Monthly Archives: November 2019

Biya regime in downward spiral while Ambazonia resistance multiplying gains

2, November 2019

Biya regime in downward spiral while Ambazonia resistance multiplying gains 0

Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima says the French Cameroun government under the 86 year old Paul Biya is now in a downward spiral following US President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate its eligibility for trade preference benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), as of January 1, 2020, due to persistent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights in Southern Cameroons.

Comrade Dabney Yerima told a cream of reporters late on Friday that it was enormously satisfying for the Ambazonia Interim Government that the US President spoke of persistent human rights violations being committed by Cameroonian security forces. These violations included extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and unlawful detention, and torture of Southern Cameroonians.

Dabney Yerima observed that for three years, the French Cameroun soldiers have not been able to defeat the Ambazonia Self Defense Forces and they are currently stuck. On the contrary, he added, the Southern Cameroons resistance is thriving and actively expanding to pro Yaoundé Southern Cameroons CPDM barons.

Vice President Dabney Yerima also appealed to Washington to play a direct role in the crisis that has rocked the two Cameroons.  Yerima launched a scathing attack on the Yaoundé regime that has created armed militia groups all over the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Rugby World Cup: Historic black captain leads South Africa to victory

2, November 2019

Rugby World Cup: Historic black captain leads South Africa to victory 0

Siya Kolisi, became the first black captain of the South African rugby team, the springboks; to lead them to a world cup title.

He led his charges out a the Yokohama International Stadium in Japan where the competition was taking place. In the end, his team thrashed opponents England to win the title for the third time in the country’s history.

The Springboks also join New Zealand as joint-top winners – each with three trophies to their name. South Africa had previously won the trophy in 1995 and 2007.

Throwback photos to when 1995 and 2007 when then presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki received the winning trophy.

South African President Nelson Mandela ® hands over the William Webb Ellis Cup to Springbok captain Francois Pienaar after his team defeated New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final June 24, 1995.

South Africa’s rugby captain John Smith (L) hands their World Cup trophy to President Thabo Mbeki at the Union Building in Pretoria before the Springboks paraded through the streets of Pretoria and Johannesburg October 26,2007.

Match Report

Wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe scored South Africa’s first tries in a World Cup final as the Springboks out-gunned England 32-12 to win the trophy for the third time and reassert the supremacy of the southern hemisphere on Saturday.

Superb game management, set piece dominance, brutal defence and almost flawless place-kicking looked like being enough to see off an England side that had dismantled the double defending champion All Blacks in the semi-finals last week.

Mapimpi has been in prolific form this year, however, and he showed the South Africans can play a bit with ball in hand too when he finished off a try created by his own chip-through in the 66th minute.

Kolbe added the second try eight minutes later, skipping past the tackle of Owen Farrell on the wing and racing away to touch down to the delight of the South Africans in the crowd of 70,103.

Flyhalf Handre Pollard had already given the South Africans a clear lead from six penalties and he added the two conversions to take his match tally to 22.

While tactics were as traditional as the dark green Springbok shirt, the team was far more representative of a multi-racial nation than those of 1995 and 2007 and Siya Kolisi is the first black captain to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.

England came into the match with huge expectations after the New Zealand win but only offered flashes of the brilliant all-pitch game which undid the All Blacks last week.

Head coach Eddie Jones, who was in charge of Australia when England won their only World Cup in 2003, becomes the first coach to lose two finals.

Flyhalf Farrell kicked four penalties for England but they were chasing the match all evening and hanging on doggedly trying to contain the rampant Springboks by the end.

The English suffered a huge blow when prop Kyle Sinckler went off with concussion in the third minute leaving their scrum all but uncompetitive against the Springbok pack.

South Africa made the most of the weakness, winning a string of scrum penalties and building a foundation that enabled their wingers to seal the victory in the last 15 minutes.

The Springboks became the first team to lose a pool match at a World Cup and go on to win it, having lost to the All Blacks in their tournament opener at the same Yokohama International Stadium.

Source: Africa News

Monaco: French Cameroun Foreign Minister meets Armenian counterpart

2, November 2019

Monaco: French Cameroun Foreign Minister meets Armenian counterpart 0

Armenian FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had a meeting with Cameroon Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella within the 36th Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie in Monaco.

The FMs expressed mutual readiness to work together to enrich the bilateral agenda and make full use of the great potential existing in Armenian-Cameroon relations. The importance of holding consultations between the FMs and activating high-level contacts and mutual visits were highlighted.

The two expressed satisfaction with the cooperation and mutual support established within international structures.

In this context, the partners particularly referred to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie as an important platform for expanding cooperation in the Francophone region.

The Ministers discussed the results of the 36th Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie, the priorities of the Armenian Presidency and the joint work planned within them.

Source: News Armenia

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Dr Efande John Lyonga is Interim Mayor of Buea

2, November 2019

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Dr Efande John Lyonga is Interim Mayor of Buea 0

Dr. Efande John Lyonga has been appointed interim mayor of the Buea Council for a period of sixty days before a fresh election is held.

He was appointed on Wednesday October 30th by the French Cameroun Senior Divisional Officer of Fako, Emmanuel Ledoux Engamba following the death of Patrick Ekema Esunge on Sunday.

Voted in as second deputy mayor of the council in 2013, he was elevated to first deputy on July 27, 2019 after the late Ekema Patrick masterminded a council session vote of no confidence on Emmanuel Motomby Mbome

The interim mayor will now run the affairs of the council for sixty days before fresh elections will be conducted to get the successor of Patrick Ekema Esunge.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

US: Democrats say impeachment rules for Trump same as they were for Nixon and Clinton

1, November 2019

US: Democrats say impeachment rules for Trump same as they were for Nixon and Clinton 0

After a historic vote in the US House of Representatives that approved rules for the next steps in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, Democrats denied accusations by Republicans that the rules are unfair. 

US Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat serving for California’s 28th congressional district and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Thursday the impeachment process rules for Trump are the same as they were for former Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

“The rules are very much the same as they were during the Nixon impeachment, during the Clinton impeachment,” Schiff told “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell.

“All they have to argue is process and even the president has acknowledged that’s a failure.”

The House of Representatives passed a resolution on Thursday to formally proceed with the impeachment inquiry against Trump, ushering in a new phase of the investigation that poses the greatest threat to Trump’s presidency to date.

The lower chamber of Congress, which is controlled by Democrats, passed the measure largely along party lines, 232 to 196, to formalize the process. Only two Democrats, along with all Republicans, voted against the resolution.

Republican members of the House denounced the resolution as a “Soviet-style” nature of the investigation. 

“Maybe in the Soviet Union, you do things like this where only you make the rules, where you reject the ability for the person you’re accusing to even be in the room,” said House Minority Whip Steve Scalise.

Schiff said he’s also concerned about “the president’s threats” to the whistleblower who brought attention to Trump’s call with Ukraine’s leader.

“I’ve made it clear to all the colleagues on our committee that we will not be a part of and we will not permit questioning that is designed to out this whistleblower so that the president can exact political retribution,” Schiff said. “I would hope that members on both sides of the aisle would be speaking out about the need to protect whistleblowers, this one and others.”

Nigerian Immigrant who travelled to the US using a Cameroonian passport tells President Trump to build wall to cut out illegal immigration

1, November 2019

Nigerian Immigrant who travelled to the US using a Cameroonian passport tells President Trump to build wall to cut out illegal immigration 0

A Nigerian immigrant who travelled to the United States of America using a Cameroonian passport has called on President Donald Trump to ‘build the wall’ on the United States-Mexico border in order to keep illegal immigrants from entering the USA.

According to President Trump, Ben Okereke immigrated to the United States when he was 14 years old after facing ‘hardships” in Cameroon.  Okereke who later joined the U.S. Army said that he was opposed to illegal immigration just like President Trump.

While delivering remarks at the Young Black Leadership Summit 2019 on Friday, Trump introduced Okereke who went on to say,

“First of all, Mr President, we would like to thank you for everything that you’ve done for the African American community so far. We thank you for criminal justice reform. We thank you for the lowest black unemployment rate in this country, sir. And finally, most importantly, sir, thank you for saving America and thank you. Finally, sir, thank you for taking down the fake news media, sir.  We want you to build the wall, sir. Frankly, because we don’t oppose immigration — but we oppose illegal immigration. So we want you to come to this country legally if you’re going to come to this country.”

However, Okereke’s remarks did not go down with some Africans, and in particular, Cameroonians after it was erroneously reported on social media that Okereke himself had entered the US illegally.

Okereke, an Igbo from Nigeria is being accused of adding his voice to Trump’s at the expense of other Africans because he is enjoying America but wants to deny other people the same chance that he got.

Death toll in French Cameroun war on Southern Cameroons hits 20,500

1, November 2019

Death toll in French Cameroun war on Southern Cameroons hits 20,500 0

The French Cameroun-led war on Southern Cameroons has killed more than 20,500 people since the Francophone leader Paul Biya declared war on the 30th of November 2017, an Ambazonia Interim Government (IG) database project that tracks La Republique du Cameroun violence in the Federal Republique of Ambazonia has revealed.

The Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe earlier made a similar revelation during a conversation with the Paris-based Jeune Afrique, saying that as a result of the on-going genocide in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia), an estimated 20,000 people have been killed, over 280 towns and villages have been burnt down, over 120,000 people are seeking refuge in Nigeria and further afield, over 1million people are  internally displaced or living in bushes and over 3,000 persons incarcerated in prisons and detention facilities.

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government also noted that over 4.5. Million Southern Cameroonians are at risk of famine.  The IG report said the well documented statistic has made the Southern Cameroons conflict the deadliest ever since the genocide in Rwanda.

A spokesperson for the exiled Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima was quoted as saying that the post Major National Dialogue period remains the most lethal month, with over 500 reported killed in Menchum, Bui and Bali.

Immediately after his meeting with French President Macron in Lyon, France, French Cameroun head of state President Biya ordered the Francophone dominated army to carryout raids in Mezam, Manyu and Ndian counties.

The Ambazonia Interim Government also said French Cameroun soldiers from Beti-Ewondo and Bulu extractions were directly responsible for more than 19, 000 Southern Cameroons civilian deaths over the past three years.

The IG data which was handed to Vice President Dabney Yerima by the department for Homeland Security last week, covers everything from shelling and ground battles involving elements of the French Cameroun’s Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) and the French Cameroun gendarmerie.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that the figures do not include Southern Cameroonians who have died in the humanitarian disasters caused by the Biya war, particularly those living in the bushes.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday wrote to congress about his decision in accordance with section 506A(a)(3)(B) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)(B)) to terminate the designation of La Republique du Cameroun as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

“I am taking this step because I have determined that the Government of Cameroon currently engages in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, contravening the eligibility requirements of section 104 of the AGOA” President Trump said.

The Biya war has also taken a heavy toll on Southern Cameroons infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and agro-industrial plants.

France and the Buhari administration in the Federal Republic of Nigeria are the main supporters of the Biya regime with the French government providing Yaounde with money, training and logistical support.

By Asu Isong with additional reporting from Chi Prudence Asong

Girl Miraculously Survives French Cameroun Landslide

1, November 2019

Girl Miraculously Survives French Cameroun Landslide 0

A young girl survived miraculously after she got buried by a landslide in Western Cameroon.

Her father, Tabou Victor, told CNN that the 12-year old survivor was buried on Monday night after his house collapsed due to the landslide. He recalled hearing them cry for help during the mishap. He was able to save his other children — two girls and a boy — by breaking the back door and pulling them out.

He got a bruised on his left eye and a fractured arm. His children were also severely injured, while the 18-year old daughter died in the hospital.

Rising Death Toll

The landslide was triggered by torrential rain on Monday while the residents are sleeping at night.

One survivor, Albert Kenge, said that it all started around 10:00 p.m.  He first heard a loud noise and saw a huge cloud of dust. “Then, the mountain suddenly collapsed,” he told Reuters news agency.

Ever since the rescue mission has started, workers have recovered the bodies of 26 children and four pregnant women, according to the local media Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV).

The rescue mission is still going on as of Wednesday, but the recent death toll has risen to 42 people, from 37 on Tuesday.

Authorities issued an evacuation order due to the fear of more landlines to come as the rains continue.

The government had warned them…

Fonka Awa Augustine, the government of the region, said that they have warned the residents about the ground instability of the areas but people still built their houses there. The slopes in the area were making the rescue mission more difficult, Augustine added.

An inspection will be done by a delegate of the Prime Minister to evaluate the situation and decide the appropriate measures to be taken, Augustine also said.

President Paul Biya extended his condolences to the victim. “I am saddened by the death of several compatriots,” he said in a message addressed to the governor of the region.

The government also pledged to endow financial assistance on the medical bills of the eight survivors, including Victor’s family.

Non-stop Rain in Central Africa

Even if the rainy season of Central Africa, the region is still experiencing heavy rains that caused severe flooding. At least 30,000 people Cameroon’s neighbor country, the Central Africa Republic, lost their homes.

Nearly one million South Sudanese were also affected by the flood caused by the rain that has been going since July, the United Nations reported.

And the problem will not end yet once the flood recedes due to food scarcity. For at least a month, families might not be able to support themselves due to a considerable amount of crops and livestock damage.

Source: Nature World News

Southern Cameroons War: Peace prospects slim

1, November 2019

Southern Cameroons War: Peace prospects slim 0

A month after Cameroon held a national dialogue hoping to resolve the country’s bloody anglophone separatist crisis, the prospect of peace still seems far away.

Armed anglophone separatist forces have clashed with government troops almost daily over two years of escalating conflict in the North West and South West regions of the central African country.

The population has been hostage to the violence, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives in English-speaking parts of the mostly francophone country, according to the International Crisis Group. More than half a million people have abandoned their homes.

The Yaounde government responded to international pressure by organising the talks that took place from September 30 to October 4, leading to the adoption of dozens of recommendations to restore peace.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will be in Cameroon on Wednesday for a two-day visit, with the declared aim of encouraging President Paul Biya “to follow up on this dynamic”.

“The population in the crisis zones is still confronted with the same realities as prevailed before the dialogue,” said Blaise Chamango, an activist in Buea, the capital of the South West region.

– ‘Bandit groups take advantage’ –

Schools in some districts “remain closed and inaccessible,” he added, while “dead city” protest strikes imposed every Monday by separatist forces have not stopped.

Several attacks by armed groups have been reported in the past weeks, notably in the North West, reputed to be the more rebellious.

“Atrocities have resumed strongly in Bamenda,” the North West regional capital, Cameroon state radio declared last week.

“There are people who still have weapons, who are still in camps,” acknowledged George Ewane, the spokesman for the national dialogue.

“We’re not necessarily dealing with separatists, but with bandit groups who take advantage of the situation.”

Ewane said that 58 fighters had laid down their arms in the South West earlier this month. “The situation gets better by the day… The grand dialogue has brought much comfort to people’s hearts.”

The five days of talks were boycotted by most separatist leaders, but gathered more than 1,000 participants. They recommended “special status” for the North West and South West regions, home to most of the anglophone minority that makes up 16 percent of Cameroon’s population.

The language split is a vestige from federation in 1961, a year after independence, when a British-ruled territory on the Nigerian border joined with the former French Cameroons.

The federal system was replaced in 1972 by a united republic. Some separatists have long argued that centralised francophone power neglected the anglophone regions. In 2017, the tension erupted into violent conflict.

Biya, who has maintained authoritarian rule since 1982, hailed the resolutions from the dialogue as “rich and varied”. He promised that they will be “the object of attentive and diligent examination with a view to implementing them.”

– ‘Special status’ –

An expert group is currently working on “the content of the special status” and the government is drawing up legislation to give shape to such status in practice, Ewane said.

“We would like the bill to be put to parliament during the next parliamentary session,” he added, which is in November.

The anglophone population remains “rather sceptical”, said activist Chamango, “because they no longer have confidence in the government.”

The recommendations were also immediately rejected by separatist leaders based abroad.

Absent from the dialogue amid talk of his failing health, Biya surprised many by ordering the release of 333 detainees linked to the crisis, as well as 102 opposition activists arrested during peaceful protests against his re-election in 2018.

Those freed included the president of the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), Maurice Kamto, who challenged Biya at the polls and was released after eight months in jail.

“The grand national dialogue does not seem to have brought a new and lasting solution to the demands of the anglophones regarding the shape of the state,” Kamto said as he came out of prison.

He argued that peace required “direct talks with the political representatives of the armed groups that control the terrain”.

At the end of August, the most influential separatist chief, Julius Ayuk Tabe, was given a life jail term by a military court in Yaounde, with nine of his supporters. From jail, he dismissed the dialogue as a “non-event”.

But government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi has said: “We don’t envisage any dialogue more inclusive than the one… that just took place in Yaounde.”

Culled from AFP

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