Monthly Archives: July 2024

Ekpe and Manyu Traditional Rulers Association: Time to Stop the Madness!!

19, July 2024

Ekpe and Manyu Traditional Rulers Association: Time to Stop the Madness!! 0

Cultural institutions define people by encompassing their language, shared habits, music and arts. In Manyu, Cameroon, over the last centuries, the institution of Ekpe has remained resolute despite uncountable challenges. With solid norms and practises, this institution has become the envy of many worldwide. Mgbe as it is commonly referred to have heavily influenced community peace and justice within Manyu. However, on the 16th of April 2024, the foundation of Mgbe the most important pillar of the Manyu nation was tested. Since that day, tension has existed between the Manyu Traditional Rulers Association (MATRA) and the Manyu Mgbe Supreme Council, the body that runs Ekpe activities in Manyu.

Frustrated by the lack of success against Mgbe in this public row, MATRA, currently led by Chief Orock John Mbi of Okoyong has reportedly done the unthinkable by asking the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Manyu to intervene. Understanding the traditional institutions of the Manyu State, the cultural bodies existing within Manyu including their modus operandi is of grave importance. Mgbe is a powerful Manyu institution, a private members club, a spiritual brotherhood and also the judiciary arm of the Manyu nation.

The idea that members of MATRA intend to take this paramount Manyu institution to an “outsider” for guidance or retribution is sacrilegious and unpardonable. This sort of tactless and reckless adventure will never be tolerated in the grass field kingdoms. Therefore, the silent members of MATRA are guilty by association and shall inevitably face titanic consequences in their respective communities and villages.

Our ancestors embarked on resistance in the nineteenth and twentieth century to rid themselves of foreign state power so we can be the commanders of our cultural establishments. Successive political leaders in the then German Kamerun and later on United Republic of Cameroon understood their limits, and demonstrated enormous veneration, and even awe when dealing with Mgbe and other Manyu traditional institutions.

The SDO and other state actors play key roles in governing and the enormity of the daily challenges they face cannot be underestimated. However, passing judgment or advising on Manyu traditional matters is NOT for them. MATRA and the leaders of the Mgbe Manyu Supreme Council should demonstrate wisdom and thoughtfulness by convening an extraordinary meeting without delay. The SDO must be informed thereafter that both parties have resolved their differences as demanded by the customs and traditions of the Manyu people.

Mgbe and Manyu Chiefs represent critical pieces of our Manyu identity and nation. However, the foundations of that nation are trembling. Many at home and in the diaspora are watching this current misfortune closely and regrettably, and we Ekpe members in the diaspora, will not relent in our efforts to let the main actors in this acrimony see sense.

A lethal cocktail of arrogance and pride is destroying the reputation of the Manyu traditional rulers and their authority is weakening day-by-day. This negative trend must be discontinued immediately.

On the 7th of May 2024, these writers and custodians of Manyu culture sounded a note of caution to MATRA asking them to exercise restraint and not overstep their assigned authority. They did not listen! Today, Manyu is telling MATRA and the leaders of the Manyu Mgbe Supreme Council loudly and clearly that their impending public washing of dirty linens is unwise and tantamount to cultural vandalism. A volcano will visit them if 550 years of cultural red lines are crossed.

By Sessekou Isong Asu, and Nfor Mgbe Barrister John Ntuiabane, Mgbe UK

Yaoundé gets $4.8M South Korea grant to advance civil registration modernization project

17, July 2024

Yaoundé gets $4.8M South Korea grant to advance civil registration modernization project 0

The Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, recently signed an agreement with the government of South Korea totalling XAF 23.21 billion (US$38 million) for the execution of five development projects in the country.

Part of the funds will be channeled to the next phase of an ongoing project to upgrade and digitize the country’s civil status registration system.

Ousmane Mey signed the agreement on behalf of Cameroon, while the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Cameroon, Nam Ki-wook, appended his signature for his country.

Cameroon is fully on a journey to digitize its civil status registration system and several actions have been taken in this regard. Already, a pilot using the OpenCRVS platform for birth registration in 20 municipal councils of the country has been completed, and a new course of action is awaited. In May, the country held a national forum of mayors to discuss hindrances to civil status registration.

Ousmane Mey said $4.8 million out of the $38 million grant will be deployed to subsequent activities of the project which seeks to set up a robust, efficient and secure foundational identity system for the country.

A project in Cameroon dubbed the “Support Program for the Modernization of the Civil Registration System” (PAMEC) is supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and it is within that framework that this latest grant funding from Korea has been made available, said the Ambassador. The project also has the financial support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

While underlining that the funding agreement underpins the good state of relations between the two countries, the diplomat urged the government of Cameroon to implement the project in a transparent and accountable manner.

Another digital project to benefit from the financing, according to the partners, is the second phase of a program to digitize Cameroon’s public contracts procurement system, known as “e-Procurement System Development Project.” This project, to get $5.6 million from the package, is a continuation of efforts by the country to simplify procurement procedures of public contracts by enhancing transparency and efficiency.

A “Smart Campus” project is also part of the lot, according to Ousmane Mey, and will get $8 million from the grant. He says the project seeks to promote digital government efforts in the public administration and modernize service delivery in the public service.

Apart from these three projects related to digital, the two others to benefit from the Korean financing have to do with the provision of potable water schemes in four council areas, and the strengthening of the country’s emergency medicines management system.

Source: Biometricupdate

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Inflation Still Above 3% in June 2024 Despite Decline Since March 2023

17, July 2024

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Inflation Still Above 3% in June 2024 Despite Decline Since March 2023 0

In June 2024, consumer prices in Cameroon rose by 4.3% year-on-year, according to a report on household consumption prices published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). This increase is attributed to a 5.2% rise in food prices and an 11.2% increase in transportation costs.

Despite a gradual decline from a peak of 8.5% in March 2023, the inflation rate remains above the 3% tolerance threshold set by the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).

“On a regional level, inflation rates vary between 5.1% and 7.4%. However, the rate is 3.6% in Bamenda (…) Depending on the origin of the products, inflation is mainly due to internal factors. Prices of local products rose by 6.1%, while those of imported products only increased by 4.5% over the same period”, states the INS report.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Kumbo: Nso people warn Bishop George Nkuo against adulterating their culture

17, July 2024

Kumbo: Nso people warn Bishop George Nkuo against adulterating their culture 0

In a strongly-worded letter addressed to the Bishop of Kumbo in Cameroon’s North West region, the Nso Cultural and Development Association, NSODA, have warned the Catholic Church against adulterating their culture “in the guise of inculturation.”

Social media has in recent days been inundated with videos of some of the most dreaded and sacred masquerades of the Nso people displaying in churches and church premises in Kumbo Diocese, all in the name of inculturation.

The displays have angered the people of Nso – one of the largest clans in Cameroon’s North West region.

NSODA – an association dedicated to the socio-cultural development of the Nso people – has expressed dismay at what they consider is an erosion of their culture.

“We have not been oblivious to the efforts your Diocese has been making to the development of the Nso Kingdom, and the evangelization works that have been shaping our society,” writes NSODA President, Tadze Adamu Mbiydzela, in a June 4 letter addressed to the Bishop George Nkuo of the Kumbo Diocese.

“We remain indebted and sincerely grateful to your Lordship,” the letter states, before expressing anger at the displays of their sacred masquerades in Church premises.

Mbiydzela complained that the very idea of inculturation has been “wantonly and severely abused” by Catholics.

“The avalanche of those abuses inundated social media with shocking desecration of our culture and tradition,” he writes.

“A few instances which have caught our attention are moot shows in the Church or Catholic premises of our highly cherished sacred masquerades,” the letter states.

“We are totally dismayed that if care is not taken to protect our cultural heritage, which is our identity, then, with the passage of time, our culture will be completely eroded in the guise of inculturation,” he complains.

He explained that the Nso body polity “is built from her cultural heritage which, if not seriously protected, shall be lost, and Nso as a kingdom be eroded into an irretrievable abyss.”

“It therefore behooves us to strongly denounce to your Lordship these provocative moot displays of our culture on Catholic premises and elsewhere under the guise of inculturation,” the statement continues.

NSODA thus urged the bishop to “caution and counsel Catholic Christians or whoever is under your diocese to consequently refrain from those moot displays of our cultures in the name of inculturation.”

They threatened court action should those moot displays continue.

The Bishop of Kumbo did not reply to Crux’s request for comment, but Father Humphrey Tatah Mbuy, the spokesperson for the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference told Crux that Cameroon “has not even started inculturation.”

“We are at the stage of accommodation and adaptation,” he said.

He said adaptation means adapting to what exists, and noted that bringing masquerades to Church should have been predicated on a number of critical questions: What do those masquerades mean in the Nso culture and how would they help Christians become better Christians.

He said inculturation doesn’t mean bringing anything to Church, or singing any songs. Yet, some of the songs which unfortunately are being sung in Church have nothing to do with praising God. He said successful inculturation will require the expertise of anthropologists to ensure that whatever cultural approaches are used align to the fundamental principles of the Gospel.

Nathan Chase, an assistant professor of theology at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, explains that inculturation, and liturgical inculturation, was a key part of the early Church but one that always provoked disagreements.

“Paul, for instance, argued about whether the Gentiles could be Christians. Justin Martyr argued that Greek philosophy could be used to describe the Christian faith. In every case, those in favor of inculturation, rather than those against it, won the argument,” he told Crux in an earlier interview.

“The Gentiles became Christians; Greek philosophy not only was used to describe the Christian faith, but would become central to the formation of the creeds in the fourth century. The early Church always accommodated itself to the cultures in which it was celebrated. Particular liturgies were developed in North African, where there was a strong Berber presence, Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia. Many of these were Hellenized African cultures, but still ones that were native to Africa. I would say the early Church actually was very responsive to other cultures. This broke down in the medieval period,” Chase said.

He said religion and culture are inherently connected, noting that Jesus was a Jew, while many of the early Christians were Greek.

“The fingerprints of Jewish and Greek culture are all over the Church. The issue is not whether they are connected, but how they should relate to one another. They must always be mutually informing one another, learning from one another, and at times critiquing one another. This is what is key: that they be in critical dialogue with one another,” he said.

Source: Crux

Southern Cameroons ghost towns: Businesses shuttered without Biya regime’s compensation

17, July 2024

Southern Cameroons ghost towns: Businesses shuttered without Biya regime’s compensation 0

Anglophone businessmen and women have told the Cameroon Concord News Group that they have suffered huge losses since President Biya declared war against the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons and many have attacked the regime in Yaoundé for refusing to bail them out.

Now known as the Southern Cameroons Crisis, the leader of the English speaking peoples of West Cameroon Sisiku Ayuk Tabe declared the independence of Southern Cameroons from the majority French speaking East Cameroun.

The regime in Yaoundé responded with a genocidal war that has claimed the lives of thousands of Southern Cameroonians.

Reacting to the Southern Cameroons plight, Ambazonia fighters from both the South West and North West have staged hundreds of anti French Cameroun operations killing more than five thousand Cameroon government army soldiers.

Our chief correspondent Rita Akana approached several businessmen and women in Bamenda, Buea, Kumba and Mamfe who described how they had been piling up losses as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons and Biya regime’s rejection of their pleas for compensation.

Hotel owners said the Anglophone diaspora came home every December in their thousands and visited their hotels and entertainment halls and restaurants. But everything is now frozen and the loss so far is estimated in millions of US dollars.

“Not one person from Europe or the US will come to Limbe or Buea this December,” a businessman who spoke to our cream of reporters but sued for anonymity said.

“We are not asking Biya and his government for 100% compensation. Bring even 20%, that will be okay. But since the war started and kontry Sunday took over, we haven’t received a penny from Yaoundé,” a Bamenda based business lady added.

Five hotel managers in Bamenda echoed her remarks.

A businessman in Kumba the chief city in Meme Division noted how his business used to provide for 24 employees and attract hundreds on a daily basis.

Now, “we spend most of our time rolling over debts,” he stated.

Three hotel owners in Fako Division hinted that their hundreds of millions of FCFA investments have evaporated following the war and they are sure to end 2024 in debt for the loans and interest,” they said.

Reporting last month, our Bamenda City reporter Fon Lawrence revealed that many businesses had shut down throughout the North West region since the beginning of the war and the fire that destroyed the Bamenda Main Market.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Biya at death’s door: administrative officials trying to stave off any protests

17, July 2024

Biya at death’s door: administrative officials trying to stave off any protests 0

Cameroon continues its inevitable free fall into chaos as the Biya regime skips from one mistake to the other.

The country’s economy has bottomed out, with more than 70% of the country’s graduates being unemployed or underemployed, while their parents struggle to make ends meet.

Cameroon has the lowest salaries in the CFA Franc region and with escalating living cost, Cameroonians are going through hell.

Many parents have to help sustain their adult children, most of who are graduates but cannot find jobs due to bad governance and corruption.

While the poor economic situation is stressing up Cameroonians, the country’s administrative officials are doing their best to stifle any dissenting voices.

The country’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, an ex-convict, is noted for using the law abusively to sow fear in Cameroonians.

Over the last few years, intimidation is being used as a dissuasive tool to nip any anti-government actions or plans in the bud.

Recently, it is the Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi, a division in the Centre Region, who issued a press release intimidating anybody who might think of planning or supporting a people power revolution in Yaoundé.

With the country’s president, Paul Biya, at death’s door, administrative officials, who know how bad things are in Cameroon, are now trying to stave off any protests in the country through unconstitutional and undemocratic means.

However, their efforts will surely not last for a long time as Cameroonians are sick and tired of the chaos the Biya regime has thrown at them.

Cameroon is ripe for a revolution and only genuine reforms and sincere dialogue can help the country avoid the political chaos which has been playing out in other African countries where dictators have lasted in power for decades.

By Alain Agbor Ebot

UK resolves Rwanda asylum seeker cases after Labour govt scraps deportation policy

9, July 2024

UK resolves Rwanda asylum seeker cases after Labour govt scraps deportation policy 0

The High Court cases of three asylum seekers who had brought legal action to block their potential removal to Rwanda were resolved on Tuesday after the UK’s incoming Labour government vowed to scrap the controversial deportation policy.

Three asylum seekers who brought court action to block the UK’s attempt to send them to Rwanda had their cases resolved on Tuesday, after the incoming Labour government ditched the policy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Saturday that the migrant deportation plan forged by the ousted Conservative government was “dead and buried”.

There had already been a spate of legal challenges to the scheme, with the UK Supreme Court in November last year ruling that it was illegal under international law as Rwanda could not be considered a safe country for asylum seekers.

Government lawyer James Eadie told the High Court in London on Tuesday: “In relation to the three named claimants, these claimants’ cases will be fully disposed of and withdrawn subject to the (interior ministry) paying their costs.”

The Labour Party said before last Thursday’s general election that it would ditch the scheme, which the Tories said would deter huge numbers of migrants trying to get across the Channel to the UK on small boats from northern France.

Sixty-five people were brought ashore Monday – the first under the new government – taking the total number of arrivals so far this year to 13,639, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

‘No obligation’ to return the money

Rwanda, home to 13 million people in Africa’s Great Lakes region, claims to be one of the most stable countries on the continent and has drawn praise for its modern infrastructure.

But rights groups accuse veteran President Paul Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and free speech.

A spokesman for his government said Monday that “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement”.

As part of the deal, the UK has already paid some £240 million ($307 million) to Rwanda, with a further £50 million scheduled to be sent at a later date.

In January, Kagame said the money was “only going to be used if those people will come. If they don’t come, we can return the money”.

However, he later specified there was “no obligation” to do so.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters nab counter-revolutionary agent

9, July 2024

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters nab counter-revolutionary agent 0

Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces have arrested an individual in Ekok in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu on charges of directing a disinformation campaign against the Ambazonia Interim Government and manipulation of Anglophone public opinion against the struggle.

The official Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Cooperation news agency said the individual, whose identity was not immediately available, had manipulated the minds of ordinary people in Eyumojock Sub Division through a disinformation assault on the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, spread lies against the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, desecrated the national Ambazonia flag and participated in CPDM rallies banned in the entire Southern Cameroons.

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has been quoted as saying that Amba intelligence forces managed to hoax the counter-revolutionary agent into Eyumojock from Yaoundé and capture him in Ekok.

The development comes only a few days after Amba forces identified and arrested an individual in Bui in the North West on charges of espionage for the Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

The Ambazonia Interim Government said in a statement late last week that several other pro French Cameroun fugitives wanted in Ambazonia will be arrested this coming December.

By Besong Eunice Nchong with files from Kingsley Betek

Liberian president cuts his salary by 40%

8, July 2024

Liberian president cuts his salary by 40% 0

Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai has announced that he will slash his salary by 40%.

His office said he hoped to set a precedent for “responsible governance” and demonstrate “solidarity” with Liberians.

Government salaries have been under intense scrutiny recently as Liberians complain about the rising cost of living. Around one in five people live on less than $2 (£1.70) a day in the West African state.

Mr Boakai revealed in February that his annual salary was $13,400. The cut will bring it down to $8,000.

Mr Boakai’s move echoes that of his predecessor, George Weah, who took a 25% cut in his salary.

Some in the West African nation have hailed Mr Boakai’s decision, but others wonder whether it is truly a sacrifice given that he also receives benefits like a daily allowance and medical cover.

The presidential office’s budget is almost $3m this year.

Anderson D Miamen, from non-profit organisation the Centre of Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, said the president’s pay cut is “welcoming”.

“We just hope that the public will clearly see where the deductions will go and how they will be used to positively impact the lives of the people,” he told the BBC.

W Lawrence Yealue II, whose organisation also campaigns for government transparency, described the president’s decision as “very commendable” and said that “leadership has to be provided from the top”.

He added that hoped Mr Boakai’s benefits would be reviewed in the budget for the next financial year.

As well as reducing his salary, Mr Boakai has pledged to “empower” Liberia’s Civil Service Agency to make sure public servants “receive fair compensation for their contributions to the country”.

Last week a group of lawmakers complained they had not received their official cars, which they needed to perform their duties.

As a form of protest, they turned up to parliament in tuk-tuks, known locally as keh keh, a common mode of transport for ordinary Liberians.

Mr Boakai took office in January after defeating Mr Weah in a run-off election.

He vowed to tackle corruption and financial mismanagement.

As well as declaring his assets since taking office, Mr Boakai has ordered an audit of the presidential office. The results have not yet been released.

Mr Boakai has also beefed up the General Auditing Commission and the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.

Mr Weah’s government was plagued by allegations of corruption, and lavish spending, which triggered mass protests as the cost of living spiralled for ordinary people.

Source: BBC

ECOWAS summit undermined by Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso forming confederation

7, July 2024

ECOWAS summit undermined by Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso forming confederation 0

The military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso military have formed a new confederation, undermining the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government for validation summit is scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday.

However, the traditional regional bloc linked to Western countries is facing an unprecedented challenge.

The bloc had suspended Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali after their respective military takeovers, which occurred in July 2023, September 2022 and August 2021.

On January 27, 2024, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced their plan to withdraw from membership of ECOWAS after reconciliation efforts with the bloc failed to return the trio.

The three military-led West African nations blame ECOWAS for their withdrawal, saying the Western-led group is becoming a threat to its members, accusing former colonial powers France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of interference in their affairs

In an undermining move, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger held a joint summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger on Saturday.

The event marked the first joint summit between Niger’s General Abdourahmane Tchiani, Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traore, and Mali’s Colonel Assimi Goita since the trio came to power in their countries in successive coups.

Speaking at the summit, Tchiani called the 50-year-old ECOWAS “a threat to our states”, declaring the formation of a new confederation of three Sahel states.

“We are going to create an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa,” Tchiani said.

Traore accused foreign powers of seeking to exploit African countries. The trio has regularly accused the West of meddling in ECOWAS.

“This summit marks a decisive step for the future of our common space. Together, we will consolidate the foundations of our true independence, a guarantee of true peace and sustainable development through the creation of the ‘Alliance of Sahel States’ Confederation,’” Traore wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“The AES (Alliance of Sahel States) is full of enormous natural potential which, if properly exploited, will guarantee a better future for the people of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.”

The three countries, with a combined population of 72 million, are not only expected to form closer economic ties, but also, to cooperate on the security issues affecting them.

Source: Presstv

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