Monthly Archives: September 2018

27, September 2018

How BBC exposed killing of women, children by Cameroon Army using Google Earth ⁰

A video emerged earlier this year, showing some armed men in uniform brutally killing a group of women and children, and triggered uproar across the globe. It was alleged that the video, released by Channel 4, showed killing of civilians by Cameroon’s army over alleged links with dreaded terrorist group Boko Haram.

The Cameroon government denied the claim, saying that the video was not shot in the country and that the Army was being wrongly blamed for killing civilians. A statement was released by Cameroon Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, to deny the claims.

“The video that is currently going round is nothing but an unfortunate attempt to distort actual facts and intoxicate the public. Its sincerity can be easily questioned,” Bakary had said in his statement. While the statement came in July 2018, the government a month later said that seven members of the military were facing investigation.

BBC, however, decided to carry out a fact check of the video and the claims and counter claims around it. And the media group did so with the help of Google Earth. It based its investigation on three points – where exactly did it happen, when did it happen, and who is responsible for the atrocities. The BBC released its findings in a video titled ‘Cameroon: Anatomy of a killing’.

Where:

The first 40 seconds of the video captures a mountain range with a distinctive profile. BBC journalists spent hours to match the range with the topography of northern Cameroon, but it failed to give desired result. After a tip off from a source, they studied the topography of a particular region and discovered that the range was near a village named Krawa Mafa, few hundred meters away from the Nigerian border. Other details in the video, such as houses and dirt tracks, were matched with the topography of the village and found to be same.

When:

This was the trickiest part of the investigation done by BBC journalists. Several bits and pieces were put together to identify the range of period when the civilians were killed. A building was visible on the satellite imagery but only till 2016, which suggested that the killings took place before that period. Another building was spotted to have come up in March 2015. Then, a path was traced which appeared only between January and July. The journalists also analysed the shadow of walking assailants on basis of concept of sun dial. After the whole analysis, it was confirmed that the killings took place between March 20 and April 5, 2015.

Who:

The statement released by Cameroonian Minister of Communication Issa Tchiroma Bakary was used for this purpose. For instance, the minister in his statement claimed that the weapons in the video were not the ones used by the Cameroonian Army, but BBC analysis showed that one of the guns used was Serbian made Zastava M21, which is used by some sections of the country’s military. The minister also claimed that the dress worn by the assailants was one used for operations in forests. Bakary claimed that the soldiers in the said area wore desert-style uniform. But Cameroonian soldiers in the region in a Channel 4 video of 2015 were seen wearing forest-style camouflage, similar to those seen in the video.

The focus then shifted to a statement released by the government in August 2018, which named seven soldiers who were arrested and under investigation. The names mentioned in the video, such as Corporal Tchotcho, were matched with some Facebook profiles. A profile of Tchotcho Cyriaque Bityala, who was among the detainees named by the government. Two other soldiers, named in the government list, were identified in a similar manner.

The findings were shared by BBC with the Cameroonian government. Responding to it, the Bakary said, “Seven soldiers were arrested, disarmed. They are under investigation right now. I can confirm that all seven of them are in prison.”

Culled from ZeeNews

27, September 2018

Menchum County: Prison attacked by armed men, about 70 inmates escape ⁰

Separatists in Cameroon’s restive English speaking regions staged a prison break leading to the escape of about 70 prisoners, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The incident took place in Wum, a town located north of the regional capital Bamenda. Witnesses say the preceding the prison break was exchange of gunfire at the town’s prison lasting several hours.

They added that the mastermind of the attack sustained gunshot wounds but was carried away by members of his team.

This becomes the second such incident in under two months. In late July 2018, over 160 inmates in the Ndop prisons were released after an attack by separatists.

The attackers who “fired from everywhere”, were able to “break the gates of the prison” before “setting fire to all the buildings,”he added, …

At the time, William Benedict Emvoutu Mbita, head of the department of Ngoketunjia where Ndop is located confirmed that some escapees had voluntarily returned and were due to be transferred to the regional capital, Bamenda.

The attackers who “fired from everywhere”, were able to “break the gates of the prison” before “setting fire to all the buildings,“he added, stressing that they had brought fuel to cause the fire.

Armed separatists since October last year have faced off with state security forces in an increasingly deteriorating security situation in the Anglophone regions – the North-West and South-West.

Source: Africa News

26, September 2018

Cameroon: Senate President dies in French hospital ⁰

Cameroon’s Senate president, Marcel Niat Njifenji, 84, has died in a French hospital a few days after he was evacuated due to respiratory problems. Mr. Njifenji who was reappointed by his friend, classmate, and president, Paul Biya, as senator and Senate president has, for some time now, been suffering from a respiratory problem.

He was once the country’s deputy prime minister and a former managing director of the country’s only power utility corporation, SONEL, in the 1980s. Mr Njifenji has been accused by many of his collaborators in SONEL at the time of embezzling the funds of the state corporation which later faced serious management problems in the 1990s.

Mr. Njifenji who just started his second term as the Senate president has been one of the many reactionary elements who have ensured that no meaningful political change takes place in the country. He has also worked with members of the ruling party to ensure that the Southern Cameroons crisis that has resulted in the deaths of some 4,000 Cameroonians does not get addressed at the negotiating table.

Mr. Njifenji was supposed to lead a delegation to his native region to campaign for outgoing President Paul Biya’s reelection.

Mr. Biya, who is himself suffering from a heart problem and a distended prostate, has not yet been seen on the campaign trail although his surrogates are all over the place trying to convince the population that he will be campaigning soon.

Mr. Biya’s poor economic performance and his inability to steer a prosperous country to safer shores makes it hard for his candidacy to be sold to a population that is hankering for change. Mr. Biya has ruled the country for 36 years and his incompetence has not only left the country with a tough economic situation, it has also caused the country to deal with a civil war that might take decades to address.

Speaking to a member of the ruling party who elected anonymity, the Cameroon Concord News Group gathered that there was a huge division within the ruling party.

The ruling party member said that it was good for some of the old members to start quitting the scene in order to create room for the new generation that could easily deal with some of the economic and political challenges facing the country.

“I have just been advised of the Senate president’s death in a French hospital. I would like to use this opportunity to extend my condolences to his family,” he said.

“With people like Niat out of the picture, our country could start healing. He was one of those reactionary elements of the government who have been blocking efforts to address the Southern Cameroons crisis through peaceful means,” he added.

Mr. Njifenji will be succeeded as Senate president by Chief Tabetando of the Southwest region who has been Mr. Njifenji’s vice for more than four years.

He will surely not be missed by Cameroonians who have been calling for change at the highest level of the country’s political realm. The government is yet to make any official statement regarding his death and our call to his office has not yet been returned.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

26, September 2018

Unknown gunmen ‘kill 12’ in Mali ⁰

Unknown gunmen have attacked an area torn by tribal strife in eastern Mali, killing at least 12 people, security source say.

According to the sources, the attack occurred in the remote Menaka region on Tuesday.

“Armed men on motorcycles killed at least 12 civilians,” a security source was quoted by AFP as saying.

“For now, we do not know exactly who did it. I don’t know if it was the result of a dispute between tribes or a terrorist act,” the source added.

A former rebel group said armed men had “executed 17 civilians” from two Tuareg camps.

Some 200 people from tribes known as Fulani and Tuareg have been killed in Menaka region this year.

France launched a military operation in Mali back in January 2013, after the region was hit by unrest between local tribes and militants.

The French military still maintains a significant military presence in the West African country.

Source: Presstv

26, September 2018

Canada issues Cameroon travel advisory over rising insecurity ⁰

The Canadian government on Tuesday issued a travel advisory for Cameroon cautioning citizens on the security situation ahead of October 7 presidential polls. A summary of the safety and security tab read: Presidential elections are due to take place on October 7, 2018. Demonstrations could occur before, during and after the elections.

Avoid areas where demonstrations and large gatherings are taking place
Follow the instructions of local authorities
Monitor local media for the latest information

The upcoming polls have been cited as a key test of the security apparatus in the country especially with threats from separatists elements that voting will not take place in the English-speaking regions – North-West and South-West.

Specifically on the situation in the two regions, the advisory said: “Since late November 2016, demonstrations, general strikes and clashes stemming from local tensions have led to casualties in the North-West and South-West regions.

“The security situation has deteriorated since the beginning of 2018. Kidnappings have occurred and foreigners have been targeted. A curfew is in effect from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

“Unofficial road blocks could be set up by armed groups. At any time, local authorities could impose movement restrictions. Telecommunications could be disrupted.”

It also warned against the Far North and Mayo-Louti Department and areas bordering Nigeria, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Cameroonians go to the polls to elect a new president. Incumbent Paul Biya is up against eight other candidates. The vote is the final process for a busy electoral year that has seen legislative polls being organised by the elections body, ELECAM.

Source: Africa News

26, September 2018

Disgraced TV icon Bill Cosby sentenced to prison for sexual assault ⁰

Bill Cosby was marched out of court in handcuffs on Tuesday after being sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault, capping the downfall of the once-beloved comedian known as “America’s Dad.”

Cosby, 81, was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of his one-time friend Andrea Constand, a former Temple University administrator, at his Philadelphia home in 2004.

The sentence ensures that Cosby will spend no less than three years in a Pennsylvania prison before he becomes eligible for supervised release, though he could end up staying behind bars for as much as a decade.

Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven O’Neill ordered Cosby, who had been out on bail since his conviction, to be jailed immediately. He was escorted out a back door of the courtroom with his hands and feet shackled and driven away in a black sport utility vehicle.

Minutes earlier, Constand left court with her arms folded, a smile spreading across her face as other women who have accused Cosby came to hug her.

Several of those women spoke to reporters in the rain outside the courtroom. “I wanted 30 years, but I’m very happy to know Mr. Cosby will do time in prison,” Chelan Lasha said.

Cosby was the first celebrity to be convicted of sexual abuse since the start of the #MeToo movement, the national reckoning with misconduct that has brought down dozens of powerful men in entertainment, politics and other fields.

O’Neill also fined Cosby $25,000 and ordered him to pay the costs of the prosecution, calling Cosby’s crime “very serious.” There was no visible reaction from the disgraced entertainer.

“Equal justice under the law does not allow different treatment because of who he is or who he was,” O’Neill said.

After the sentencing, Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s spokesman, read a statement in which he said the entertainer had been subjected to “the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States.”

Before handing down the prison sentence, O’Neill also decided to designate Cosby a “sexually violent predator” under Pennsylvania law.

Under that designation, Cosby will have to undergo monthly counseling and register as a sex offender with police for the rest of his life. Neighbors and schools will be notified of his address and crimes.

Cosby’s lawyers have already said they planned to appeal his conviction, and he has denied any wrongdoing. Asked if he wanted to address the court with a statement before sentencing, Cosby declined through his lawyers.

More than 50 other women also have accused Cosby of sexual abuse going back decades, with most complaints too old to prosecute. The Constand case was the only allegation that led to criminal charges.

On Monday, the first day of the sentencing hearing, Constand said in a written statement submitted to the court that the attack had turned her into a woman who was “stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward.”

“Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it,” she wrote. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum prison sentence of between five and 10 years, citing the nature of Cosby’s crime as well as his alleged history of misconduct.

Citing Cosby’s frailty and blindness, Cosby’s lawyers had asked for house arrest rather than prison time.

Cosby’s first trial in 2017 ended in a mistrial when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. Soon after that proceeding, a series of women began leveling sexual misconduct allegations against influential men, launching the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements that have encouraged victims to speak up about their experiences.

Prison officials will process Cosby at the nearby state prison in Schwenksville before determining in which of Pennsylvania’s 22 male prisons he will serve his sentence, prison spokeswoman Amy Worden wrote in an email.

He will be one of 86 inmates over age 80 held by Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections, where the two oldest inmates are both 91, Worden said.

(REUTERS)

26, September 2018

France’s ex-PM Manuel Valls declares candidacy for Barcelona mayor ⁰

France’s former prime minister Manuel Valls announced his candidacy for mayor of Barcelona on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over his intentions to enter the race.

Valls – who has dual French and Spanish citizenship – has made regular trips to the Catalonian capital throughout the summer.

On one of his most recent visits, he took part in an event to promote Anatomia del Proces, a book examining the challenges of Catalonian independence that he wrote the preface to. He has also joined the faculty at the city’s ESADE law school for the 2018-2019 academic calendar as a professor of “Migratory Processes and Urban Geography”.

Valls’ growing presence in Barcelona – and his increasingly outspoken views against Catalonian independence – set rumours swirling that he would run in the next mayoral election in May 2019. After months of teasing his interest, Valls officially announced his intention to run on Tuesday.

“Say what you will. But only one thing matters to me, how I will be perceived in Barcelona,” Valls told French newspaper L’Express in early September.

Political woes

Reports that Valls – who served as interior minister and then prime minister under former French president François Hollande – was seeking to reinvent his political career in Barcelona first emerged in April in the Spanish media.

He has watched his political fortunes steadily wane in France ever since resigning as prime minister to run in the country’s 2017 presidential election. After a strong start, he was forced to end his campaign after losing the left-wing primaries to fellow Socialist Benoît Hamon.

Valls, however, refused to endorse Hamon for the presidency. He instead gave his support to independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, who thanked Valls but ruled out bringing him into his future government.

His presidential dreams dashed, Valls mounted a campaign to run in the country’s June 2017 parliamentary elections as a representative for the Essone region, just south of Paris. He quickly sought to join Macron’s Republic on the Move (La République en Marche or LREM) party, which was set to win a sweeping majority.

But he was left humiliated and party-less after LREM ruled that he did not “fit the criteria” to run under its banner. He was eventually allowed to campaign as a LREM “aligned” candidate, narrowly winning his circumscription by 139 votes.

‘I want to give back to Catalonia and Spain’

After a year of bitter disappointment at home, Valls refocused his attention on Spain, wading into the debate on Catalonian independence. He confirmed that he was seriously “studying” the possibility of running for Barcelona mayor in an interview with Spanish television TVE.

“I implicated myself in this debate because I was born in Barcelona,” Valls said. “I want to give back to Catalonia and Spain everything they have given me.”

The same month, he also announced his separation from his wife of eight years, French violinist Anne Gravoin. He has since been photographed with Susana Gallardo, a Catalonia native and heiress to the Almirall pharmaceutical company. The pair recently appeared on the cover of Paris Match, prompting Valls to sue the magazine for invasion of privacy.

Valls will face an uphill battle in his run for Barcelona mayor. Despite being born there he grew up in France and wasn’t naturalised as a Spanish citizen until he was 20. He will have to convince voters that his campaign is more than a last-ditch attempt to save his political career – a point his rivals have already tried to exploit.

“He failed in France so he’s coming here,” incumbent Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau told French newspaper Le Parisien.

France 24

26, September 2018

Thousands Flee in Southern Cameroons as Separatists Battle for New Nation ⁰

Bullets flew constantly in her hometown. Her two young children haven’t attended school in two years. She abandoned the shop she owns after soldiers arrived and started shooting. One day she saw the corpses of seven of her neighbors.

Now, Pamela Njoke, 38, is among the thousands of people fleeing the English-speaking areas of Cameroon, where separatists are battling to form a new nation and the population is bracing for a surge in violence before a presidential election next month.

“People are dying everywhere,” said Ms. Njoke, who waited four hours recently amid a crush of people seeking space on a packed bus to take her and her children, ages 5 and 9, out of Bamenda, her hometown, to the safety of the capital, Yaoundé.

“In short, it’s horrible,” she said.

Fighters who want to form a new country called Ambazonia in the Anglophone area of Cameroon have been locked in bloody battles with the military for months, with accusations of horrific violence on both sides. The fighting has claimed an estimated 400 lives and displaced thousands.

The flood of people out of English-speaking regions may be problematic for President Paul Biya, 85, who is seeking re-election in October. Mr. Biya has been president since 1982 and already is notorious for being one of the continent’s longest-serving leaders.

His administration may have trouble convincing the electorate that the outcome is credible if few people vote in Anglophone areas, which make up a fifth of the population, and if officials who would normally oversee the vote have themselves fled. Government officials in more than a dozen localities there are thought to have abandoned their posts. Cho Ayaba, commander in chief of one group of separatists, said he considered the elections illegal within Anglophone areas.

“I have made it clear that they are banned,” said Mr. Ayaba, who delivers orders from his home abroad. “Any attempt to violate this ban will result in military enforcement,” meaning action from the Ambazonian Defense Forces faction of separatists he leads.

When asked if separatists intended to disrupt elections in Yaoundé, he said, “We have no business with activities within a foreign capital except when they have direct bearings with the security of our people.”

The conflict in Cameroon has steadily worsened in the two years since lawyers and teachers in English-speaking areas began protesting the nation’s Francophone leaders, who dominate the federal government. Those in English-speaking areas have accused the Francophone leaders of sending judges and teachers who do not speak English well to their courts and schools.

Cameroon’s two official languages, French and English, are a remnant of the post-World War I era when the League of Nations appointed France and England as joint trustees of what was then German Kamerun. Colonialists pushed their own cultures on each region.

During his six terms in office, President Biya has concentrated power in favor of French speakers.

The secession movement quickly picked up steam in a population that has increasingly felt marginalized since independence in the 1960s, when a referendum limited options for English-speaking areas to become a separate nation.

Separatists in Anglophone regions have been trying to form a new nation through peaceful channels for decades. The movement turned violent last year in the months after security forces fired on unarmed protesters.

It has spread to involve Cameroonians living abroad who have tried to convince United States lawmakers and United Nations officials that the government was guilty of genocide, a charge the government and many neutral observers deny. Mr. Biya’s supporters point to the English speakers fleeing to the French-speaking capital for safety as evidence.

Last year, the government blocked the internet for months in the English-speaking areas.

The separatists’ pursuit has put them up against a military known for human rights abuses, particularly in areas in the Far North of the country, where soldiers are battling fighters from Boko Haram. Some of the abuses have been broadcast on the internet, and social media posts in general have fueled anger on both sides.

Ambazonian separatists have seized on videos of military abuse filmed in past years during operations against Boko Haram, an entirely separate conflict far away from Anglophone areas, as evidence of why they are fighting the government.

People at the food market in Bamenda last year, after a homemade bomb exploded overnight

One video shows soldiers shooting to death two women apparently suspected of ties to Boko Haram, along with their two young children. The government initially called the video “fake news,” then later said the soldiers responsible for the killings had been arrested.

In another video released recently, a man’s toes are cut off by what appears to be a soldier. The man is then shot to death.

Old military abuse videos from the Boko Haram battle have been sometimes falsely presented as recent episodes in English-speaking areas. One video of a house fire in the United States, in Colorado, was falsely labeled as showing soldiers burning Anglophone villages.

On the other side, government officials have cited a clip of body parts being stirred in a pot and eaten as evidence of the brutality of separatists. That clip, which circulated several weeks ago, was found to be of actors on the set of a Nollywood movie, not separatists in the bush as the officials had claimed.

Yet videos that misrepresent violence pass as believable because so much horrible violence is real in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions.

In their hunt for fighters, the military has burned numerous villages and shot unarmed protesters. Separatists have been accused of attacking soldiers at checkpoints and of gruesome killings of security forces. Last week Amnesty International said it had authenticated a video showing a man who identified as a separatist alongside the decapitated head of a policeman.

“The situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon is becoming increasingly desperate with no one spared from the violence,” Samira Daoud, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for West and Central Africa, said in a recent news release.

About one week ago, soldiers arrived in a village outside Bamenda and opened fire, residents there said. They burned three homes and killed two people, all seemingly at random.

Separatists had blocked the road leading to the village, preventing more soldiers from arriving in armed vehicles and allowing time for villagers to flee. One resident, who did not want his name published for safety reasons, said the actions of separatists most likely saved more civilian lives.

He added that he, like others in the village, now supported the Ambazonians.

Escaping the Anglophone region is not an option for everyone. Blocked roads meant to thwart soldiers also prevent citizens from fleeing.

Some citizens have reported that the government in some areas has begun requiring anyone getting on buses to register their names and those of the person receiving them, outraging civil rights activists.

This month, two dozen public buses were attacked by separatists as they were leaving Anglophone areas. Videos filmed by passengers showed crumpled buses and flames shooting from a bulldozer that apparently had been used to dig a deep ditch to block roads.

The Cameroon Inter-Employer Group, a local organization, reported that the areas affected by the crisis have lost up to $600 million in revenue and nearly 6,500 jobs. These have been mostly in the agriculture sector, including a major palm oil production facility, a large banana plantation and a rubber-making operation.

Separatists have urged shops and schools to close to demonstrate the region’s economic importance to the country. Some people who do not cooperate have been kidnapped, threatened and killed.

Many people just want the violence to end. The scene at a crowded bus station in Yaoundé this week was chaotic as hundreds of tired and anxious people running away from Anglophone areas disembarked with suitcases, backpacks, mattresses and other belongings.

Mama Dora, a fruit seller from English-speaking Bamenda, was waiting at the station to greet friends fleeing the city. Ms. Dora herself had arrived only on Saturday so she could enroll her four children in school. Even if schools were open in her hometown, she would not send her children.

“Let me ask you,” she said. “Can you allow your children to go to school with soldiers all over the place and people being shot dead like chickens?”

Source: The New York Times

25, September 2018

UN chief warns of ‘increasingly chaotic’ world order ⁰

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued a stark warning of growing chaos and confusion as the rules-based global order comes under a threat of breaking down.

Guterres told the 193-member UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday that trust in the global order and among states was “at a breaking point” and international cooperation was becoming more difficult.

“Today, world order is increasingly chaotic. Power relations are less clear,” said the UN chief.

“Today, with shifts in the balance of power, the risk of confrontation may increase,” warned Guterres while addressing the opening session of the UNGA.

“But it runs deeper … As guardians of the common good, we also have a duty to promote and support a reformed, reinvigorated and strengthened multilateral system,” Guterres said as he opened the world’s largest diplomatic gathering.

Guterres did not single out a country for criticism. But the remarks came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s speech at the assembly.

The US president later opened his speech by touting his domestic policies, including tax cuts and his push to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, before addressing his foreign policy priorities.

Trump boasted that his administration had accomplished “more than almost any” other in US history. The remark drew laughter from the audience of world leaders.

There are fears among UN diplomats that the world is being carved up into spheres of influence and a return to great power rivalry.

Since Trump took office last year, Washington has violated numerous international treaties and conventions. Trump has scrapped the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Paris climate agreement and cut funding to the UN.

“Those who see their neighbors as dangerous may cause a threat where there was none. Those who close their borders to regular migration only fuel the work of traffickers,” Guterres said. “And those who ignore human rights in combating terrorism tend to breed the very extremism they are trying to end.”

“And those who ignore human rights in combating terrorism tend to breed the very extremism they are trying to end.”

Guterres acknowledged that peace efforts were failing and that respect for international humanitarian norms was unraveling. “The Rohingya people remain exiled, traumatized and in misery, still yearning for safety and justice.”

The so-called two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become “more and more distant” while the nuclear threat “has not eased”, the UN chief said.

Trump’s recognition of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” has already led Palestinian leaders to cut off contact with the White House.

“There is outrage at our inability to end the wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere,” he said.

Guterres also urged leaders to tackle climate change with a greater sense of ambition and urgency. “If we do not change course in the next two years, we risk runaway climate change.”

The Trump administration withdrew from a global accord to reduce emissions last year.

Source: Presstv

25, September 2018

Revealed: Biya to head to Maroua and to Buea ⁰

Cameroon’s monarch, Paul Biya, will be in Maroua on Saturday, September 29, 2018, to help give his sluggish presidential election campaign a shot in the arm. Mr. Biya, who has ruled the country for 36 years, is running for reelection against a backdrop of a declining economy and total dissatisfaction with his performance across the country.

The Far North region remains one of the poorest regions of the country, with huge numbers of illiterates and highest disease load. The entire northern region lacks good hospitals and maternal and child deaths are among the highest in the country. The region is bereft of infrastructure and many people in the region are simply scraping a living.

Mr. Biya dismal economic performance is working against him and the abuses of his soldiers in that part of country when it comes to counter-terrorism are things that might likely put off the people of Maroua. It should be recalled that numerous videos have emerged of Cameroon soldiers killing women and children or even killing all able-bodied young men in certain villages in the Far north region.

From Maroua, the Monarch will be heading to Buea where he will be facing some of the toughest challenges. The Southern Cameroons crisis that is into its second year has radicalized almost all Southern Cameroonians and Mr. Biya’s snobbish attitude has put off all the people in the two English speaking regions.

The Southern Cameroons crisis which is into its second year has intensified with government troops stationed all over the two English-speaking regions. Buea, the Southwest regional capital, is awash with soldiers and gendarmes who have been deployed to scare any Southern Cameroonian fighters who may want to disrupt preparations for the arrival of the country’s president, Paul Biya, who is also known as the monarch presiding over a criminal syndicate that has ruled the country for more than three decades.

Yesterday, two young men returning from work in Buea were gunned down by army soldiers who have unfortunately become trigger-happy. The two young were responding to calls by the region’s governor for people to go about their businesses without fear.

Similarly, a popular taxi driver in Buea was also gunned down by a soldier. It has become systematic for soldiers to kill able-bodied young men in order to intimidate the local population. Other killings have also been reported in Kumba, Bali and Bafut and this is becoming a daily affair. Most of these killings are committed by army soldiers following instructions by the Defense Minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, and Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji.

Mr. Biya, who has not visited the region in years, will be heading to Buea before Election Day on October 7, 2018. The visit will be within the framework of presidential campaigns that are underway in the country. While other candidates are busy canvassing for support, Mr. Biya has been hiding at the country’s presidential palace in Yaoundé, encouraging his surrogates to act on his behalf as his performance over the last three decades is dismal.

Since 1992, Mr. Biya and his party have never won any election and it is rumored that results of the upcoming election are already known. The country’s election body and the Constitutional Council that releases the results are dominated by Mr. Biya’s loyalists.

By Kingsley Betek and Asu Vera Eyere