Monthly Archives: August 2023

31, August 2023

Biya regime closes border to Gabon over coup ⁰

Yaoundé has deployed hundreds of armed soldiers in its 297 km border with Gabon.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources hinted that President Biya directed the Minister Delegate at the presidency in charge of defense Beti Assoumou to order the deployment.

Our source added that there are fears in Yaoundé of a Russian-backed group plotting to oust the 90-year-old President Biya from power.

We gathered that the closure of the border precisely at Kye-Ossi town was to prevent weapons from entering Cameroon from Gabon.

Etoudi has revealed that it would confront the new Gabonese leadership on the security situation in the border towns and villages.

By Haggai Fung Achuo

31, August 2023

From Burkina Faso to Niger to Gabon, Western hegemony dying in Africa ⁰

Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 was undeniably one of the biggest evil summits in modern history. Greedy and racist European colonialists sat down in the German city and divided Africans as if they were sharing bread on a breakfast table.

The conference was organized by Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of Germany at the request of King Leopold II of Belgium, the Western genocidal barbarian that murdered more than 10 million innocent Africans in Congo.

Most Africans are not even aware of this genocide in Congo perpetrated by the Belgium colonialists because it is not in our history books written by the white colonialists.

European colonialism in Africa lasted more than a century with only the ancient Kingdom of Ethiopia spared because they defeated the Italian colonialists on the battlefield.

Trillions and trillions of dollars were stolen from Africa, millions of Africans were murdered by the European colonialists and Africans were massively brainwashed that they had no history before European colonialism.

The wave of ‘independence’ in Africa from the 1950s and 1960s did not represent true independence. What actually happened was that colonialism was cleverly replaced with neocolonialism by the genocidal imperialist barbarians of the West.

The massive looting of rich resources in Africa continued under Western puppet leadership. The courageous African leaders who refused to dance to the tune of the European colonialists were eliminated.

This was what happened to African heroes, Patrick Lumumba of Congo and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso. Congo has all mineral resources except for crude oil.

The uranium used by the US regime to make the atomic bombs unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was mined in Congo.

French greed in Africa

Among the European colonialists, French colonialism was more brutal and exploitative.

France killed more than 1.5 million civilians in Algeria alone. They murdered tens of thousands of civilians in other African countries.

One of the Modus Operandi of the French colonialists was to assemble Islamic scholars in a hall and exterminate all of them. They did this in Algeria, Chad, Mali and Senegal.

And the greed of their neocolonialism is extreme. Even after independence, France is still controlling the wealth of its former colonies in Africa.

The rich resources of French nations are still controlled by France and they continue to pay colonial tax to France.

French goods and services dominate their markets. The domineering presence of France in these countries has been excruciating and devastating for local populations.

Niger Republic does not know the quantity of uranium France was taking from there, which is worst than slavery.

No evil lasts forever

There is a popular saying that “No evil lasts forever”.

France’s neocolonialism in Africa will not last forever. Popular military coups against puppets of France imperialism have started and are gathering momentum.

The recent military coup in the West African state of Niger Republic does not stand in isolation but follows similar upheavals in the neighboring countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea in recent years.

Mali is facing insurgency that is backed by Western hegemony. Mali expelled French troops because they were actively aiding the insurgents to justify its military presence in the African country.

Now, on Wednesday, we woke up with the news of another puppet of the Western hegemonic barbarians in Gabon overthrown by the military. Ali Bango inherited the Gabon presidency from his corrupt Father, Omar Bongo.

Early on Wednesday, some military personnel appeared on state TV and announced that they were seizing power and dislodging a family that has ruled the country for 56 years.

The military officers introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions.

“Today the country is undergoing a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis,” the officers said in a statement, dubbing the recent election illegitimate.

“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime.”

Pertinently, Gabon’s former president had 70 bank accounts, 39 apartments, 2 Ferraris, 6 Mercedes Benz cars, 3 Porsches and a Bugatti in France. He ruled for 42 years (from 1967 to 2009). French leaders loved Bongo because he was loyal to them.

His son, Ali Bongo has been the president for 14 years (2009 – 2023). He has just been overthrown in a coup.

Failure of Western liberal democracy

The fact is that the Western liberal democracy has not only failed in Africa but has failed woefully.

Democracy in Africa has become a tool for the corrupt ruling elites to steal the wealth of their respective countries and transfer it to Western financial institutions while the populations remain in abject poverty and hunger.

Democracy is just another system of government hijacked by the Western hegemonic barbarians, the biggest enemies of the human race. Democracy is now an imperialist tool of Western hegemony in Africa. This is a bitter and undeniable fact.

The people of Gabon will definitely celebrate this military coup as it marks the end of French interference and looting in their country. Another setback for the French leaders.

Africa must rise again

The most noticeable current in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Niger Republic and Gabon is that the change of governments all have popular support as the people of those countries are tired of France’s imperialism, arrogance and terrorism.

Today France has the 4th largest gold reserves in the world and there is no single gold mine in France.

These gold mines are all in Mali, Niger Republic and other African countries. The France neocolonialism in Africa must end. Its time has come.

Culled from Presstv

31, August 2023

Battle of the Banks seeks to find the best young bankers in Africa – do you have what it takes? ⁰

As banks across Africa navigate a challenging economic climate and come to terms with an increasingly digitised continent and the immense opportunity this brings, there’s an opportunity for bankers and banks to battle it out for top honours in the prestigious pan African competition, Battle of the Banks Africa 2023.

The winning bank and their team of star bankers will be regarded as the best new talent on the continent in terms of business and financial performance, with a sharp understanding of risk management strategies and corporate governance.

In the first-of-its-kind in Africa, ICAP Training Solutions has partnered with global Capital Markets Professional Services firm Andile, to bring ProBanker’s Battle of the Banks simulation engine to market. Inviting Africa’s young bankers to enter. The Battle of the Banks Africa is a robust competition and training opportunity that will see entrants gain insight into how different areas of a bank interact to enhance overall business and financial performance. In addition to this, entrants will develop important skills and understanding of how macroeconomic indicators impact the decision-making process at the highest levels of bank leadership.

ICAP Training Solutions’ CEO Yonatan Rom says: “The Battle of the Banks Africa provides a simulated environment where young bankers must think about what it takes to run an entire organisation and make strategic, corporate governance, risk and financial decisions. The simulated banking market provides practical experience and learning in a hands-on manner.”

The simulation provides bankers with skills that cannot be obtained anywhere else, other than through years of experience. Those banks who enter teams also benefit from the training as entrants can apply their learnings to their everyday roles and responsibilities back in the office.

Alongside the learning and upskilling, the top performing teams progress to the final four “shoot-out” on 22 November. Here teams will prepare a 4-quarter performance report which will be delivered via a 25-minute presentation on their simulated bank’s performance.

The ‘Battle’ is based on stock performance, net income, loan performance, Basel ratio and capitalisation usage. Each of these areas is afforded its own weighting metric and has an overall weighting of 65%. Making up the other 35% is the conceptual learning (15%) and the simulated assignments (20%).

“Our intention behind Battle of the Banks Africa is to drive practical experience, provide a unique learning simulation, develop skills and business acumen, give access to online training tools and webinars and enable networking with other young bankers from across Africa. The winners will emerge as the best young bankers in Africa,” says Pieter Kelbrick, Andile’s Managing Director.

To enter as a team, visit www.battleofthebanks.org and sign-up before 15 September 2023. Entrance costs $2,750 for a team of four. First prize winners will receive a prestigious floating trophy for the best performing young bankers on the continent, other prizes to be awarded are individual winners’ trophies, gold medals and certificates as well as a $2000 ICAP Academy coupon. There are also prizes for the second, third and fourth winners. The Most Aggressive Bank, Most Cautious Bank and Best Bank presentation in the Grand Finale will also receive prizes.

31, August 2023

Fall of Ali Bongo: End of strongmen era ⁰

At the heart of democracy is the premise that the governors are accountable to the governed. Harris Soche defines democracy as the people’s government, where the population is the power holder. With this power, the population defends and protects themselves from the tyranny of those in power. This concept underpins liberal democracies around the world. As many African countries gained political independence in the 1960s, the founding fathers had democratic governance at the forefront of how they intended to rule their new nations.

As Nkrumah, Nyerere, Ahidjo, Ahmed Ben Bella, Lumumba and the other giants of Africa were planning to build a united and prosperous Africa with accountability at the heart of it, the colonizers who had been kicked out against their will were plotting to wreck their lofty dreams. The dream of government for the people was killed in Africa after the golden ’60s and ’70s when, one after the other, the colonialists used strongmen to eliminate the founding fathers. From Nkrumah to Lumumba, from Ahmed Ben Bella to Agostinho Neto, through violent coups and dubious and brutal assassinations, politicians who had the best interest of their nations and Africa in mind were replaced by political strongmen.

These strongmen are bloodthirsty and experts at projecting fear. Terror is their tool. They are incredibly clever at their game; hire political consultants to run their machinery and work to design more effective instruments of control while acting like people who love democracy. Strongmen are manipulators who pretend to be humble servants of the people, while their main goal is to exploit political power for their gains. Strongmen ruled their countries uninterrupted with blessings from Western capitals for decades with nothing productive to show. Mobutu Seseseko ruled Zaire with an iron fist and without sentiments for 27 years. Before he was deposed in 1997 during a civil war, he had more money in his private Swiss bank accounts than his country’s official reserves.

Omar Bongo was another strongman who ruled oil-rich Gabon for over 42 years from 1967 till his death in 2009. Like all strongmen, Bongo was a crude and malicious political operator who tolerated no opposition and bled the oil-rich country’s treasury dry to enrich his 54 children. Today, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Teodoro Obiang Nguema are two strongmen who have ruled for 41 and 44 years, respectively, with citizens of both oil-rich countries poorer now than when these leaders came to power more than four decades ago.

As the world changed politically and economically in the 1990s, Western nations and others benefitted from globalization and the internet miracle. Consequently, the drums for multiparty politics around Africa were louder, and strongmen became imaginative and accepted multiparty politics in their countries. This move was designed to keep international aid agencies and institutions like the IMF and the World Bank quiet as foreign aid was now linked to democratic reforms.

Since the 90s, strongmen have claimed to accept democracy as a system of government in their countries, but their instincts and actions have been otherwise. These leaders profess democratic norms but preside over oppressive and unaccountable regimes. They organize elections to keep the eyes of international donors away from them. These elections have all fallen short of democratic standards, and these countries’ constitutions have constantly been amended to suit the demands of these political entrepreneurs.

Strongmen never leave the political stage alive. Consequently, as they die in power, they leave leadership vacuums. And nowhere is that more profound than in Gabon, where yesterday, August 30th 2023, the army launched a successful coup that ended the Bongo family clamp on power. Ali Bongo became president in 2009 after his father died. His election in 2009 was rigged, and his reelection in 2016 against Jean Ping was substantially disputed as he won with less than 5,000 votes. The post-election violence saw many people killed by the security forces. In 2018, President Bongo suffered a stroke and has been going around his business with a walking stick to support his paralyzed frame. However, he was a candidate in the recent presidential election on August 26th, 2023—the coup leaders point to this disputed election as their motive to restore democratic and constitutional order in the country.

The story of Gabon, like many countries in Africa, is one that strongmen have destroyed. According to the World Bank, Gabon has a population of 2.5 million, and the real GDP per capita is 20% lower in 2020 than in 1990, and 30% of its citizens live below the $5.50 per day poverty line. This is astounding as the country is extremely rich in natural resources, and the soil is fertile with excellent weather for agriculture. Still, poverty is an unwanted and ever-present companion of the population.

Today in Gabon, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and many parts of Africa, thousands celebrate with the army after coups not because they despise civilian rule and don’t want democracy. Democracy is not a perfect experiment and has flaws. Around Africa, people are acutely aware that despite its flaws, a government of the people is better than men in military fatigues. Still, the reign of strongmen in Africa over the last six decades has brought more misery than happiness. And at this juncture, anything is better than civilian strongmen. These are sad days for Africa, but the future can’t be bleaker than the past.

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

31, August 2023

Biya reshuffle military positions after Gabon coup ⁰

As coups continue to spread on the African continent, some leaders are taking proactive steps by reshuffling defense portfolios.

On Wednesday, 90-year old President Paul Biya made major changes to the country’s ministry of defense.

Among the posts reshuffled were the delegation at the presidency in charge of defense, air force staff, navy, and the police. A captain and two army colonels were appointed to head operations in the presidential guard and report directly to the presidency.

The Biya decree also restructured the Secretariat for Defense (SED) and the National Gendarmerie. Prominent among the new officers appointed by the 90-year-old are Colonel Chimala Jonas and Lieutenant –Colonel Boum Mbadi Louis Charles.

Biya came to power in 1982. His early years on the saddle were marred by reports of oppression and human rights violations.

Although he subsequently allowed multiparty elections in the country, the 90-year-old has remained president since he rode to power.

By Asu Isong with files from The Cable.Ng

30, August 2023

Gabon: Disgraced Ali Bongo abandons French language calls on people to ‘make noise’ in English ⁰

Gabon’s ex- president called on his citizens to “make noise” after a coup attempt in the Central African country, saying he was speaking from detention in his residence.

Ali Bongo Ondimba appeared in a video sat in a chair with a book shelf behind him. It was his first public appearance since soldiers took to state TV.

The disgraced and frustrated Bongo, who championed French interest in Africa spoke but in English and begged for help.

30, August 2023

Gabon: Colonel Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema is new strong man ⁰

The head of the Republican Guards, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, was selected by his peers to lead the transition in Gabon after they took over power on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

Early Wednesday, the military announced that they had taken over power from Ali Bongo Ondimba, citing a degraded social atmosphere that according to them can lead to chaos in the future.

They also said the August 26, presidential elections were fraudulently carried out.

The country’s electoral commission, announced at midnight on Tuesday that incumbent, Ali Bongo won 64.27% with Ondo Ossa, having 30%.

His position as the leader of the Republican Guards was to protect the president.

The coup on Wednesday shows that the Gabonese military had enough of the irregularities ongoing in the country.

In April 2020, Colonel Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema took over the head of the Republican Guard, an elite army corps responsible for protecting the head of state, replacing General Grégoire Kouna, also cousin of Ali Bongo Ondimba. Maybe Bongo’s mistake was replacing his cousin with someone who would one day oust him from power.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

30, August 2023

Gabon: End of the Bongo dynasty? ⁰

A group of rebellious military officers declared a coup in the central African nation of Gabon, minutes after the results of the presidential election showed that President Ali Bongo had won a third term.

Gabonese junta putschists declared their intention on television on Wednesday, saying they have overthrown the government of President Ali Bongo.

“We have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” one of the military officers in the coupsters’ group said on national television channel Gabon 24, declaring that the election results were null, all state institutions dissolved and all borders closed until further notice.

In the meantime, the sounds of gunshots were heard throughout Gabon’s capital, Libreville, after the television appearance.

President Bongo first took office in 2009, after the death of his father, Omar Bongo who had become president in 1967.

The latest elections were overshadowed by a lack of international observers, raising concerns about transparency.

After the elections the government curtailed internet service and imposed a nightly curfew across the nation, saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of misinformation

An attempted coup, when Bongo was recovering from a stroke, was thwarted in January 2019 after armed military officers took hostages and announced the creation of a “National Restoration Council” to “restore democracy in Gabon.” The mutiny was quickly put down with only a few casualties.

In a related development, the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell expressed concern about the situation in West Africa, saying the current developments in that region were important for European leaders.

Borrell added that the EU defense ministers would discuss the situation in Gabon, and that if it was confirmed that a coup in Gabon had taken place, then this would heap more instability on the region.

“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” said Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defense ministers in Toledo, Spain.

Gabon, with a population of 2.3 million, shares borders with Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea. It was a colony of France before gaining independence in 1960.

Source: Presstv

30, August 2023

Gabon president under house arrest, military officers say ⁰

Gabonese President Ali Bongo is under house arrest and one of his sons has been arrested for “treason”, military officers said Wednesday, hours after announcing they had overthrown the government.

“President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” they said in a statement read out on state TV.

The statement added that other people in the government have been arrested on various charges.

Source: France 24

29, August 2023

Southern Cameroons church leaders urge return to school despite carnage of war ⁰

Church leaders in Cameroon’s war-ravaged English-speaking regions have launched a campaign for children to go back to school, as the Central African country prepares for the start of the 2023-2024 academic year on September 4.

The campaign, dubbed “Stronger & Better Together- Back to School Message from Religious Leaders,” challenges parents to defeat fear and to send their children to school, but it also calls on the government to create a safe environment for the country’s children to study.

Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions have been embroiled in war since 2017, with separatists fighting to create a new nation to be called “Ambazonia.” According to many observers, education has become the war’s greatest casualty.

In a December 15, 2021, report titled, “They Are Destroying Our Future: Armed Separatist Attacks on Students, Teachers, and Schools in Cameroon’s Anglophone Regions,” Human Rights Watch describes attacks on schools as “systematic and widespread” which have left students and teachers dead or kidnapped and schools destroyed.

“These attacks, the resulting fear, and the deteriorating security situation have caused school closures, with two out of three schools shut across the Anglophone regions, denying over 700,000 students access to education,” the report states.

The rights organization documented 268 abductions of students and education professionals since 2017.

Clerics in the two regions say this can’t continue, because denying kids their fundamental right to education means denying them their future.

“I have said this in season and out of season. Accepted or unaccepted, persecuted or praised, children must go to school,” said Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda.

The archbishop, who also serves as the president of the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference, explained that “school is the only way to guarantee the future of our kids. School is the only way to guarantee the future of our nation. School is the only way to guarantee the goodness and the wellbeing of families. So, school has to go on.”

He encouraged parents to “do everything possible to leave no child behind come September 2023.”

The Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo, a flash point of separatist violence, called on those calling for a boycott of schools to desist.

“We are very concerned and interested to see that many more opportunities are given to our children to go back to school,” he said.

“Please, let our children go back to school,” Nkuo said. “Don’t block them from going to school. That means there should be no violence. Wherever the children are, they should find a place to go to school,” he pleaded.

He called on parents not to be “afraid” to send their kids to school.

Bishop Michael Bibi of Buea in the country’s South West region said that a fundamental function of the Church is also to foster the education of children.

“We don’t only preach the gospel,” Bibi said. “We encourage all our children to go to school.”

“As we prepare to begin another academic year, I will like to tell all our parents, all our brothers and sisters that education is important for each and every one of us and those of us who go to school, we are laying a future for ourselves,” the cleric said.

“If we deprive ourselves of education, it is not going to be of any benefit to us and the society but if we give opportunities for our children to be educated, that will go a long way to enable them to become responsible citizens in our nation,” Bibi said.

“It is with this in mind that I want to encourage all of you to facilitate a conducive environment for the academic year. I pray that God our loving Father will accompany us within the course of this academic year as we undertake our studies,” he said.

The Executive President of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Charlemagne Nditemeh, added that there should be “a peaceful and enabling environment” in which children can study.

“No matter what we have as opinion, no matter what we have as differences or grievances, there is a very important need that in every context, we should create an enabling environment where children can go to school peacefully,” he said.

For the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, Rev. Fonki Samuel, the new academic year offers yet another opportunity “to change the mindset of children into responsible citizens.”

“I call on all parents to invest in our children for it is the best investment in life,” he noted.

He warned that “no one has the right to deprive our children the right to education. It is our responsibility as parents and government to make sure their right to education is respected.”

“I want to use this opportunity to plead with the government of Cameroon to grant free education to our children at the basic level,” Samuel said. “This will improve the literacy rate in Cameroon, for our nation’s development. If any society needs real growth, education is usually the magic. I pray that this academic year 2023/2024 will be a fruitful one for our children in this nation.”

Source: Crux