The Governing Council of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has released a draft constitution for Southern Cameroonians all over the planet to study and make possible contributions before the next meeting of the interim cabinet. Cameroon Concord News understands the daft proposal to Southern Cameroonians was designed during the 4^th conclave that held in Nigeria.

Our senior political man, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai who examined the draft constitution late today, opined that “for the purpose of growth, the Governing Council identified three points of power in the 64-page document. The Council suggested in the draft that the executive power should be in Buea, the economic capital should be in Bamenda and the judicial authority should be in Mamfe.”

A spokesperson for the interim president Sisiku Ayuk Tabe told Cameroon Concord News that the draft is by no means anywhere near to the final document that will be adopted via a referandum.  Southern Cameroonians have been called upon to send feedbacks to the ruling body and also to make positive criticism of the draft constitution.

According to the proposals that came out from the last conclave, Ambazonia will have three federal states. In Article 1, the document states that Ambazonia is headed by a President elected by direct and universal suffrage. He is assisted by a Prime Minister also “elected from among the members of the Federal Assembly”.

According to the proposed constitution, federal states will be led by elected governors. Each state will have a local government represented by its municipality. English has been retained as the official language but “Pidgin and other languages ​​can be developed for official use”.

The document stipulated that “Only Ambazonians between the ages of 35 and 70 may be eligible for the office of President”. Its mandate is five years and renewable once.  It also states that anyone who has reached the age of 18 must undergo military training for 12 months.

The draft constitution comes only a few weeks after the 4^th conclave confirmed Sisiku Ayuk Tabe as interim president and mandated him to form a government.

By Sama Ernest, CCN

The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed has denied any allegations of fraud following a report by a US based environmental agency.

The report claims that local and international laws were violated when she granted permits to Chinese firms to import Nigerian timber while she was the country’s minister of environment. Ms Mohammed says that the permits she signed for the export of rosewood logs to China were done following due process.

In a statement released by the United Nations, the deputy secretary general also welcomed efforts to shine more light on the issue of illegal rosewood logging and exportation. Nigeria is a key exporter of wood to China but the country has faced issues of illegal wood exportation.

Following what they say was a two year investigation, the US based Environmental Investigation Agency released a report on the illegal importation of rosewood logs worth $300m (£220m) from Nigeria to China.

It claims that thousands of permits were retrospectively signed off by the Ministry of Environment, permitting Chinese importers to release 1.4 million logs that had been detained at the Chinese border for months.

The report also claims that $1m was subsequently paid to unidentified government officials for the release of the wood. UN Secretary-General António Guterres was informed about the allegations and reiterated his full support and confidence in his deputy.

Source: BBC

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, have agreed during a brief meeting to maintain military communications in Syria.

The Kremlin said on Saturday that the two leaders had approved a joint statement during a brief meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang.

Putin and Trump agreed “to maintain the existing military communication channels to ensure the security of US and Russian armed forces, as well as to prevent dangerous incidents involving the forces of allies fighting the Daesh terror group,” according to the text of the statement, as published on the Kremlin’s website.

They stressed that there was no military solution to the Syrian crisis — which began in 2011 — and confirmed their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.

The Russian and US presidents also called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to play an active role in the United Nations (UN)-brokered peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

The statement had been prepared by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US State Secretary Rex Tillerson earlier on Saturday, Russia’s Spunik news agency reported.

There had been speculation on whether the two presidents would meet in Vietnam. While no official meeting had been scheduled, both sides had pointed to the likelihood of a brief meeting.

Moscow and Washington support opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. Russia assists the Syrian government and has been carrying out an aerial bombardment campaign against terrorist positions in Syria. The US backs anti-Damascus militants and is also involved in military operations against purported Daesh targets.

The US and Russian militaries set up a communication hotline to avoid mid-air collisions and other potential accidents in Syria.

Russia cut the hotline in response to a US missile attack against a Syrian airbase in Syria’s Homs Province on April 7. Russian military advisers had been stationed near the base, and Russia deemed the American missile strike hazardous. Later, however, the communications line was reestablished.

Source: Presstv

The body of a French Cameroun 2nd class soldier serving with the 22nd Mechanized  Infantry Division, Yaya Emmanuel was found on Friday morning in Akwen, about twenty kilometers from the Mamfe County in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The French Cameroonian army is now bearing the brunt of the socio-political crisis that has rocked Southern Cameroons.  A few days after the assassination of two gendarmes at the entrance to the Bamenda County and the killing of another Francophone security agent in Jakiri, the remains of Yaya Emmanuel was found violently murdered. He was part of a French Cameroun deployment that reportedly killed hundreds of innocent Ambazonians in the Akwaya and Eyumojock sub constituencies.

According to a security source, the soldier was slaughtered on the night of November 9 to 10, 2017 and his missing weapon was allegedly taken away by the Ambazonian militants. Cameroon Concord News gathered from a reliable source that, Yaya Emmanuel was on duty the night of the drama and left his colleagues to buy food. “And it is probably at this moment that he was surprised by his unidentified assassins.”

French Cameroun government spokesman, Issa Tchiroma says this new package brings to 4 the number of soldiers killed since the outbreak of the Southern Cameroons crisis in November 2016.

By Sama Ernest, CCN