cameroon, Chad and CAR, were abandoned by importers who complain that high levels of corruption, red tape and overpriced services are driving them away from one of Africa’s largest harbors.

Shipping containers are stacked up, Jan. 10, 2019, at the port of Douala, Cameroon.

Pay and pay again

Moise Vokeng of the Professional Transporters Network at the Douala seaport says importers and exporters are looking for alternatives.

“When you arrive at the port and at any checkpoint, from gendarmes to police to customs, you have to pay money, you have to pay heavy money, you do not know why you pay but you must pay before you pass,” Vokeng said.

“Whether you enter with empty trucks or you are loaded, you have to pay. When we load we have to wait for the tracking equipment from the customs to be certain and when it is certain we have six hours to leave the seaport to Yassa, which is the first checkpoint. When you arrive at the checkpoint after six hours you have penalties to pay,” he added.

Vokeng says clearing procedures are long and cumbersome because of degraded infrastructure and lack of investment. He says to take a car out, an importer needs no fewer than 25 stamps before paying $2,000 to customs officials for a 5- to 10-year-old car. He says to remove a car from the port at times takes two to three weeks.

Yaya Abdallah, a Chadian driver finally leaves the port. He says corruption is not only a problem inside the port, it stalks drivers on the road as well. He says Chadian and CAR drivers say Cameroon’s military and police harass them and drivers pay huge sums of money, which makes their businesses highly unprofitable.

He says they spend more than $300 to bribe gendarmes and police between Douala and Ndjamena, and no one seems to listen to them when they complain.

Cameroon gendarmes in Bertoua, east Cameroon, control vehicles on the way to the Central African Republic, Jan. 5, 2019.

Officials deny bribe-taking

But Ngube Philomene, a senior official of the Cameroon military controlling traffic between Cameroon and Chad and Cameroon and CAR, says that because of insecurity, they have to control the trucks. She denies they collect bribes from drivers.

“We are systematically controlling all vehicles to CAR and Chad because of insecurity and the crisis in CAR. We have to do it for their own security and safety,” Ngube says.

Douala is the nearest ocean gateway for Chad and CAR, but importers and exporters say they are fed up and want to relocate to Cotonou in Benin.

Onana Ndoh, secretary general of the Community of Workers at Douala’s port authority argues, that Cotonou will be more expensive. He says it would be better for the landlocked countries to meet Cameroonian authorities and negotiate improvements.

“The shippers of Central Africa and Chad cannot leave the port of Douala, the shortest way for them to go to the sea,” he said. “I can tell you that the commandant of Gendarmerie in the port has already taken steps to punish all caught in creating complications to shippers.”

Director general of Chad’s customs, Colonel Ousmane Adam Dicki, visited Cameroon, Jan 10, 2018.

This week, Chad’s director of customs, Colonel Ousmane Adam Dicki, visited Cameroon. He says he first wants goods that have been piling up there to be cleared before negotiations on what his country will do next.

He says his country has sent him to take stock of all merchandise and containers destined for Chad, and to control and organize their transit within the shortest possible time.

More than 2,000 containers have been stuck in Douala for the past two months. In the past 30 years, there has been no major investment to expand the port.

Culled from VOA

14, January 2019

French Cameroun: One soldier killed in road accident ⁰

One soldier was killed and several others injured on Saturday in a car crash in the Centre region of Cameroon, police sources said.

The accident occurred on the Bafoussam-Yaounde highway in Ndiki, a village in Mbam and Inoubou division of the Centre region of the country, according to eyewitnesses.

“The accident happened early this Saturday. One soldier died on the spot and another senior military personnel was seriously injured. Several civilians were injured and rushed to the hospital for treatment,” a police source told Xinhua.

“The army vehicle was severely damaged. Some of the victims were in a critical condition,” Jean-Claude Essomba, who witnessed the accident, told Xinhua.

The army confirmed the accident, saying those injured were being treated. The army has ordered formal inquiries into the tragedy. On Friday, the army said several soldiers were injured in another road accident on the Douala-Yaounde highway.

Source:Xinhuanet

13, January 2019

UK: Joseph Wirba releases a frank and thoughtful key to understanding the war in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The much respected SDF Southern Cameroons Member of Parliament Hon. Joseph Wirba on Saturday January 12 published a book in the United Kingdom on the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

The book titled “Wirbaforce” is a frank and thoughtful key to understanding the MP’s trials and tribulations ever since the inception of the crisis in late 2016. The book launch was reportedly attended by a cross section of the Ambazonian Diaspora in the United Kingdom and beyond.

Addressing the sell-out crowd, Joseph Wirba paid tribute to the more than 4000 Southern Cameroonians killed in the on-going war. The outspoken Southern Cameroons politician also observed that his book remains a candid narrative of the truth about the genocidal campaign currently going on in Southern Cameroons.

Local media houses in Cameroon had reported that the Social Democratic Front MP had taken up resident in the United Kingdom late last year after running away from Cameroon.

Hon Joseph Wirba was the first MP to have addressed the Anglophone problem and later fled the country to neighbouring Nigeria in 2017. He returned to Yaounde the same year and resurfaced in the National Assembly building from where he reechoed his stance on the marginalization of English speaking Cameroonians.

13, January 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Kondengui prison authorities reject humanitarian aid from Ayah Foundation ⁰

The management of the Kondengui High security prison in Yaoundé on Thursday January 10 turned down a huge consignment of humanitarian aid destined for Anglophone inmates detained as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons.

Journal du Cameroun reported that the aid offered by the Ayah Foundation was rejected at the prison on ‘instructions’ from senior Cameroon government officials. The Foundation decried the attitude of the prison authorities whom they said had given clearance for the relief to be brought in only to later backtrack on their decision.

The French Cameroun prison authorities have not made any public statement regarding the issue but a source at the prison facility observed that the guards had acted on instructions from the prison administration.

An official of the prison was quoted as “A prison is not a refugee camp.” The official also pointed out that it is the sole responsibility of prison authorities to accept or reject relief aid.

Reported by Journal du Cameroun

13, January 2019

US: Castro announces 2020 presidential election bid to take on Trump ⁰

A top Hispanic politician has announced his bid to run in the US 2020 presidential election in an effort to deny the current US leader, Donald Trump, a second term.

Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro, a Democrat, made the announcement in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas Saturday.

“I am a candidate for president of the United States of America,” he said during a speech. “There is a crisis today, it’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation.”

The 44-year-old officially launched his presidential campaign as preparations were underway for two key conventions in the Latino political world.

If elected, Castro will be the first Hispanic president in US history.

“I know that with your help and support we have the best candidate with the best ideas and the biggest heart,” said his brother, Texas Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro.

The former Obama administration official has pledged support for various progressive positions, including a “Medicare for all” single-payer health care system.

He has also vowed to “recommit the United States to the Paris climate accord,” which Trump scrapped.

The GOP rushed to respond to Castro’s announcement, calling him a “one of the biggest lightweights to ever run for president.”

“Julián Castro has made history by becoming one of the biggest lightweights to ever run for president. He was a weak mayor who couldn’t even handle being HUD secretary. This is obviously just another desperate attempt to become someone else’s running mate,” Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens said.

Castro served as the mayor of San Antonio until 2014.

His bid for the White House in 2020 was announced ahead of conventions by Bold PAC — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s (CHC) campaign arm — and the Latino Victory Fund in Puerto Rico on Sunday.