Monthly Archives: July 2020

22, July 2020

Mamfe: Southern Cameroons journalist detained by security forces ⁰

A Southern Cameroons journalist serving with The Advocate as a Mamfe town reporter, Joseph Ojong has been arrested by Cameroon government security agents.

Local media in Manyu say Joseph Ojong was picked up by plain cloth military officers on Sunday 19 July 2020 in Mamfe the chief town in Manyu.

Joseph Ojong also moonlights with a community radio station in Mamfe.

He is alleged to have “taken photos of a police officer’s house, which was set on fire by Ambazonia Restoration fighters.”

Cameroon Info.Net that reported the news also stated that the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) and the National Union of Journalists of Cameroon (SNJC) have not yet reacted to the arrest.

By Rita Akana

22, July 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Vice President Yerima stresses Ambazonia right to independence ⁰

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has stressed Ambazonians right to an independent nation, saying the armed conflict currently unfolding in the homeland is the right and hard way out of the decades-long marginalization.

In a phone conversation with some senior Ambazonia commanders in Ground Zero and Ground 1 late on Tuesday, the Southern Cameroons leader expressed diaspora’s support for all Ambazonia Restoration Forces, describing them as the real patriotic Southern Cameroons front line champions.

He said that the fight to keep the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia concerns every Southern Cameroonian with a human conscience, adding that the Interim Government’s position on the issue is consistent and clear.

Yerima added that the Interim Government will not support Restoration Forces who are in his words “terrorizing the local population and committing crimes such as extortion and kidnappings.” The Ambazonia Vice President told the commanders that the Interim Government supported by many Southern Cameroons think tanks in Europe, South Africa and the US are pushing the international community to take an objective and fair position and increase efforts for promoting peace between the two Cameroons.

Yerima also said that the Interim Government was examining plans to merge the newly created Ambazonia Intelligence Service with all Self Defense Groups in order to have a comprehensive, solid and lasting resistance force to combat Biya and his French Cameroun military.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow

22, July 2020

Trump admits pandemic will ‘get worse’, urges Americans to wear masks ⁰

US President Donald Trump has urged Americans to wear masks, warning that the coronavirus pandemic in the United States may “get worse before it gets better.”

In what seems to be a shift in rhetoric and tone, Trump encouraged Americans on Tuesday to use face coverings if they cannot maintain social distance.

“It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better – something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is,” he told reporters in his first press briefing in months focused on the outbreak.

“We’re asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask, get a mask. Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They’ll have an effect. And we need everything we can get,” he added.

He also asked young people to avoid going to crowded bars, but noted that that the virus would disappear at some point.

“We are in the process of developing a strategy that’s going to be very, very powerful. We have developed it as we go along,” he claimed.

The president, who himself was not wearing a mask at the briefing, also said he was getting used to masks and that would wear one in groups or when on an elevator.

“I will use it, gladly,” said the president, who has previously disparaged masks as unsanitary. “Anything that potentially can help … is a good thing.”

This comes as the Republican president’s aides have reportedly pressed him to adopt a more measured approach amid an ongoing spike in the virus infections across the country.

So far, more than 4,028,700 have tested positive and over 144,900 died across the country.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told CNN that Trump’s new embrace of mask-wearing indicated that he was realizing his mistakes in dealing with the virus.

“This is not a hoax – it is a pandemic that has gotten worse before it will get better because of his inaction, and in fact clearly it is the Trump virus,” Pelosi said.

Trump has been under fire for publicly downplaying the threat of the pandemic and his handling of the worsening COVID-19 crisis which has killed more than 143,000 people in the United States and crippled the country’s economy.

On Monday, hundreds of scientists from the US National Academy of Sciences had rebuked Trump’s “denigration of scientific expertise” over coronavirus response and other affronts.

In an unusual move by the scientific community, more than 1,200 members of the National Academy of Sciences signed an open letter seeking to “restore science-based policy in government,” The Guardian reported.

Source: Presstv

22, July 2020

Biya regime military campaign in Ambazonia has failed: Top Commander ⁰

A senior Francophone army official has told Cameroon Concord News Group that the Biya regime’s military campaign against the people of Southern Cameroons has failed to achieve any of Yaoundé’s set objectives.

The official who spoke to our Yaoundé city reporter but sued for anonymity observed that President Biya and the Francophone dominated army declared a senseless war against the people of Southern Cameroons four years ago when he arrived from a France-Afrique summit in the Ivory Coast targeting even the rural communities with its toughest ever military power.

However, the Biya genocidal campaign not only failed in its objectives, but also unintentionally strengthened the resolve of the Restorationists and the Ambazonia Interim Government now headed by Vice President Dabney Yerima.

Our source stressed that the statement by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Yaoundé Diocese Jean Mbarga and the Bamenda Metropolitan Archbishop Andrew Nkea confirming that Biya regime officials actually met the Ambazonia leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides is a powerful new blow to the 87 year old Monarch.

Biya regime’s conflicting and confrontational approach to the crisis in Southern Cameroons, including its refusal that talks were held with the jailed Ambazonia leaders in Yaoundé, has given the Southern Cameroons diaspora little incentive to cooperate with French Cameroun’s geopolitical priorities.

On the contrary, added our source in Yaoundé, Southern Cameroonians including the thousands who still share the one and indivisible Cameroon dream now think that Biya is unfit to keep the two Cameroons together amid an international health and economic crisis.

“The people of Southern Cameroons would gain more by demonstrating unity as their brothers and sisters back home becomes immune to military actions and campaigns ordered by Yaoundé” he stated.

“Biya is mistaken if he still believes the army can win this war in Anglophone Cameroon. The war is not leading to Ambazonia’s capitulation or collapse, but entrenching French Cameroun-Southern Cameroons hostilities and making the streets of Douala and Yaoundé very unsafe” he noted.

By Chi Prudence Asong

21, July 2020

Fear of COVID-19 Stopping Childhood Vaccinations in Cameroon ⁰

Cameroon’s medical authorities say over 200,000 children have not received routine vaccinations on schedule since March, when the country had its first case of COVID-19.  Parents are refusing to take their kids to hospitals because they fear they may be infected with the virus, which has spread to nearly 17,000 people and caused nearly 400 deaths.  Doctors are warning that without the vaccinations, children in Cameroon risk preventable diseases such as diphtheria, the measles, and tetanus.

A 4-month-old baby cries as she receives her second polio vaccine at the Chantal Biya Foundation Hospital in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.

Elizabeth Mbungong, 27, says she is getting her baby’s booster shot nearly three months late because she was scared of going to the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I gave birth in the month of March and the first vaccine was given to the baby against Tetanus. They gave me another rendezvous [appointment] in the month of April. I did not respect [the appointment] because I was afraid of the coronavirus,” she said.

Mbungong said after she watched a TV program on the dangers of not vaccinating children, she decided that going to the hospital was worth the risk.

Pediatrician Clemence Vougmo says many parents are letting fear of the virus prevent them from getting their children vaccinated.

She says Chantal Biya Foundation Hospital should have had 2,300 children for routine vaccinations since March. But they have seen only about half the children.

Cameroon’s medical officials say the problem has been widespread during the pandemic.

Cameroon’s National Expanded Program for Immunization reports across the country at least 200,000 children have not received their vaccinations as scheduled.

Deputy permanent secretary of the program Shalom Tchokfe says they have deployed staff to look for the children.

Speaking via telephone from Douala, a coastal city and the largest in Cameroon, he said the situation is especially troubling in the capital Yaounde, the economic hub Douala, and the western town of Bafoussam. He said 110,000 children in those cities have not received their routine vaccines since the month of March, when Cameroon reported its first case of COVID-19. Teams can meet the children in their houses, said Tchokfe. Parents and health workers are safe during routine vaccinations at hospitals, he said, as long as they wear their masks and wash their hands regularly.

Tchokfe notes that vaccinations dramatically reduce child mortality and urges all parents to get their infants vaccinated on schedule.

The United Nations warned this month of an alarming decline in the number of children getting vaccinated for preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, and the measles.

According to a study published by the Lancet Global Health Journal this month, continuing with routine immunizations may lead to 8,300 additional deaths in Africa from COVID-19.

But the study said suspending vaccinations could lead to a further 702,000 African children dying from preventable diseases.

Source: VOA

21, July 2020

Roman Catholic Bishops confirm Biya regime, Interim Gov’t held secret talks ⁰

Archbishop Jean Mbarga of Yaoundé hosted talks between representatives of Cameroon’s government and leaders of English-speaking separatist groups earlier this month.

Another Catholic prelate, Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda (which lies in the English-speaking region) reported that the talks “took place in a very relaxed atmosphere” and the government is “seriously considering” proposals for a ceasefire.

Source: Catholic Culture

21, July 2020

Chris Anu and Minister Paul Tasong’s pact is leading to a new CPDM alliance in Lebialem ⁰

Many in the Lebialem County were surprised when information filtered publicly that French Cameroun Minister Paul Tasong and the former Ambazonia Communications Secretary Chris Anu have agreed to work together for Lebialem to get the post of prime minister and head of government. This is not the first time Southern Cameroonian rival elites had concluded a political pact to work together. Achidi Achu and Ni John Fru Ndi had concluded pacts before.

The Chris Anu-Minister Paul Tasong deal however is surprising because both men judging from events of the past three years showed they were bitter with each other and the two men had continued to hold stubbornly to their positions with Chris Anu fighting for the restoration of Southern Cameroons independence while Minister Paul Tasong remains faithful to the one and indivisible Cameroon philosophy.

Chris Anu and his blood relation Field Marshal have been behind armed resistance to reject French Cameroun’s administrative and military presence in the Lebialem County. However, a simple change at the head of the Ambazonia Interim Government has now seen Mr. Chris Anu endorsing a Yaoundé framework hatched to address the governance challenges that had contributed to Cameroon’s divisive politics and ethnic antagonism and above all, that will eventually see Minister Paul Tasong appointed Prime Minister and Head of Government.

Chris Anu has become relevant helping Minister Tasong in resolving issues related to kidnappings in the Lebialem County and Chris Anu has also been involved in top level negotiations to free detained French Cameroun civil servants held by Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Lebialem.

Why did the arch-rivals easily come together and agree to see themselves as one person?

Minister Paul Tasong

The cooperation between Minister Paul Tasong and Chris Anu can best be understood by recognising that Lebialem politics is fundamentally shaped by competition between and among political elites of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate and its auxiliary party, the Social Democratic Front.

The Southern Cameroons crisis has simply provided an opportunity for men like Mr. Chris Anu to advance their economic and political interests in Lebialem as well as to negotiate distribution of power. The practice of winner takes all politics by Peter Mafany Musonge, Chief Inoni Ephraim and now Chief Dr Dion Ngute has always resulted in the exclusion of Lebialem elites from power arrangements. Minister Paul Tasong as the new Wilfred Mbelem wants to remove Lebialem from the loser position to being a winner.

Many deep within the Southern Cameroons Interim Government including Vice President Dabney Yerima have quietly interpreted the Chris Anu-Minister Paul Tasong deal as undermining President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s control and authority over the Lebialem County.

Moreover, Yaoundé has handed billions of Franc CFA to Minister Paul Tasong for the so-called reconstruction of Southern Cameroons and with increasing levels of corruption in the Biya regime, there are indications that Mr. Chris Anu might join the CPDM billionaire club of accumulating wealth.

Minister Paul Tasong reportedly turned to Chris Anu for the pact to cut off the Ambazonia Interim Government’s influence in Lebialem and end the armed resistance that is challenging President Biya’s legacy.

Although Chris Anu is still posing as the Communications Secretary of the Ambazonia Interim Government, he lacks legitimacy and authority to speak on behalf of the people of Southern Cameroons. Without access to My Trip To Buea funds and without control of the SCBC TV, Chris Anu cannot give any benefits to his followers both in the US and in Ground Zero, many of who thought the revolution would be short live and were hoping to benefit if they get to Buea.

By Isong Asu in London

21, July 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Biya violating UNSC Resolution 2532 ⁰

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima says despite its international obligation to abide by resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, President Paul Biya of French Cameroun is still in violation of the world body’s Resolution 2532, that called on all nations in a conflict to commit to a 90-day cease fire to slow down the spread of the coronavirus.

Dabney Yerima made the statement during a war cabinet meeting on Monday.

“On 1 July 2020, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2532, calling on all countries in a conflict situation to observe a 90 – day cease fire, to slow down the spread of the virus and to facilitate initiatives to combat the pandemic.

The Resolution demands a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations on its agenda and supports the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General and his Special Representatives and Special Envoys in that respect;

Calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to engage immediately in a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days, in order to enable the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance, provisions of related services by impartial humanitarian actors, in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and medical evacuations, in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law and refugee law as applicable.

The adoption of Resolution 2532 has had no impact on the conflict in Cameroon. Since its adoption, there have been numerous attacks, including:

1.1 July 2020: Arson attacks by the military in Banbaki-Tungo, Mezam division in which some houses were burnt.

2.4 July 2020: Arson attacks in Ngusi, in K. Muan Division.

3.7 July 2020, Military invaded Bakut, in Eyumojck, and killed 2 men and arrested many youths.

4.8 July 2020: Clashes at Kikaikelaki, and invasion of Kikoo and Saakir villages, Dabney Yerima said.

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government stated that the 87 year old French Cameroun dictator has unilaterally pulled his nation out of the international community.

A prominent South African Roman Catholic clergy, Archbishop Stephen Brislin recently echoed Vice President Dabney Yerima’s position.

By Chi Prudence Asong

21, July 2020

Southern Cameroons refugees battling starvation amid COVID-19 pandemic ⁰

In Southern Cameroons almost all its citizens living in the rural areas and various parts of urban centers have been left to fight the COVID-19 pandemic on their own. The ghost town operations and numerous lockdowns have mounted Ambazonian miseries with many facing starvation due to lack of work and Biya regime apathy.

The Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé did not actually imposed any lockdown restrictions on Southern Cameroons counties as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the two Cameroons keeps increasing on a daily basis.

Due to pressure from the French brewery Brasseries du Cameroun, Yaoundé was quick to open the country again after cases sharply increased. Southern Cameroons largely rural territory abandoned for over 58 years by the French Cameroun political elites has feeble health infrastructure.

Southern Cameroons caseload is on course to hit an unprecedented level, with fatalities approaching a thousand.

By Fon Lawrence

20, July 2020

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t always ready for dialog with French Cameroun: Vice President Yerima ⁰

Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima says the people of Ambazonia and their Interim Government are more than ever before ready for dialog with the French Cameroun government in Yaoundé adding that negotiation is the only way out of existing differences between the two Cameroons.

Vice President Yerima made the comments during a telephone conversation with the leader of the German Ambazonia Think Tank late on Sunday.

“After killing 32,500 of our people, burning down 550 of our villages, forcing 125,000 Southern Cameroonians to become refugees and 1.4million as IDPs including 3,000 still detained in French Cameroun jails, the Interim Government have tried time and again with our 4 points Amba Agenda to engage in bilateral negotiations with the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé” Yerima added.

“It is evidently clear that only resistance will determine what perspective Biya and his vicious regime would choose to respond to our proposal to begin dialogue” he added.

French Cameroun President Biya and his backers in Paris, France launched a war against the people of British Southern Cameroons to try and force Ambazonians to remain as second class citizens in La Republique du Cameroun.

In January 2018, the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was arrested with 46 Southern Cameroonians in NERA hotel in the Nigerian capital, Abuja by Nigerian Special Forces. They were then handed over to the Biya Francophone regime in French Cameroun – a move that was ruled illegal by a Nigerian court in March this year.

President Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, and nine of his senior advisers were convicted of charges including terrorism and secession and given a fine of $350m (£286m) after an all-night sitting by the French Cameroun court.

The severity of the sentence has failed to stop the bloody conflict playing out in Southern Cameroons between Ambazonia Restoration Forces and the Cameroon government military.

Vice President Yerima, however, said the Ambazonia Interim Government is always prepared to hold negotiations with La Republique du Cameroun as long as they respect the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai