Monthly Archives: September 2018

Buhari presiding over a divided Nigeria

18, September 2018

Buhari presiding over a divided Nigeria 0

Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki has described Nigeria under the control of President Muhammadu Buhari as a divided nation, where citizens don’t have a sense of belonging. The 2019 presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said this in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Monday while meeting with PDP delegates in Ogun State.

Saraki who was accompanied by a leader of R-APC Kawu Baraje , ex-governor of Kogi state Idris Wada his Director -General of Abubakar Bukola Saraki Campaign Organisation , Muhammad Wakil and a Senator representing Kogi West , Senator Dino Melaye said Nigeria doesn’t need a sectional leader exemplified by the Buhari-led administration.

According to Saraki countries all over the world now vote healthy and capable leaders who can unite their nations. He urged Nigerians to follow suit by voting a visionary and energetic leader as her next president.

“Today in Nigeria, we are here at the crossroads. The country is divided and to unite the country, we need someone who will make everybody feel a sense of belonging. Today, there is no sense belonging in some parts of the country. “We need a president that rules and represents Nigeria. We want a president where everybody will say they belong here. Where there is no unity, there can never be progress. After unity, we can talk about development and progress. “A lot of our people are suffering because you cannot give what you don’t have. We need a visionary leader. It is time for us in Nigeria to have a visionary leader. We need a man that has the ability and that can perform. “Today, there is a new order over the world, we have seen it in Asia, America, and Europe. We are seeing people bringing in new, dynamic and energetic presidents and more importantly, digital presidents. “Out of the aspirants that have come out, I believe that my track records have shown that I have the ability and capacity to stand for what is right. When we talk about insecurity, it takes a courageous leader to say this is right and this is wrong, this is fair and this is unfair. “It is time we have a leader that will stand for justice, to do things the way it needs to be done. We should stop saying presidents can only come from one part of the country. We should start asking who is more capable, who is ready to carry the people along?” Saraki added.

www.vanguardngr.com


Southern Cameroons Crisis: A national disaster

18, September 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: A national disaster 0

When the Southern Cameroons crisis started in October 2016, many government officials and the majority Francophone thought it would be localized in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Arrogant ministers like Fame Ndongo, Laurent Esso and Issa Tchiroma were all over the place to prove that they had total control of things. They even said there was no Anglophone problem in Cameroon and that demonstrations by teachers and lawyers were the handiwork of a few frustrated Cameroonians living abroad.

Fame Ndongo is quoted to have said that the two regions were like two cubes of sugar that would easily melt in a large ocean. Two years into the crisis, he is finally figuring out that those two cubes of sugar are actually standing the test of time.

Instead of using dialogue, the conflict management tool par excellence, to address those concerns put forth by the minority English-speaking population, the government resorted to arresting Southern Cameroonian leaders and disconnecting the Internet.

This decision was its biggest mistake and it was counterproductive. The little problem that could have been easily addressed had just been transformed into a monster that would destroy the country forever.

Schools in the region remained closed and the arrest of Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla, Mr. Mancho Bibixy and Dr. Fontem Neba in January 2017 plunged the country into a crisis that is today taking a scary proportion. Schools have ever since remained closed and businesses have been hurt, as the English-speaking minority resorted to civil disobedience to draw the government’s attention to its plight.

But the government of Cameroon is not used to negotiating. Calls from the international community for inclusive dialogue have clearly fallen on deaf ears. The country’s president, Paul Biya, also known as the “monarch” has decreed that the form of the state is non-negotiable and nobody, not even the parliament and senate, can discuss the crisis that is tearing the country’s two English regions apart.

To the Yaounde regime and many Francophones, the problem will forever be contained. It will not spread. But they have all gotten it wrong. The issue which was once considered by the Francophone media as the Anglophone crisis has spread like wild fire into East Cameroon.

While the Majority francophone population is still indolent, it is clear that the crisis has come to bite it too. Escalating food and housing prices are taking a huge bite from their meager incomes.

These prices have been prompted by the mass migration of Southern Cameroonians into East Cameroon. The senseless killing of innocent civilians by government troops has prompted the population to quit the region.

Over the last couple of months, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Atanga Nji, and the Minister of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, have manufactured armed militia to kill young Southern Cameroonians aged between 13 and 40 in a bid to prove that they are doing a good job. This plan has been prompted by the need to prove to the president that they are actually delivering the right goods.

The objective has always been to strike fear in the minds of the fighters. It has been the government’s belief that it is possible to wrap up things before elections so that it can prove to the international community that it has put a handle on the situation.

This too has been counterproductive. There is a mass exodus of Southern Cameroonians into East Cameroon and this is an embarrassment to the government which has, so far, been ineffective and arrogant when it comes to dealing with this issue.

In a bid to deceive the world again, the South West governor, Okala Bilai, who once called the people of his region “dogs”, has been pleading with the locals not to leave the region. The helpless governor was seen in motor parks in the Mile 17 pleading with the same people he had insulted not to leave their own land.

Over the last week, residents of the two English-speaking regions have been leaving the place following threats by Southern Cameroonian fighters to implement a strict movement of goods and persons within the region from September 16, 2018 to October 7, 2018. Instead of dealing with the illness, the government has been busy dealing with symptoms. Its objective is to hold elections in these two regions, but with everybody gone, its plan has been foiled.

There will be no elections in Southern Cameroons. Campaigns for presidential elections scheduled for October 7, are currently underway and Southern Cameroonians fighters have vowed to disrupt an election they consider as foreign.

While other candidates are on the ground canvassing for votes, the incumbent, Paul Biya, is clearly snubbing Cameroonians. He hardly campaigns, but has won all elections because of his well-oiled rigging machinery.

It is generally held that Mr. Biya, considered by the ruling crime syndicate as its natural candidate, will emerge as the winner in an election that has already been rigged. But his victory might only plunge the country into a more serious crisis.

But before he wins, he must deal with the rising refugee crisis that is giving the country a bad name. Its collective punishment of Southern Cameroonians has backfired. It is now clear that not all Southern Cameroonians are separatists and terrorists as the government has been characterizing them.

The government has a huge responsibility on its hands. It must take care of those refugees and internally displaced people. In civilized countries, governments will be busy building short-term accommodation for all these people who have fled their homes because the government cannot provide them the security they need in their natural environment.

Early this year, the same government said it had earmarked CFAF 15 billion to take care of refugees and internally displaced persons. Strangely, over the last three months, nothing has been seen in this direction and no account has been provided regarding such a huge amount of money.

With more Southern Cameroonians crossing over into East Cameroon, it is time for the government to bring out this money and use it for the purpose for which it was intended. The international community is watching and as the country stumbles and fails to do its job, the international community is contemplating coming in to ensure another DRC or Rwanda is not playing out in the Central African region.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has hit the country’s economy like a ton of bricks and many state corporations have simply unraveled. PAMOL, CDC and others have taken a punch to the liver and it will take a long time for them to recover. Even the country’s lone oil refinery, SONARA, is struggling too. The government has lost many revenue streams.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that was expected to fizzle out in less than two weeks has eroded the country’ finances. The country’s development plans have been ruined. The Yaoundé government is at a loss for words. It is indeed at its wit’s end.

The crisis is causing the country to lose about CFAF 10 billion a day. This is keeping government officials awake at night. It is also causing the government to look for other sources of revenue and, as usual, it has been all over the world, including to china, to beg.

The country’s president has just returned from China where he had travelled to attend the China-Africa Summit and to seek some cash infusion from the Chinese. Mr. Biya was also in China to persuade Chinese businesses and investors to come and invest in his war-ravaged country. Mr. Biya has also been sucking up to the Chinese government, hoping that it would grant it some loans and grants. But the Chinese are not ready to pour their money into a dry hole.

The Biya government is noted for its recklessness and even the Chinese hold that it would be foolhardy to give huge amounts of money to a government that has constantly proven that it is incapable of managing its own affairs.

While in China, Mr. Biya and his entourage toured a plane manufacturing company and even signed an agreement for the purchase of a presidential jet. This was exactly what Mr. Biya did in Brazil some time ago and nothing came out of the deal.

The jet will not be delivered anytime soon. Cameroon has not got the resources to make a huge down payment as requested by the Chinese. Cameroon is cash-strapped and with its economy bleeding money on a daily basis, it will be hard for the government to find the resources to meet its commitments vis-a-vis the Chinese.

The country’s traditional business partners are hastily pulling out of the country due to a brutal civil war in the two English-speaking regions which account for more than 60% of the country’s wealth.

Mr. Biya and his government have been running the country like a private farm and he has been using the national treasury like his personal piggy bank. The conflict in his country has taken a turn for the worse, with many citizens fleeing the war zone.

For 36 years, Mr. Biya has not built any world-class hospitals in his country. The country’s roads are dead traps and the country’s railway system has simply collapsed. For more than three decades, the narcissistic monarch has been using his country’s treasury as his personal ATM. When travelling abroad, Mr. Biya always has more than 50 persons in his entourage and all of these people are lodged in five-star hotels.

The current crisis in the country is concerning to many local officials. According to a Douala City Hall official who has elected anonymity, the migration of Southern Cameroonians to the city of Douala is not only costly; it is also a major risk. He pointed out that among the displaced could be the fierce fighters who may use the situation to wreak havoc on innocent citizens in the city.

He regretted that the government was letting this situation to spiral out of control, adding that if immediate action was not taken, the entire country could become a war zone.

According to a source close to the Unity palace, Mr. Biya is very disappointed with the Chinese.  “He is not very happy with the Chinese,” he said, adding that “he was expecting a huge chunk of money from the Chinese which could have helped to finance his campaign,”

He pointed out that “with Western nations very reluctant to put any money into the hands of this regime, it will be hard for the government to carry out any meaningful projects.” “I think we are not yet out of the woods. Even if Mr. Biya is considered a winner in the upcoming election, this country will still face serious issues,” he stressed.

“With the conflict spiraling out of control, it is clear that Mr. Biya cannot handle the disaster that is playing out in the North West and South West regions. The situation is too big for him. He cannot handle it,” he said. “We have the worst roads in Africa and the unemployment rate is unacceptable. I am scared for our country. We are in for tough and rough times,” he added.

“We may not even have the money to comply the infrastructure we are developing for the upcoming AFCON. I am confused and so too are millions of Cameroonians. Which roads will national team supporters be using to support their teams which will be moving from town to town?” he quipped.

The source that also elected anonymity questioned the president’s silence over the disaster playing out in the two English-speaking regions of the country, adding that the worst was yet to happen. “Many people have been killed and more than a thousand soldiers have died. At what point will the president step in to roll back this disaster?” he asked.

“Though the president is back home, I know he will soon be returning to Switzerland which is more like home to him. His health is failing and we are all concerned. He will not be campaigning, but he will win. The election has already been rigged in his favor,” he said, adding that “we are in for real trouble. Mr. Biya has taken the country hostage.”

Cameroon is going through a tough national unity test.  With the current crop of politicians still in power, nothing meaningful will take place in the country. National unity is today a mere slogan. The English-speaking minority is simply walking away from the country and the reckless massacre of innocent civilians in by army soldiers is making the divorce all the more possible.

Cameroonians have their fate in their hands. It is up to them to change their destiny. Mr. Biya and his people are in power to serve their personal interest. Cameroonians must understand that their silence will not solve the huge economic and political problems facing them. Francophones have to join Anglophones to see off this regime that has ruined the country.

The world must not continue to stand on the sidelines. Cameroonians need help. The country’s ruling crime syndicate has reduced Cameroonians to beggars and if nothing is done, millions will continue to be helpless and frustrated.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde


Amnesty International says horrific violence escalates further in Southern Cameroons

18, September 2018

Amnesty International says horrific violence escalates further in Southern Cameroons 0

The brutal attacks against ordinary people and security forces are further proof of the horrific escalation of violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, Amnesty International said today.

The organization’s forensic experts have authenticated two videos which were received late last week. In the first video, an individual identifies himself as being a member of the armed separatists group “Ambazonia Liberation Forces”. The same video shows images of a gendarme’s decapitated head.

In the second video, which is believed to be a continuation of the first clip, a voice can be heard saying that the armed separatists had taken the gendarme’s rifle, which Amnesty International identified as an AK Chinese Type 56, a model that is ubiquitous in the region.

“The situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon is becoming increasingly desperate with no one spared from the violence which is spiralling out of control,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for West and Central Africa.

According to Amnesty International’s forensic experts, the gendarme had bruises on his head, which was laid on a blood-soaked white cloth with what could be his genitalia placed nearby.

Amnesty International is not yet in a position to independently confirm the exact location of where the videos were shot, but analysis suggests it might be in the area of Belo, in the North West region which has been badly affected by the crisis. Belo is also close to Njinikom, a town and commune in the North West Region of Cameroon, where the armed separatists group “Ambazonia Liberation Forces” is known to operate.

“By also attacking and kidnapping students and teachers, we have reasons to believe many other lives of ordinary people are now at risk with the violence carried out by some members of the armed separatists groups. This must immediately stop,” said Samira Daoud.

400 ordinary people killed

As a result of the violence in the Anglophone regions, up to 400 ordinary people have been killed since a year by both the security forces and the armed separatists.

Amnesty International has also recorded more than 260 security incidents since the beginning of the year, ranging from clashes between armed separatists and security forces, kidnappings of members of the general population and the killing of security forces by armed separatists. The incidents also include unlawful killings by the security forces, and the destruction of private properties by both sides.

“Perpetrators from both sides who have attacked and killed people or destroyed their properties must not continue to walk free. The authorities in Cameroon must commit to urgently, promptly, independently and effectively investigating these crimes,” said Samira Daoud.

Since the start of the crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions in late 2016, Amnesty International has documented the deaths of more than 160 members of the security forces at the hands of armed separatists. However, the death toll could be much higher as attacks go underreported.

On 3 September, in the town of Bafut in the North West region, armed separatists kidnapped seven students and the head of the Presbyterian Comprehensive Secondary School (PCSS), who was tortured and seriously injured while in captivity. The hostages were released in the following days and the head of the school was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Also around 10 September, armed separatists attacked the positions of soldiers stationed near the well-known St. Joseph’s College Sasse in the town of Buea, causing an intense exchange of fire between them and the security forces. People living around told Amnesty International that they have heard heavy gunfire for a few hours on the night of the incident.

“With the upcoming elections in Cameroon, we have reason to fear a further upsurge in violence. We may well see an escalation in the number of security incidents and increased activity by armed separatists threatening to disrupt the electoral process at all costs in the Anglophone regions,” said Samira Daoud

“Violence will only fuel further incidents, crimes and untold suffering. The government must act immediately against this in an attempt to restore peace in the Anglophone regions.”

Background

In its June 2018 briefing, A turn for the worse: Violence and human rights violations in Anglophone Cameroon, Amnesty International highlighted a series of acts of violence committed by armed separatists in the two Anglophone regions. The document featured cases of ordinary people, including teachers and traditional chiefs, who were assaulted and abducted by armed separatists.

The June briefing also documented how security forces have burnt down villages, indiscriminately killed, arrested and tortured dozens of people during military operations which have displaced thousands of civilians both within the Anglophone regions and in Nigeria.

Reported by Amnesty International


Over 1,700 Southern Cameroons activists held in French Cameroun detention centers

18, September 2018

Over 1,700 Southern Cameroons activists held in French Cameroun detention centers 0

The Biya Francophone regime authorities are reportedly keeping more than 1,700 Ambazonian activists behind bars as part of a widening crackdown led by the 85 year-old French Cameroun dictator against the English speaking minority, Anglophone journalists and intellectuals.

Pictures of Dzenyagha Thomas Awah Junior and several Southern Cameroons detainees in their Kondengui cell emerged over the weekend showing the Anglophone journalist and a cream of other Ambazonian intellectuals in a dire condition which has provoked widespread condemnation.

Our chief political correspondent in Yaoundé who was at the Kondengui High Security Prison yesterday reported that at least 1,700 Southern Cameroonians, among them prominent lawyers and academicians are currently languishing in jails and detention centers across French Cameroun.

Journalist Dzenyagha Thomas Awah, Publisher of the Aghem Voice was slammed an 11-year jail term for secession, amongst other charges on May 25, 2018 and is being held in prison since January 2017.

Yaounde has recently stepped up politically-motivated arrests, prosecution and conviction of peaceful Southern Cameroons activists and human rights campaigners. Francophone military officials have also intensified security measures in the Southern Zone of the newly created Federal Republic of Ambazonia and the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsular.

President Biya declared war against the people of Southern Cameroons following scenes of peaceful demonstrations that was led by lawyers and teachers. Ambazonian protesters have been demanding reforms and an end to economic discrimination.

The International Crisis Group including renowned human rights organization such as Amnesty International have blasted the Yaoundé regime for imprisoning the Acting President of the Southern Cameroons nation, Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe including 46 members of the Ambazonian Interim Government  calling for his immediate release. Southern Cameroons protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the Biya regime, with Francophone troops beefing up security measures across the entire Southern Cameroons territory.

Over the past years, the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism in the Far North region staged by supporters of the detained former Minister of Territorial Administration, Marafa Hamidou Yaya and Southern Cameroons separatists.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai


Boko Haram kills kidnapped midwife

18, September 2018

Boko Haram kills kidnapped midwife 0

Boko Haram militants have killed a midwife who was kidnapped in an attack in remote northeast Nigeria more than six months ago, the Red Cross said on Monday. The humanitarian agency condemned the “tragic killing” of Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, who was abducted in Rann, in the far north of Borno state, on March 1. “We are devastated by the murder of our colleague Saifura,” said Eloi Fillion, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Abuja.

No details were given about the circumstances of her death but the ICRC called on the Islamists to release another midwife and nurse still being held. “There is no ideology or religious law that could justify doing any harm to them,” said Fillion. The UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, said “the killing of Ms. Hussaini, a young, dedicated and passionate midwife and humanitarian, is a cowardly, heinous and despicable act”. “This incident demonstrates the severe challenges that Nigeria continues to face,” he added.

Humanitarian work was suspended in March after Boko Haram attacked Rann, killing three aid workers and eight Nigerian soldiers. The announcements by the ICRC and the UN are the first public news about the women since they were kidnapped.

Rann is a remote town on the border with Cameroon where more than 60,000 people who have fled from Boko Haram jihadists depend on emergency food aid and medical care to survive. The Islamist group has intensified attacks in recent months, with the violence spilling over into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The jihadists have increasingly turned to kidnapping for ransom as a way to finance their operations and win back key commanders in prisoner swaps with the Nigerian government.

www.vanguardngr.com


Armed Men Attack Saint Joseph’s College Sasse

18, September 2018

Armed Men Attack Saint Joseph’s College Sasse 0

Armed men have reportedly attacked Saint Joseph’s College Sasse in the Fako County, wounding more than 20 people. An unknown number of armed men, using machetes and homemade guns, staged the attack on Saint Joseph’s College Sasse late Sunday, according to the Francophone governor Bernard Okalia Bilai. No one was killed, he said.

It is still unclear whether the attacks were carried out by Southern Cameroons separatists or armed militia sponsored by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji. The wounded children were rushed to hospitals and hundreds of parents started pulling their children from schools.

“It is a terrible situation. We are not safe at home, our children not safe at school,” said Enanga Luisy, a mother of two students. At least half a dozen schools in Buea have asked parents to take home their children.

Last month, armed separatists used social media to warn parents against sending their children to school. The government, however, assured the parents it had taken enough security measures to protect the schools.

The violence comes weeks ahead of Cameroon’s Oct. 7 presidential elections that separatists say should not take place. At least 70 schools have been torched since a crisis began in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest areas in 2016 when teachers and lawyers protested the overbearing use of the French language in the bilingual country.

Separatists then took up the cause, arming themselves and demanding a separate English-speaking state they call Ambazonia. More than 3000 people, including soldiers and police, have been killed in mounting violence since.

Thousands have been fleeing from the northwest and southwest areas but the government is urging them to return saying their security is assured.

Camcordnews with files from (AP)


France: Macron sparks Marie-Antoinette jibe after jobless remark

17, September 2018

France: Macron sparks Marie-Antoinette jibe after jobless remark 0

French President Emmanuel Macron has sparked criticism over comments to an unemployed man deemed insensitive. But is it really possible, as he claimed, to find a job in a Parisian restaurant just by crossing the street?

Welcoming the public to the presidential palace on Saturday as part of an open-doors event, Macron got talking to a 25-year-old who said he was having no luck finding work as a gardener. “I send resumes and cover letters, they don’t lead to anything,” he told Macron, in a clip that quickly went viral.

Macron advised him to head to the bustling Montparnasse neighbourhood of Paris, saying he could find a job as a waiter in the blink of an eye. “If you’re willing and motivated, in hotels, cafes and restaurants, construction, there’s not a single place I go where they don’t say they’re looking for people,” he said.

“If I crossed the street I’d find you one.” The exchange ended with a handshake, but provided instant ammunition for leftist critics of Macron, a former investment banker, accusing him of being patronising and out of touch with ordinary people.

The Liberation daily went so far as to draw a comparison with the supposed suggestion by France’s last queen, Marie-Antoinette, that if the poor had no bread they should eat cake instead.

After several previous headline-grabbing encounters with members of the public, including telling off a teenager for not calling him “Mr President”, the paper advised Macron to stop “lecturing everyone”.

Elected in May 2017 on a promise to reinvigorate a sluggish economy, unemployment has yet to budge much under Macron’s pro-business policies. He is keen to encourage people to move between sectors to bring joblessness down from its current rate of 9.1 percent.

But Liberation accused Macron of “a purely technocratic vision under which if there are vacant jobs all you need to do is stick job-seekers in them, regardless of their training, their situation, or what they want to do with their lives.

“Blaming (job-seekers for their unemployment) in the style of Marie-Antoinette, that’s what is weighing this presidency down,” it concluded.

– ‘Turning customers away’ –

Yet some have sprung to Macron’s defence over his advice to the gardener, pointing out that France does indeed have a surplus of low-skilled jobs in the construction and restaurant industries.

Industry officials say there are up to 100,000 hotel and restaurant jobs that need filling in France, and have even called on Macron to grant legal status to more illegal immigrants to help cover the shortage.

Montparnasse, a commercial district whose bistrots were once favoured hangouts for the likes of Ernest Hemingway, is indeed packed with restaurants.

Many of their managers say they are chronically short-staffed, suffering high turnover due to high pressure and unsociable hours.

“We sometimes have to refuse customers or groups because we don’t have enough workers,” said the maitre d’ at La Rotonde, the upmarket restaurant where Macron celebrated winning the first round of the presidential election. Declining to give his name, he added however that the restaurant was selective in its hiring.

“We’re looking for serious people. They have to want to work,” he said. Jose Vicente, a waiter at the nearby Kibaloma cafe, said “absolutely”, restaurant jobs were available, although contrary to Macron’s words “you can’t just cross the road to find one”.

“Not everyone is cut out for it,” said Vicente, who has been waiting tables for 30 years. Those who turn up looking for work are usually aspiring dish-washers — mostly immigrants who “don’t have qualifications and don’t speak French properly”, Vicente said.

The latest controversy comes as Macron’s ratings have slumped, weighed down by a scandal over a former bodyguard and with economic growth set to come in at a lower-than-expected 1.6 percent this year. A Kantar Sofres Onepoint poll released Monday found only 19 percent had a positive view of the president.

Source: France 24


Mass Exodus Underway From Southern Cameroons

17, September 2018

Mass Exodus Underway From Southern Cameroons 0

People fleeing the violence in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon are going through systematic searches before being allowed to enter the French-speaking regions of the central African state after the government claimed fighters were trying to enter with weapons.

It is very busy here at the Mile 17 bus station in the English speaking Southwestern town of Buea, where at least 30 transport buses leave daily for either the French-speaking town of Douala, or Cameroon’s capital city, Yaounde. Many people remain at the station, some with their mattresses, dresses and kitchen utensils, expecting more buses to arrive and transport them.

Gabriel Mbinkar, an official of a bus agency says they have doubled fares from $8 to $16 because their vehicles return from the French-speaking towns empty, since many people are fleeing English-speaking towns and villages and no one is coming in.

“As you will see behind me passengers are there, waiting for vehicles, the vehicles that were there this morning are already gone and we are trying to see what is available if it can get these people by the latter hours of the day so that they can go out in order for people not to fall into trouble,” said Mbinkar.

Among those leaving is businesswoman Philomena Maloke. She says the military searched her luggage and that of her two-month-old daughter at least seven times between Kumba, her town of origin and Buea where she arrived Saturday to continue to Yaounde.

“It is a pity that it is happening here in our country,” she said.

Bernard Okalia Bilai, governor of the English-speaking Southwest region of Cameroon visited the Mile 17 motor park Saturday to plead with people to stop the mass exodus.

Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai guarded by military pleads with people not to leave, assuring them of their safety.
Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai guarded by military pleads with people not to leave, assuring them of their safety.

He says people are running away because of threats from separatist fighters to disrupt the October 7 presidential election, and because of rumors the military is planning raids against the armed separatists that invaded many towns in the region.

“There is fake news that the army will attack, will launch an attack, no, the army is not launching attacks,” said Bilai. “The army are there to protect the population and their property. Those who are abandoning their homes, you can see here, we have beds, furniture, no, where are they going. No, we want them to stay at home.”

Military protecting government officials visiting Lebialem in South Western Cameroon, Sept. 15, 2018
Military protecting government officials visiting Lebialem in South Western Cameroon, Sept. 15, 2018

The governor of Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest, Deben Tchoffo, says thousands are also leaving his region. He says the military has seized weapons some suspected fighters were hiding in their luggage as they left for French-speaking towns. Tchoffo says he is making an appeal for every one travelling to verify their luggage to make sure traffickers are not hiding weapons in their bags.

“I will like to launch an appeal here to ask them to collaborate with security services. To denounce those that are threatening them to the security services, so that together, we fight to bring back the situation back to normalcy,” he said.

A bus attacked by armed separatist is seen at Akum, a village 10 Kilometers from Bamenda, the capital of the Cameroon's English speaking northwest region, Sept. 9, 2018.
A bus attacked by armed separatist is seen at Akum, a village 10 Kilometers from Bamenda, the capital of the Cameroon’s English speaking northwest region, Sept. 9, 2018.

Unrest began in Cameroon in November 2016 when English speaking teachers and lawyers demonstrated against the overbearing use of the French language. Separatists took over and started demanding the independence of the English speaking from the French-speaking regions of the bilingual country.

The separatists have on social media insisted that they will disrupt Cameroon’s October 7 presidential election in the English-speaking regions. They say they are an independent nation called Ambazonia and will not allow such an election in their land. The government is assuring the people of security.

The United Nations reports that 300 people including 130 policemen and the military have been killed, hundreds of thousands have fled for their lives to the bushes and towns in the French-speaking regions. At least 20,000 have crossed over to Nigeria.

Culled from the VOA


October 7: A Biya Francophone Gun and ELECAM Box or A Biya’s paper victory amid a bloody war?

17, September 2018

October 7: A Biya Francophone Gun and ELECAM Box or A Biya’s paper victory amid a bloody war? 0

Campaigns for presidential elections scheduled for October 7, are currently underway and Southern Cameroonian fighters have vowed to disrupt an election they consider as foreign.  While other candidates are on the ground canvassing for votes, the incumbent, Paul Biya has not been seen anywhere close to the voters.

Eight very dull and obedient politicians, three of them former Biya cabinet ministers and the others representing obscure political organizations known for harboring election losers – have all been added to the hitherto Biya one-man presidential voting list.

So when I asked the so-called Cameroon government spokesman and Minister of Communications, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, if there was any danger of Mr. Biya losing, he wisely replied: “This is up to the Cameroonian people.”

Ah indeed, the Cameroonian people. Crushed, humiliated, tortured, imprisoned, slaughtered, forever crying for freedom from a vicious regime.  They have been invited to participate, at the height of their agony, in a counterfeit presidential election.

In this edition of the AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE we are asking our readers to make public their opinions as regards the upcoming presidential elections if it is “A Biya Francophone Gun and ELECAM Box or a Biya’s paper victory amid a bloody war?

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai


Trump not to ‘survive’ Manafort testimony, says Obama’s ethics chief

17, September 2018

Trump not to ‘survive’ Manafort testimony, says Obama’s ethics chief 0

US President Donald Trump will not “survive” the upcoming testimony by his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, says former President Barack Obama’s ethics chief.

Manafort has pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“He’s not going to survive Manafort’s testimony,” Norm Eisen told ABC on Sunday. “I think there’s a substantial possibility that this evidence that Manafort is offering will implicate somebody up the chain… Who is up the chain from Paul Manafort, who was the chair of the Trump campaign?”

Federal charges against Trump’s former campaign chairman include money laundering and lobbying for a pro-Russia group in Ukraine.

“This had absolutely nothing to do with the President or his victorious 2016 Presidential campaign,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “It is totally unrelated.”

There are also speculations that the Republican president would use his pardoning powers.

With the Cohen, and Manafort crisis gripping the White House, US President Donald Trump is denying any wrongdoing as the recent wave of pressure against his presidency is raising questions about his ability to continue his tenure.

“The pardon will only … hurt Trump,” Eisen said. “It will only dig the hole deeper.” Ever since Trump was inaugurated in January 2017, the US intelligence community has overwhelmingly maintained that Moscow sought to meddle in the 2016 election.

Russia has denied meddling in the 2016 election as well as being in possession of any damaging information on the US president.

 


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