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12, October 2023

Death in Kondengui of Anglophone priest, a stain on Yaounde’s rights record ⁰

Rev. Father Andrew Ambezieh was incarcerated since 2017 at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaoundé on fabricated terrorism charges. He was sentenced in 2018 to 12 years in prison and reportedly granted bail in 2019 but was never released until his passing.

The Roman Catholic cleric who hailed from Tezie Ngie in Momo faced harassment and repeated interrogations in prison and died in custody on October 11, 2023 despite requests for his release as his health deteriorated.

In a statement, the leader of the Ambazonian nation, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe explained that Father Ambezieh had dedicated much of his life to defending the rights of the peoples of Southern Cameroons and that his death will forever remain a stain on Yaounde’s human rights record.

According to Cameroon Intelligence Report sources in Yaoundé, the priest’s illness meant that he had severe tremors in both hands and had great difficulty eating, drinking and washing.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

12, October 2023

Gabon: Wife of deposed president Ali Bongo jailed ⁰

The wife of Gabon’s deposed president Ali Bongo Ondimba, under house arrest since a coup in the central African country in late August, has been jailed, her lawyer said on Thursday.

Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, suspected of allegedly embezzling public funds, was jailed late on Wednesday, her lawyer Francois Zimeray told AFP, condemning the “arbitrary… illegal procedure”.

Bongo’s wife was charged on September 28 with money laundering, forgery and falsification of records.

Sylvia Bongo has been under house arrest in the capital, Libreville, since the August 30 coup brought the curtain down on 55 years of Bongo dynasty rule.

The putschists allege the former head of state and his entourage falsified the election results.

They accuse Sylvia Bongo and her son, Nourredin Bongo Valentin, of manipulating the former president, who has not fully recovered from a serious stroke in 2018.

They say the two have effectively run the oil-rich country for the past five years and have misused public money.

Nourredin Bongo Valentin has been placed in detention since the coup, charged with corruption.

“We condemned this illegal procedure,” lawyer Zimeray said.

“There is a difference between justice and arbitrary actions, between the law and revenge.”

The public prosecutor in Libreville has not yet responded to an AFP request for comment.

Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election.

Many saw it as an act of liberation rather than a military coup.

Ali Bongo was elected after his father Omar died in 2009 after nearly 42 years in power.

Gabon is Africa’s third-richest nation in terms of per-capita GDP but one in three people lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Source: AFP

12, October 2023

Attack on Israel: Netanyahu says every Hamas member is a dead man ⁰

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said every Hamas member was “a dead man” after the first meeting of his country’s emergency government.

Alongside him, opposition figure Benny Gantz said it was “a time for war”.

But US President Joe Biden said he had spoken to Mr Netanyahu and made it clear that Israel must “operate by the rules of war”.

The death toll in Israel has reached 1,200. More than 1,100 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

Mr Biden said he understood the anger and frustration of the Israeli people but urged Israel to adhere to the principles of the Geneva conventions. He also warned Iran – which has welcomed the Hamas attack – to “be careful”.

Earlier on Wednesday Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz agreed to put aside a bitter political rivalry that had escalated into widespread protests.

Mr Gantz told Israeli citizens that the newly-formed government was “united” and ready to “wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth”.

Alongside Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz, the centrist National Unity Party leader and a former defence minister, the new temporary cabinet would also include Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The country’s main opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has not joined the alliance. However, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz said in a joint statement that a seat would be reserved for him in the war cabinet.

“During the war period, no bills or government decisions will be promoted that do not concern the conduct of the war,” said a statement.

“All senior appointments will be automatically extended during the war period.”

The emergency government will give broader national consensus to military action. It also brings to the war cabinet two voices who are experts in military strategy. Both Mr Gantz and also Gadi Eisenkot, who joins as an observer, are former Israeli military chiefs of staff.

The announcement of the new cabinet came in the wake of savage attacks by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip.

Source: BBC

11, October 2023

Biya-Putin Connection: Cameroon-flagged dark tanker adrift off Indonesia ⁰

A 26-year-old oil tanker, part of the shadow fleet hauling Russian crude, is currently adrift in the Indian Ocean.

As first reported by Bloomberg, the 106,547 dwt aframax tanker Turba is located some 300 km west of Aceh, Indonesia, and is signalling that it is not under command – meaning it cannot manoeuvre on its own.

Vessels use this status to keep out of the way of other traffic, usually because of mechanical or related failures.

The Turba has previously been caught in the act of transporting and transferring Russian crude to other vessels. In mid-September, Bloomberg even photographed the transfer between the Turba and Simba tankers in the Laconian Gulf offshore Greece.

The catch was that, according to AIS data at least, the two were supposed to be miles apart. The deviation in the real and electronic locations of over four miles is one of the ways used to conduct ship-to-ship transport of sanctioned Russian fuel and crude.

Giving fake coordinates to AIS, otherwise known as spoofing, allows buyers to hide buying Russian crude and fuel above approved prices. The G7 granted exemptions for handling Russian oil and fuel traded at or below fixed levels — $60 a barrel for crude and $100 for premium refined fuels like gasoline and diesel.

Even though most tankers that age have already been turned to scrap, that is not Turba’s largest problem. It also flies the flag of Cameroon which is blacklisted on the Paris MoU on Port State Control. On top of that the vessel is not insured by International Group P&I clubs with the last full inspection of the tanker being done in 2017.

At least 40 vessels hauling Russian oil to China and India between early December and early February lacked insurance from members of the International Group of P&I clubs or routine safety-management certificates, according to Equasis. Three vessels, including the Turba, didn’t have classification to demonstrate seaworthiness.

When the European Union put sanctions on Russia, the quite out-of-form Turba became part of the vast shadow fleet carrying the country’s oil and fuel. The rise of the vintage shadow fleet hauling cargoes for Iran, Venezuela, and Russia has grown to number more than 600 ships today.

Southeast Asia – a major crossroads for international tanker trades – has seen its fair share of dark fleet mishaps recently with the explosion of the Pablo aframax in May and the grounding of the VLCC Young Yang last year.

There were at least eight groundings, collisions or near misses involving tankers carrying sanctioned oil products in 2022 – the same number as in the previous three years, according to insurance firm Allianz.

Tankers still working above 20 years of age made up just 1% of the global tanker fleet pre-covid and were still a rarity at 3% before the invasion of Ukraine in late February last year. They’re now on track to make up 11% of all tanker demand by mid-2025, according to data from brokers Braemar.

Culled from Splash247

11, October 2023

Yaounde-Mbankolo Disaster: Minister Gregoire Owona is to blame ⁰

The Yaoundé floods disaster which has already killed more than 20 people and rendered hundreds of Cameroonians homeless is clearly being blamed on Gregoire Owona, a government minister in the Biya regime who has a massive illegal fish pond in the neighborhood.

On the fateful night of the accident, heavy rains in Yaoundé breached the holding walls of Mr. Owona’s fish pond, sending very strong water currents down the houses of hundreds of residents who were already asleep.

Entire families have been killed in the accident, with one man losing up to eight children.

Many survivors are holding the minister responsible for their pain and suffering, but government officials are avoiding the discussion, hoping that the country’s ailing and old president, Paul Biya, will order an investigation.

A woman who lost two of her family members was heard saying in a video shot by a resident of the neighborhood that Owona should be held responsible, adding that Mr. Owona who was running an illegal fish farm has been deceiving locals with rice and beer to ensure they never report his illegal fish farming activities to the officials.

“We must call a spade a spade. This disaster must not be covered up. The minister is to blame for our pain. We are used to hiding the truth in this country but we are not going to hide the truth surrounding this unfortunate situation. The old man must be held accountable,” the angry Yaoundé resident said.

More videos are emerging and residents of the city (shitty) are speaking up and they are calling on the head of state to order an in-depth investigation.

The survivors are also calling for compensation, especially as the government of Cameroon is not in the habit of compensating victims of any disaster.

The Cameroon Concord News Yaoundé correspondent, Rita Akana, has visited the disaster site and she reports that the residents of the area are bitter and they want justice.

Though many are scared of their security given that the disaster has been caused by a government minister, they are however complaining that the minister’s fish farm was illegal and that he should be interrogated about his illegal business.

Many are calling for severe sanctions, but so far, the government is maintaining a kind of deliberate silence and no investigation has been ordered.

“This country has become a living hell for many Cameroonians. This is the only country in the world where senior government officials who are supposed to be our role models get away with their crimes,” a gentleman who lost the sister to the Gregoire Owona-made disaster said.

“We have not yet received any assistance from the government though a few cabinet ministers have stopped by to see the disaster site. Atanga Nji, the country’s territorial administration minister, was here but he was more interested in projecting the fact that the president had sent mattresses to the victims, but I have not yet seen a mattress,” he said angrily.

“The president’s gift if he actually gifted us those mattresses is unfortunately inappropriate. Most of us are homeless and we are in the middle of a rainy season. If we will ever get the mattresses, where will we use them? We are spending the nights in the open and more rains are in the forecast. The most appropriate thing will be for the government to house all those whose houses have been destroyed. This is however not going to happen because the Cameroon government is not in the business of taking care of its citizens who are facing tough times,” the angry gentleman told Rita Akana.

“We are helpless and we are calling on anybody who can reach out to us to do so. We are really desperate. We need help. Gregoire Owona’s fish farm has ruined our lives. We have lost many people while he is still enjoying his life. This greed, which has become our country’s hallmark, must stop,” he added.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11, October 2023

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t says Yaoundé will fail to restore its lost power ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government has expressed deep concern over the latest onslaught on Southern Cameroons villages, calling on the international community to take immediate action to stop the occupying French Cameroun regime’s reckless crimes.

Dabney Yerima made the remarks on Monday, as he strongly condemned the barbaric raid on villages in Manyu Division particularly those along the Mamfe-Bamenda road.

The exiled leader went on to say the continuous attacks of the Francophone dominated military on different areas in Southern Cameroons will fail to restore Yaounde’s lost power.

Vice President Dabney Yerima emphasized on the Ambazonian nation’s legitimate right to self-defense in the face of the French Cameroun forces acts of aggression.

Yerima added that not only Southern Cameroonians but also prominent French Cameroun political elites no longer believe in the United Republic of Cameroon project.

He also noted that such terrorist actions are vain attempts by the Biya Francophone regime aimed at consolidating its hallucination of power.

By Chi Prudence Asong

10, October 2023

Biya regime says 4 Amba fighters killed in Kendem village ⁰

At least four separatist fighters have been killed in a military operation in Cameroon’s English-speaking region of Southwest, the army said Saturday.

The operation took place late Friday in Kendem village in Manyu Division.

Government troops ambushed the fighters who were in their hideout in a cocoa farm, killing four of them and seizing weapons and ammunition, the army said in a statement and added that there were no casualties on the part of government forces.

There has been fighting in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 as separatists want to create an independent nation in the two regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

10, October 2023

Death toll from floods in Mbankolo reaches 27 ⁰

At least 27 people were killed and more than 50 were injured in floods set off by heavy rains in Cameroon’s capital, authorities said Monday as rescuers intensified the search for those missing following the deluge the previous day.

The rains unleashed floodwaters in the district of Yaounde 2 of the country’s capital on Sunday, sweeping away buildings and reducing many to rubble.

Rescue workers are still digging through the mud and rubble “with the hope of saving lives,” Daouda Ousmanou, the top government official in the district, said Monday.

Cameroon Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Ngi, who visited the site, announced the death toll has reached 27 and that all the injured would be treated for free. “I have come to extend the condolences of Cameroon president Paul Biya to the bereaved families,” he said.

Flooding has been frequent in Cameroon in recent years, with experts often blaming climate change, and its impact has been exacerbated by shoddy construction that often circumvents regulations.

The latest floods were worsened after a dike in a manmade lake gave way, sweeping structures down the hill, the government said.

In the city’s Mbankolo neighborhood, at least 30 houses were swept away while several collapsed on residents inside, Ousmanou said. Other people drowned as they were swept away by floodwaters.

Ernest Zebaze, a 24-year-old university student, said he identified the bodies of his mother and two siblings. “I am still looking for my father who was in the house during the downpour,” Zebaze said.

Bodies of the victims have been laid out at a morgue, while the injured were rushed to hospitals. The Yaounde General Hospital said it received 12 injured, including a 7-year-old girl.

Authorities in Cameroon have been demolishing houses in high-risk zones susceptible to floods and landslides. Many of the buildings that collapsed on Sunday had been marked for demolition.

Source: AP

10, October 2023

Football legend Weah eyes second presidential term as Liberia votes ⁰

Liberians began voting Tuesday on whether to give football legend George Weah a second term as president, with peace among voters’ main concerns in a nation still scarred by back-to-back civil wars.

An hour before polling got under way at 0800 GMT, hundreds of people were already waiting to cast their ballots at voting stations, mostly set up in schools, in the capital, Monrovia.

“I vote for the good of my country. I expect peace and development,” Agostina Momo, 18, who is voting for the first time, said.

The main political parties have pledged that the presidential and legislative elections in the West African country will pass off peacefully.

But the recent killing of three people in clashes between their supporters has fuelled fears of a return to violence.

Trouble also marred the close of Weah’s re-election campaign Sunday, with his supporters and opposition members throwing stones at each other and police intervening with tear gas.

AFP counted at least five men with injuries, some with large gashes on their heads.

“What we expect most is peace,” said Melvine Zoega, 37, among a group of men discussing their concerns in the city of Buchanan, 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of the capital Monrovia.

Healthcare, education and roads, jobs and the cost of living all came up, but only after fears of a return to violence.

Between 1989 and 2003, the conflicts in Liberia left more than 250,000 people dead.

Incumbent Weah, 57, — the first African to win football’s most prestigious individual award, the Ballon d’Or, in 1995 — faces 19 presidential candidates and a likely second-round runoff in early November.

But he has campaigned on the slogan “One round victory”.

“We must all cherish this peace and continue to preserve it, because without peace, our world will be difficult,” Weah told thousands of people gathered in Monrovia Sunday.

“Without peace, development will not take place.”

The former international footballer came to power promising to create jobs and invest in education, but critics say he has failed to keep his pledges.

The national electoral commission is seeking to reassure people it can organise fair and credible polls.

“Everything’s ready… We anticipate that all should go well,” said commission chairperson Davidetta Browne-Lansanah.

The election is the first held since the United Nations ended its peacekeeping mission in Liberia in 2018.

The European Union, the African Union, the West African bloc, ECOWAS, and the United States have deployed observers, in a region hit by a string of recent coups.

Development and corruption

Polling stations are due to close at 1800 GMT, with the 2.4 million voters also electing members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

First results are expected within 15 days.

Former vice president Joseph Boakai, who lost to Weah six years ago, is among the frontrunners for the presidency.

He has said that any vote cheating or manipulation will lead to “the end of this country”.

The 78-year-old has forged alliances including with former warlord and senator Prince Johnson, who has threatened a popular revolt if the ruling party manipulates the elections.

Boakai has pledged to restore the country’s image, develop infrastructure and improve life for the poorest.

More than a fifth of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day, according to the World Bank, and the price of staple foods has soared.

Boakai, who served as vice president between 2006 and 2018, presents himself as an honest alternative to Weah, whom he accuses of presiding over a corrupt system.

The United States has sanctioned five senior Liberian officials for alleged corruption in three years.

The watchdog Transparency International ranked Liberia 142nd of 180 countries in its 2022 corruption perceptions index.

‘Man of the situation’

Corruption is not a key concern, however, for George Mobo, in Monrovia’s West Point slum.

“Look at African countries and tell me which country is not corrupt,” the 30-year-old said.

Education, peace and job creation are his top priorities.

His friends agreed, sitting near a brand-new football stadium, built under the president’s watch.

“President Weah is the man of the situation. He built roads, made education free. And there was coronavirus for two years. Now he will do better,” said John Seaton, 24.

Weah, who entered politics after a football career playing for PSG, Monaco and AC Milan, grew up in the slums of Monrovia and is popular with young people in a country where over 60 percent of the population is under 25.

Source: AFP

9, October 2023

Yaoundé: Professor Titus Edzoa willing to head transition government ⁰

Former Secretary General at the presidency of the republic Professor Titus Edzoa expressed his willingness to lead a transition government in the event President Biya agrees to step down.

Edzoa, however, maintained he will not support another mandate for President Biya in the next presidential race.

Professor Titus Edzoa told Equinox TV that any change in the government should be made under constitutional processes.

“Should there be a transition government and I am asked to serve the Cameroonian people solely for transition purposes, I would agree to lead,” Edzoa said.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai