Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s northwest region, has been at the heart of a three-year conflict between Cameroon government troops and armed groups that are fighting to create a state they call Ambazonia.

Frequent gun battles, lockdowns, road blocks and now the COVID-19 pandemic have made life difficult for the majority English-speaking population. The Anglophone crisis and the coronavirus pandemic have two things in common: lockdowns, hospitalizations and an ever-increasing number of deaths.

The Anglophone crisis has been raging for four years with no end in sight

Scot, a resident in Bamenda said at least with the Anglophone crisis, one knows how to respect some rules like getting home early and avoiding no go areas.

“But for coronavirus, the risk is just so high. You might get into a public space and contract the disease,” Scot, who did not wish to give his second name for fear of reprisal, told DW.

“For the crisis, you know that there are some places that you are not supposed to go and certain things to do and not to do to avoid getting into trouble.”

One treatment center

The region is experiencing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. Health officials are warning that if people do not observe preventive measures — such as washing of hands, wearing masks and maintaining physical distance — the number of infections could rise further. Cameroon now has more than 6,300 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Nearly 200 have lost their lives.

The northwest region’s only COVID-19 treatment center is housed in a government-run hospital. It has a pre-isolation ward, quarantine center, diagnostic laboratory and other facilities for people infected with the coronavirus. Bamenda, Cameroon’s third-largest city, has more than 500,000 inhabitants.

“Since we have more intense cases which are moderate or severe, the doctors see patients as often as need be,” Mercy Fundoh, head of the solidarity ward, told DW. “We try to do a clinical evaluation of these intense cases at least on a daily basis and sometimes twice a day.”

Patient care

As the health of the patients improves, they are transferred to the isolation center where they complete treatment and their number of days of isolation before they are retested.

According to Denis Same, the hospital director, a suspected case of COVID-19 is directed to the pre-isolation ward for investigation and sample collection. “If it is positive then you are taken to the solidarity ward or Azam Hotel meant for those who are asymptomatic, meaning that they do not have or have mild symptoms,” Same told DW.

Coronavirus, an extra burden

Before the coronavirus, Cameroon’s three-year Anglophone crisis had already made life difficult for people. Roadblocks, set up by separatist fighters, often block transport five days a week. They restrict movement between divisions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We are faced with two monsters, the Anglophone crisis and coronavirus as we try to avoid those who call the shots, military or separatists,” Thomas Mokum, another resident said.

“For coronavirus, somebody like myself without a job, I put food on the table with the menial things I do around. If you are to respect the social distancing, if you quarantine yourself, if you stay at home, if you do not go out to make money. This is how the two monsters affect my family.”

Battling the coronavirus while trying to stay alive in a conflict zone may result in the people of northwest Cameroon becoming simply too desperate to care about health and safety measures. That could make the grim situation even worse.

Culled from DW

The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cameroon continues to rise.  According to Johns Hopkins University, there are 5,904 confirmed cases and 191 deaths as of June 1, 2020.

 Although some restrictions have been lifted to alleviate economic hardship, the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health reminded all residents on May 31 to redouble efforts to practice good hygiene, maintain physical distancing, only leave home when necessary, and always wear a mask in public.

Culled from the US Embassy Yaounde

Five Cameroon government army soldiers were killed on Monday in an attack reportedly staged by Ambazonia Restoration Forces, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from defense sources in Yaounde.

The ambush occurred in Otu village in Eyumojock Sub constituency bordering the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A senior Cameroon army Commander was quoted as saying that the remains of the soldiers have been recovered.

The soldiers were deployed to Otu to provide security during a football match organized by pro French Cameroun ruling CPDM barons of the area to ascertain the return to normalcy in the locality that has been controlled by the Ambazonia Self Defense Forces since 2018.

Several other soldiers were wounded in the attack. The victims are currently receiving treatment at a military facility in Mamfe.

As usual, the corrupt separatist leader Ayaba Cho immediately claimed responsibility for the attack he knew nothing about on social media.

Government forces and armed Ambazonia Self Defense Gropus have been clashing since 2017 in Southern Cameroons where Ambazonians have established an independent nation known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Fon Lawrence in Mamfe

A Southern Cameroons CPDM gang sponsored by the French Cameroun regime is exploiting helpless Ambazonia Self Defense Forces during this difficult coronavirus pandemic period, Vice President Dabney Yerima has told Cameroon Concord News Group.

Dabney Yerima also said that the Ambazonia Interim Government is doing its best so far in managing to prevent a criminal infiltration of the Restoration Forces by the French Cameroun consortium of CPDM crime syndicates and organised crime networks.

However, Vice President Yerima’s warning comes amid growing reports Ambazonia Self Defense Forces were dropping their weapons and getting financial support from French Cameroun CPDM surrogates in Southern Cameroons. These fighters are reportedly struggling financially in the lockdown.

Exploiting the vulnerable Ambazonia fighters is a primitive and cheap tactics designed by Minister Paul Atanga Nji to help the Biya Francophone government recruit support and increase their power in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Yerima said: “Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora should invest in the Amba bonds and be ready to counter French Cameroun violence with violence.  By donating to self defense efforts and the Bank of Ambazonia Bonds Project, you are providing the Interim Government the resources to defend your homeland. We must stop these Southern Cameroons enablers from providing toxic food and blood money to those in need in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.”

The exiled Ambazonian leader pointed out that “the French Cameroun government is a mafia group that has money, have no bureaucracy and operates far beyond its French Cameroun borders. The poor Southern Cameroons fighters are growing more vulnerable in this lockdown.”

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

One of the most interesting developments during the COVID-19 pandemic took place on March 23rd of this year. UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a call for a global ceasefire to deal with the crisis.

The UN General Assembly actually took this request to heart. Twice during the month of May, the body attempted to support the call of the secretary-general by passing resolutions calling for a global ceasefire. On May 3rd the first effort in the Security Council was vetoed by the United States. A little more than a week later a second resolution drafted by the European members of the council was introduced as well.

Although these calls have mostly gone unheeded there is one part of the world where the UN is attempting to double down on this effort and to ensure that a ceasefire takes place. On March 26th the regional office for Central Africa also issued a statement that supported the call for a ceasefire.

One of the countries that was covered in these calls was Cameroon. Over the last three years, the country has been the scene of an insurgency that, for the most part, has avoided coverage by most major media outlets. Libya, Syria, and Yemen have all overshadowed what has been taking place in Cameroon.

The African nation has been embroiled in an internal conflict since 2017, as members of the English-speaking population fight to create an independent state separate from the French-speaking majority. The new country would be called Ambazonia.

However, the separatists are not united. While some commanders have respected the government’s ceasefire request to deal with COVID-19, other rebels have continued to fight. For example, a commentary in African Arguments explains how, “On 14 April, separatists executed a traditional leader and his assistant in Bambili in the northwest for cooperating with the government. In Bamenda, the capital of the northwest region, they kidnapped and killed a police officer. On 10 May, fighters killed the recently-elected mayor of Mamfe, Ashu Prisley, one of the youngest and most dynamic figures in the ruling CPDM party.”

Some rebels have also attacked government-backed distribution centers of sanitary equipment to fight coronavirus.

A report by Human Rights Watch that was released in late March 2019 found that government forces were equally culpable in launching attacks and killing civilians in the strife-torn northwest/southwest region. Several members of the government forces were taken into custody in recent weeks for their actions in the region as well.

The entry for Cameroon in the 2019 Human Rights Report compiled by the U.S. State Department catalogues a list of sins committed by the government. The documented abuses include torture, arbitrary and even extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and even limiting access to the Internet, which lasted more than a year.

Cameroon also has to deal with other types of violence, stemming from radical fundamentalists. “Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed and several others injured in an attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists early Tuesday, May 26 on a military base in the north region of Cameroon,” the Journal du Cameroun explains. The faction responsible seems to be the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, a splinter group of Boko Haram.

There are reports that the Cameroonian military is building a base in the northwestern village of Ngarr-buh, where 13 civilians were massacred in February. The military argues that the base is needed to cut re-supply lines between rebels and Nigeria, while various NGOs accuse government forces of human rights abuses.

Overall, once coronavirus is somewhat under control, operations by all sides of this complex conflict will start once again.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to take a toll on Cameroonian society, though the government re-opened schools on June 1. Educational facilities have been disinfected to protect students and teachers.

The UN Security Council has not totally ignored the crisis. During the month of June, the UN Security Council will hear a briefing on the situation in Cameroon. There is concern that this meeting could be a whitewash of the incident as France will hold the presidency of the Security Council for the Month of June. France is the former colonial power and has strong ties with President Paul Biya.

Not to be outdone by the UN, several NGOs have drafted a resolution that would encourage the United States to take over as the mediator in this crisis replacing Switzerland. There has been a lukewarm response to this effort however negotiations are always better than open conflict. There is some work that needs to be done to the resolution so that Russia, China, and other members of the Security Council can support this effort.

Coronavirus comes at a bad time for Cameroon, as it is battling secessionist groups as well as Islamic fundamentalists. The virus has prompted the establishment of a ceasefire, which has not been respected by all insurgents. There is some hope that the upcoming briefing to the UN Security Council could breathe new life into the talks. However, the details have yet to be worked out.

Culled from International Policy Digest