Monthly Archives: October 2019

Ambazonia Self-Defense Council says commanders presented in Yaounde are fake

4, October 2019

Ambazonia Self-Defense Council says commanders presented in Yaounde are fake 0

The Ambazonia Self Defence Council has denied any links with the so-called five ex-Ambazonia commanders who presented themselves in Yaoundé during the Grand National Dialogue forum stating that they are fake.

In a strongly worded statement issued today, the Ambazonia Self Defence Council informed Southern Cameroonians and the International Community that pictures and videos of alleged Ambazonia Restoration Generals attending the Yaounde peace talks were plain fiction.

“No Ambazonia General or Commander is attending the CPDM Convention dubiously called ‘National Dialogue”. What you are seeing is another effort and an attempt to manipulate and deceive our people and the International Community…” Part of the release reads.

The Ambazonia Self Defense Council further reiterated their position vis-à-vis the Biya Francophone teleguided talks observing that  “Any call for Dialogue without the release of Ambazonians held in LRC jail are not accepted to us…The Ambazonia leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe Julius and the Nera ten are the legitimate representatives of the Ambazonia people in any dialogue with LRC. They and all illegally held Ambazonians…must be released unconditionally prior to any talks.”

On the fourth day of the talks, five alleged Ambazonia Generals presented themselves to the Francophone dominated atelier and revealed that they have decided to drop their weapons in favour of peace.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

Why The Ambazonia Revolution Needs To Go Beyond Just Self-Defense

4, October 2019

Why The Ambazonia Revolution Needs To Go Beyond Just Self-Defense 0

Ever since the Ambazonia leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe reorganized the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and appointed Comrade Dabney Yerima as Vice President, the top political priority to some Southern Cameroonians in the USA has been to deny the legitimacy of the Interim Government. These individuals including the disgraced Dr Ikome Sako and the former Communications Secretary, Chris Anu are simply being short-sighted, myopic and petty.

Southern Cameroonians now know that all those refusing to join forces with the Interim Government and rally behind Vice President Dabney Yerima do not have a vision for Ambaland, or a policy position, or even a personal agenda. They simply are for Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s demise.

Clearly, the tables have turned and we now have a French Cameroun leadership that has successfully infiltrated a cream of Southern Cameroons front liners with a very different agenda and potentially dangerous ideas for the people of Ambazonia.

The all-out French Cameroun military onslaught and the deliberate silence observed by the international community has left Southern Cameroonians reeling, scrambling to protect their Interim Government, its policies and the leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe whom they hold dearly.

Progressive forces in the USA have joined Southern Cameroonians in Europe and South Africa in resisting the actions of failed leaders such as Ikome Sako and Chris Anu. These two men have been using unprecedented levels of energy against the Ambazonia leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. Their nasty actions against the Interim Government that brought them to the lime light of Southern Cameroons politics have not been working shockingly well so far. But we of the Cameroon Concord News Group fear that their activities which is not going to last, because it’s not enough to just be against a leader, will continue to delay our trip to Buea.

Sako and Chris are only fighting whatever President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Southern Cameroons Interim Government put on the table and this has greatly helped Vice President Yerima to settle down on the job and has allowed him to set the revolution agenda that badly needed a change.

Comrade Dabney Yerima is not playing games and he is not a man to mess around with! He has taken Southern Cameroonians back to the revolutionary principles and is slowly but surely crafting Ambazonia’s own new vision for what the Federal Republic of Ambazonia should be.

Frankly speaking, politics is a battle of ideas but NOT during a war of liberation. In spite of Paul Biya’s incoherent speeches, his disregard for historic facts on the Anglophone problem and his obvious personal flaws, Southern Cameroonians are miles away from Buea because some are still listening to empty talk from the disgruntled Sako and his Chris Anu gang.

It was very hard to pin Chris Anu to the job description assigned to him by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. As we write, Southern Cameroonians are still to comprehend whether Chris Anu was Communications Secretary or an ABC TV anchor man or better still a social media activist. He has never been clear about his ideas for Ambazonia, beyond attacking Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and picking up a regular cheap quarrel with the Secretary of Finance over unpaid ABC TV bills. Chris Anu’s slogans helped him recruit Barrister Fru into the anti Sisiku Ayuk Tabe wagon. But with the dust now settled, Barrister Fru has come to understand that slogans are not the same as a cohesive idea.

Sako, Boh Herbert, Chris Anu and Akwanga have never been more unified on any one topic than their dislike for the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.  However, powerful men are almost always defined by what they are for, not what they are against.

Southern Cameroonians should know that the modus operandi of Sako, Boh, Chris and Akwanga has many perils and it is allowing the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime to set the agenda for the Ambazonia war of independence. As long as they are only holding meetings waiting for what President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe or Vice President Dabney Yerima would say to launch an attack. Not only will Ambazonians be always on the defensive, it is also limiting our imaginations to a reality within the boundaries of Biya’s French Cameroun world.

Southern Cameroons will lose. The chips are stacked in favour of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government under the stewardship of Vice President Dabney Yerima. Even with unprecedented levels of attacks, it’s unlikely those fighting the Interim Government will be able to effectively resist every move by Comrade Dabney Yerima. Consequently,  Ambazonia will remain a deeply divided country.

Correspondingly, if we are to take steps to mend the deep tears in the leadership of the struggle and the Southern Cameroons political fabric, Southern Cameroonians should not be defined by what they are opposed to.

Winning this war against La Republqiue du Cameroun does not require attacks on the Interim Government or an impeachment against Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. That has created its own problems. Winning this war against La Republique du Cameroun is not about seeing Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides bleed in Kondengui. Winning is far grander: channeling unprecedented levels of activism and financial resources into an idea for our beloved Ambazonia that not only combats the corrosive policies we’ve seen, but can lead to a permanently better future. That idea will create lasting good for future generations of Southern Cameroonians.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

US: Impeachment inquiry most serious threat to Trump’s presidency

4, October 2019

US: Impeachment inquiry most serious threat to Trump’s presidency 0

The rapidly escalating impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump is the latest and perhaps most serious threat to his presidency, and the White House is failing to contain the crisis, accoding to US media reports.

US Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, has become the public face of the impeachment investigation about the Republican president, which has has produced an intense partisan fight in Washington.

House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry in September after an unidentified whistleblower alleged Trump had sought to pressure his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former US Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Trump has branded the impeachment probe a “hoax” and has attacked Schiff as a “lowlife” and a “liar.”

“Schiff is a lowlife who should resign (at least!),” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Hours later at a White House news conference, he described Schiff as a “stone-cold liar.”

Trump’s aggressive new strategy to thwart the Democrats’ impeachment offensive is already sinking under the weight of new revelations, CNN reported.

Text messages released on Thursday between US diplomats and a senior Ukrainian aide reveal that Zelensky was told he should open an investigation against Biden if he wanted an invitation to visit Washington.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Schiff accused Trump with “incitement of violence” in his combative response to the whistleblower complaint and inquiry.

“It’s hard to imagine a more corrupt course of conduct,” Schiff said of the phone call and the alleged efforts to keep private its contents.

“We’re not fooling around here,” Schiff said. “We don’t want this to drag on for months and months and months, which appears to be the administration’s strategy.”

Schiff also warned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently admitted to having participated in the call with Zelensky, that “any effort” to keep State Department officials from testifying before the House Intelligence Committee would be “evidence of obstruction.”

During a July 25 call, Trump asked Zelenskiy to speak with the Republican president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani about whether Ukrainian officials improperly dropped an investigation of a company that hired Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

Schiff, who represents a district in Los Angeles, California, was also  defender of the investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

A two-year investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller that ended in March concluded that Moscow sought to influence the election in Trump’s favor and that his campaign worked to benefit from those efforts, but did not find evidence to establish a conspiracy.

US Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, said Schiff was a good choice to lead the impeachment probe because he could withstand the president’s attacks and is “not going to be deterred from doing his job.”

Source: Presstv

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Ongoing armed conflict despite dialogue

3, October 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Ongoing armed conflict despite dialogue 0

On Monday, 30 September, the government of Cameroon launched a national dialogue aimed at ending ongoing armed conflict in the Anglophone north-west and south-west regions. Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute is leading the talks in the capital, Yaoundé. During the days leading up to the dialogue, some armed separatist groups rejected the process and intensified their attacks in the disputed Anglophone regions, killing a number of people and damaging electrical infrastructure.

President Paul Biya announced the national dialogue on 10 September amidst growing pressure from the international community. Following her visit to Cameroon in May, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, urged “all sides, including the Government, to make a strenuous effort to end the fighting and begin peace talks.” In June the government of Switzerland also offered to mediate the conflict.

The government of Cameroon has consistently denied the gravity of the crisis and President Biya has dismissed the grievances of Anglophone protesters. Meanwhile, a number of separatist leaders have refused to attend the dialogue, emphasizing that they would only work with those willing to formally recognize the independence of the Anglophone regions.

The launch of the national dialogue coincides with the second anniversary of the separatists’ declaration of an independent state of “Ambazonia” on 1 October 2017. Since then there has been mounting evidence of the security forces perpetrating widespread extrajudicial killings, as well as of armed separatists committing numerous human rights abuses and violations. At least 650 civilians, 235 members of the security forces, and an estimated 1,000 alleged separatists have reportedly been killed as a result of ongoing conflict. More than 530,000 people have been displaced and more than 170 Anglophone villages have been burned or destroyed by government forces.

All parties in Cameroon should work towards a negotiated political solution to the armed conflict in the north-west and south-west regions. The government of Cameroon should release political prisoners, ensure all its military operations are undertaken in strict compliance with international law, and initiate credible and inclusive peace talks, without preconditions. Armed separatists should immediately call a ceasefire and negotiate with the government. The international community, including the African Union and Economic Community of Central African States, must help mediate an end to the conflict and ensure accountability for potential mass atrocity crimes.

Source: Reliefweb

Yaounde: Delegates clash at National Dialogue, Biya shows knack for 10 autonomous regions

3, October 2019

Yaounde: Delegates clash at National Dialogue, Biya shows knack for 10 autonomous regions 0

There have been sharp divisions at a national conference in Cameroon aimed at ending the three year separatist rebellion in the Anglophone regions of the country.

Some delegates came close to fighting each other as tempers boiled over at the conference in the capital, Yaounde, reports said yesterday.

Anglophone delegates are calling for varying degrees of autonomy with the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), John Fru Ndi, wanting a return to the 1961 federal constitution which would allow self-governance for an English speaking region.

Francophone delegates are echoing President Paul Biya’s insistence that the form of the Cameroonian state is not up for discussion and this has angered the Anglophones. Biya has reportedly instructed his prime minister to announce the creation of 10 autonomous regions as the outcome of the so-called Grand National Dialogue.

Separatist leaders and armed groups are not even represented at this national dialogue so their frustrations are likely to deepen and the conflict will continue.

About 500,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.

Source: Sunnewsonline with additional editing from Camcordnews

US: Bernie Sanders cancels presidential campaign events after heart scare

3, October 2019

US: Bernie Sanders cancels presidential campaign events after heart scare 0

US presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders was treated for a blocked artery after experiencing chest discomfort and has canceled campaign events until further notice, an adviser said on Wednesday.

Sanders, 78, was in Las Vegas to campaign when he was taken to a hospital on Tuesday night for evaluation.

“He was found to have a blockage in one artery, and two stents were successfully inserted,” Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver said in a statement.

“Sen. Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days. We are canceling his events and appearances until further notice, and we will continue to provide appropriate updates,” Weaver said.

Sanders, the oldest of 19 contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, had visited a community healing garden in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and had been scheduled to hold a town hall and appear at a gun safety forum on Wednesday.

Aides did not offer any guidance on how long Sanders might be off the campaign trail. The first nominating contest is not until Feb. 3 in Iowa, but Sanders is one of 12 candidates scheduled to participate in the fourth Democratic debate in Ohio on Oct. 15.

Sanders thanked supporters for offering their well wishes and said on Twitter that he was “feeling good.” He then shifted to a plug for his signature Medicare for All healthcare insurance plan.

“I’m fortunate to have good health care and great doctors and nurses helping me to recover,” Sanders said. “None of us know when a medical emergency might affect us. And no one should fear going bankrupt if it occurs. Medicare for All!”

A democratic socialist, Sanders galvanized progressives during a 2016 run for president when he lost the nomination to Hillary Clinton, pushing the party to the left and popularizing ideas such as Medicare for All, a proposal for a government-run healthcare plan based on the system for Americans over the age of 65.

The U.S. senator from Vermont has been among the top contenders in the crowded field seeking the 2020 nomination to challenge Republican President Donald Trump.

His campaign canceled at least $136,000 in cable and $600,000 in broadcast television spending following the news, according to Medium Buying, a company that tracks political ad spending.

The incident could renew questions about Sanders’ age in a Democratic race featuring a generational divide between older candidates such as Sanders and front-runner Joe Biden, 76, and younger contenders.

In a letter made public during the 2016 campaign, Sanders’ doctor said he was in “overall good health” and had no history of cardiovascular disease.

The insertion of stents to open blocked heart arteries is a relatively common procedure, with as many as 1 million Americans a year undergoing it. After a balloon-tipped catheter is used to clear the blockage, stents – tiny, wire-mesh tubes – are used to prop open the artery.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both underwent the stent procedure after they left the White House.

In general, recovery takes a few days, but how quickly Sanders will bounce back depends on his symptoms before he got the stents, said Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

“People recover quickly, and assuming no complications, there is no reason why he could not get back on the campaign trail in a timely fashion,” Nissen said.

Sanders had been running in second place in the Democratic race behind Biden, the former vice president, until the last month, when a surge by fellow progressive and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts moved her ahead of Sanders in many opinion polls.

The campaign halt comes the day after Sanders reported a big $25.3 million fundraising haul for the third quarter, putting him in the early lead in the closely watched campaign money race.

Sanders’ Democratic rivals in the presidential race rushed to send him wishes for a speedy recovery.

“I hope to see my friend back on the campaign trail very soon,” Warren wrote on Twitter.

A former mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Sanders won a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 1990, making him the first independent elected to the House in 40 years.

In 2006, he won a U.S. Senate seat and in 2018 was voted in for a third six-year term. He remains an independent but caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.

(Source: Reuters)

Major Cameroon Bank Joins Morocco’s Banque Populaire Group

3, October 2019

Major Cameroon Bank Joins Morocco’s Banque Populaire Group 0

Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) acquired 68.5% of the capital of the International Bank of Cameroon for Savings and Credit (BICEC), from French banking group Banque Populaire Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE).

BCP, a pan-African banking group, is now present in 15 African countries. The other shareholders of BICEC are the state of Cameroon (17.5%), Cameroonian private shareholders (7.5%), and the Italian bank Instituto Centrale Delle Banche Populari (1.5%).

The agreement was finalized on October 1, and BCP can now claim a presence in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

Kamal Mokdad, director of BCP, called the move a new phase of development for BICEC.

“BICEC will benefit from the best banking practices, innovations and expertise adapted to the African market,” Mokdad said.

Customer satisfaction and promoting local talent are now BICEC’s top priorities, Mokdad added.

With their headquarters in Casablanca, the BCP group is the 6th largest bank in Africa. The consolidated net income of the group’s subsidiaries increased by 75% to MAD 857 million between 2018 and 2019.

The addition of BICEC to the BCP group is expected to have a positive impact on the group’s earnings in 2020.

Source: Moroccoworldnews

As pressure mounts on Biya, Yaounde orders release of 300 Ambazonians

3, October 2019

As pressure mounts on Biya, Yaounde orders release of 300 Ambazonians 0

Cameroon’s president is freeing more than 300 separatist fighters from the country’s Anglophone regions in a bid to calm a conflict that has killed nearly 3,000 people in the past two years.

An order signed Thursday by the presidency’s secretary-general says President Paul Biya made the decision to help ensure that peace returns to the country’s Southwest and Northwest regions.

The order discontinues court proceedings against the separatist fighters but does not apply to their leaders. It says the fighters had been accused of misdemeanors.

Cameroon is holding a national dialogue this week to try to resolve the conflict but key separatist leaders refused to attend.

The fighting between the Anglophone separatists and the majority Francophone security forces has forced more than 500,000 people from their homes since 2017.

Source: AP

National Dialogue Fiasco: Dion Ngute could soon be fired as prime minister

3, October 2019

National Dialogue Fiasco: Dion Ngute could soon be fired as prime minister 0

Prime Minister Dion Ngute could soon get a sack as prime minister to make way for a Southern Cameroons new generation leader Minister Paul Elung, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from a well-placed source in Yaoundé.

Ngute virtually represents nothing, following the numerous challenges on his management of the so-called Grand National Dialogue that came from prominent Southern Cameroonians who are still flirting with the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaoundé.

Ngute’s advisers originally believed a dubious pattern in dishing out invitations to the dialogue would go a long way to enhance the prime minister’s political image and that Ambazonian leaders who hail from the Southern Zone would swiftly commit to the head of government’s agenda.

However, the people of Southern Cameroons and their Interim Government had other ideas which prompted the complete and total failure of the Yaoundé peace talks. “Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute (to use his three names is running out of road” our source added.

The ease with which delegates are picking up quarrels and threatening to fight is also presenting a problem for the prime minister, who does not even have a convincing message for the people attending the Yaoundé forum.  This means Prime Minister Dion Ngute ultimately have little choice but to resign.

However, pro Ngute comedians are saying he would take a different course this coming Friday and find some way to redirect the talks to meet national and international standards. But this is not what President Paul Biya anticipated when he announced the Grand National dialogue.

As a result of Prime Minister Ngute’s failure, French Cameroun CPDM barons including Biya are growing nervous and believe they may have to act first to prevent Ngute from speeding the collapse of the Biya regime. “A new Anglophone prime minister has to be Elung Paul” our informant further pointed out.

Some CPDM hardliners in Yaoundé now believe that the only surefire way to prevent Southern Cameroonians from breaking away from La Republique du Cameroun is to remove Ngute from office and replace him with a younger and more flexible Southern Cameroonian.

Under the new French Cameroun plan, Elung Paul as prime minister and head of government will appoint Barrister Agbor Balla, the former Chairman of the Ambazonia Restoration Council Mr.  Kumeta, former Ambazonia Acting President Sako Ikome into government with the sole purpose of diverting attention from the Southern Cameroons war and quest for independence.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

French Cameroun: 3 dead, 16 seriously injured in road accident

3, October 2019

French Cameroun: 3 dead, 16 seriously injured in road accident 0

At least three people died and 16 others were seriously injured on Wednesday in a road accident in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala, according to the local government.

The accident happened when a truck missed track and collided head-on with a bus that was carrying 25 people, according to the sub-prefect of Douala IV sub-division, Jean-Marc Ekoa.

“Three people died on the spot. Thanks to the timely intervention of our forces of law and order, those who were injured were quickly rushed to the hospital. They are responding to treatment.” Ekoa said.

Police feared the death toll might increase because some of the injuries “are very serious”.

Formal inquiries have been opened to determine the exact cause of the accident, according to Ekoa.

Traffic accidents in Cameroon are mostly caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving, according to security reports.

A recent official report by Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport said more than 1,000 deaths take place annually in Cameroon due to road accidents.

Source: Xinhuanet

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