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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

29, August 2023

Indomitable Lions: Onana recalled to squad after spat with Rigobert Song ⁰

Manchester United’s new goalkeeper Andre Onana has been recalled to Cameroon’s squad some nine months after he walked out on the team during the World Cup in Qatar.

Onana was named on Tuesday by coach Rigobert Song in the squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi in Garoua on Sept. 12, where the Indomitable Lions need only a draw to guarantee a place at January’s finals in the Ivory Coast.

Onana, 27, left the Cameroon squad in Qatar last November after their opening group game against Switzerland following a dispute with Song over tactics and training.

The Cameroon Football Federation said he was suspended and had been sent home and he has not played for the country since, having announced his retirement from international football.

But on Tuesday at a press conference in Yaounde, Song denied there had been a problem with Onana and said it was natural that as the best available goalkeeper he was in the squad.

“There was never a problem with Andre, the door has always been open to him and we are happy he is coming back to join the group,” said Song.

Source: Reuters

29, August 2023

La Republique du Cameroun under Biya: A mafia state ⁰

Many renowned academics have opined that criminal states are a new form of dangerous state developing at catastrophic rapidity in the Sub Saharan Africa region.

While state failure, military takeover and oligarchic regimes are emerging in the ECOWAS bloc, the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé, Cameroon which never had its origins from jihadi insurgency or lawless zones is now undeniably the biggest mafia state in the CEMAC area.

For 40 years, the Biya Francophone regime has successfully put an end to rule of law in Cameroon and its elite force known as the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), with a modus operandi similar to a criminal organization is monopolizing all the tools of political, military and economic power.

The Rapid Intervention Battalion was constituted predominantly with young men from the Beti-Bulu tribal extractions and the force only receives directives from a small group of individuals close to the 90-year-old President Paul Biya who consider the ownership of all the individual and collective affairs of the Cameroonian society as their inherent right and have no responsibility toward society and no obligation to be accountable.

Perhaps we can arrive at a more accurate understanding of the nature of the Biya Francophone regime if we examine calmly and honestly the prominent men and women of the regime who are currently being held at the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaoundé and also the abduction of the NERA 10 in Abuja, Nigeria, the Captain Guerandi affair including the brutal murder of His Lordship Bishop Balla of the Diocese of Bafia and the recent assassination of journalists Martinez Zogo and Samuel Wazizi. It is evident that Cameroon is a state in which criminal gangs have taken over key parts of the system of government.

However, when you mention the description mafia state, many Cameroonians are quick to look at only the executive and sometimes the military. But there exist a criminal super-organization that controls the legislative power of the two houses: the National assembly and the House of Senate.

So in Cameroon, we are not dealing with the ruling CPDM party as the main criminal organization which is hiding behind the façade and the machinery of a constitutional state but with a Francophone dominated government that has been using some mushroom political parties in French speaking Cameroun to seize and control power at all governmental levels.

There are Beti-Bulu gangs in Yaoundé who are hiding behind the fight against corruption and Francophone politicians who pretend to obey the rule of law and are arresting their competitors and opponents and punishing them through legal channels like the Yaoundé Military Tribunal and the Special Criminal Court.

In Cameroon under Biya, the consortium of CPDM crime syndicates have abandoned all legitimate tools of political control and, like many criminal gangs, are working hard with celebrated criminals like Ministers Paul Atanga Nji and Laurent Esso to keep control on society through threats, extortion, kidnapping, terror and by showcasing cruelty and torture.

We of both the Cameroon Intelligence Report and Cameroon Concord News believe that the purpose of this Biya Francophone endeavor is not to administer Cameroon and Cameroonians but only to obtain money from the poor masses and expand their money-making power. A government that for over six years has been using its troops to kill innocent civilians and spread terror among a marginalized people in Southern Cameroons, must be viewed not as a nation-state but only as a criminal super-organization that has captured the instruments of government.

Biya’s foreign policy of developing and hastily improving relations with the Russian Federation at a time when the Russian Czar is destroying Ukraine cannot be understood even by its backers in Paris. The Yaoundé pro Russia stance can only be understood from the point of view of a criminal organization that controls the instruments of government and its focus on the interests of a particular group, (Beti-Bulu) and only thinks about expanding the sphere of influence of this group and enriching it.

In the face of such a criminal model of governance in Yaoundé, it is abundantly clear that the European Union is not serious about the war in Ukraine. The EU’s political, economic and military relations with the Biya regime practically means empowering a mafia state that naturally seeks to replicate itself by connecting with other criminal organizations in the world including the one Vladimir Putin is heading in Moscow.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

29, August 2023

UN says at least 183 killed in clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara ⁰

At least 183 people have been killed since July in clashes in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, the United Nations said Tuesday as it appealed for the killings, violence and rights abuses to end.

Tension in the northern region ratcheted up this year after the end of a devastating war in the neighbouring region of Tigray that also drew in fighters from Amhara.

“We are very concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in some regions of Ethiopia,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado told reporters in Geneva.

“In Amhara region, following a flare-up in clashes between the Ethiopian military and the regional Fano militia, and the declaration of a state of emergency on August 4, the situation worsened considerably.

“At least 183 people have been killed in clashes since July, according to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office.”

Tension in the northern region ratcheted up this year after the end of a devastating war in neighbouring Tigray that also drew in fighters from Amhara.

In April the federal government announced it was dismantling regional forces across the country.

The move triggered protests by Amhara nationalists who said it would weaken their region.

Clashes erupted in early July between the national army and local fighters known as Fano, prompting the authorities in Addis Ababa on August 4 to declare a six-month state of emergency.

The status gives the authorities broad powers to arrest suspects without a court order, impose curfews and ban public gatherings, Hurtado said.

“We have received reports that more than 1,000 people have been arrested across Ethiopia under this law. Many of those detained were reported to be young people of Amhara ethnic origin suspected of being Fano supporters,” she said.

“Since early August, mass house-to-house searches have reportedly been taking place.

“We call on the authorities to stop mass arrests, ensure that any deprivation of liberty is judicially reviewed, and release those arbitrarily detained.”

She added: “We call on all actors to stop killings, other violations and abuses.”

Source: AFP

29, August 2023

Bamenda: Muslim scholar Abdulkarim detained without trial for one year ⁰

Amnesty International has called on the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé to release Muslim scholar, Abdulkarim Ali, who has been detained without trial since August 11, 2023.

Marking the first year in detention for Abdulkarin Ali, who has reportedly been accused of inciting subversion of state power and having strong ties with the leaderships of the Southern Cameroons restoration groups, Karim said he was abducted and not arrested by Francophone army soldiers in Bamenda.

Cameroon Concord News understands Yaoundé reproached him for managing the human rights situation of the war in Southern Cameroons.

Karim has also been the defender of women’s rights ever since the beginning of the crisis in Southern Cameroons and was quoted recently as saying that many women are wailing and suffering as the war in Anglophone regions continues.

In December 2022, Amnesty International called for his release, observing that Mr. Karim was arrested for expressing his views.

“He was arrested only for exercising his right to freedom of expression,” Fabien Offner, Amnesty International’s researcher for West and Central Africa, said.

Anglophone lawyers who successively offered to defend him were previously rejected by the Francophone authorities in Bamenda. The National gendarmerie is also putting pressure on Mr. Karim’s family members particularly his mother to dissuade them from assisting him in detention.

By Fon Lawrence

28, August 2023

Retired but not tired: Pro Biya Supreme Court judge found dead in car ⁰

Retired Justice Bisseck Dagobert has been found dead in his car in Yaoundé the nation’s capital.

His lifeless body was discovered on Saturday August 26, 2023 in the Nkolbison neighborhood.

Early reports suggested that the pro President Biya judge was seen in a hotel at about 2pm and was visited by a young lady. The lady reportedly left the hotel by 7:30pm and the lifeless body of the Magistrate was later discovered at about 9:45pm.

Bisseck Dagobert died aged 74. He was serving the corrupt regime as a judge at the Chamber of Accounts at the Supreme Court and also moonlighted as president of the judicial Chamber.

Reported by Cameroon News Agency with additional editing from Ewang Miriam Metchane

26, August 2023

Black Suffering: Americans mark 60th anniversary of ‘March on Washington’ with mass rally ⁰

Americans have commemorated the 60th anniversary of the “March on Washington,” a pivotal event held in the US capital in the 1960s US civil rights movement, amid spreading social injustice in an increasingly polarized US society.

Tens of thousands of Americans, who gathered on Saturday in Washington, DC, to show their devotion to the ideas of late American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., called for an end to White supremacy and racial discrimination in the United States.

Rights activists from all over the US and from all walks of society gathered at the iconic Lincoln Memorial to promote racial equality in US society and beyond.

Speakers at the rally, who see Black America’s rights are on the line, addressed discriminatory issues in US society including Supreme Court decisions on Affirmative Action to states who are attempting to rewrite the history.

“No Justice, No Peace,” the demonstrators chanted, while speakers reminded that “Black lives matter”, condemning gun violence against Black individuals.

They stressed that racism is becoming more prevalent in American society and highlighted the need for more efforts to eliminate racial discrimination.

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his “I have a dream” speech which would become one of the most influential speeches in world modern history.”

That march brought more than 250,000 people to the US capital to push for an end to continuous discrimination against colored people in the US.

In his memorable speech, King urged the righteous people from all walks of US society to imagine a day when “all of God’s children, Black men and white men, [are] … ‘Free at last! Free at last!”

The “March on Washington” King’s enlightening speech helped change the segregated system prevalent in US society in the 60s and bring an end to Jim Crow laws, pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and open the modern civil rights era which was slowly making progress before former US President Donald Trump launched his regressive rightist campaign, driving a wedge in US society.

Source: Presstv

26, August 2023

Gabon blocks internet access, imposes curfew amid election voting delays ⁰

Gabon’s government blocked internet access and imposed a curfew on Saturday after a general election marked by major voting delays, as the opposition cried foul over a poll they hoped would halt President Ali Bongo’s bid to extend his family’s 56-year grip on power.

The Central African nation was holding presidential, legislative, and local polls simultaneously for the first time with tensions running high amid fears electoral system changes could sow doubt about the legitimacy of the result and provoke unrest.

Bongo, 64, who succeeded his father Omar in 2009, is seeking a third term against 18 challengers, six of whom backed a joint nominee in an effort to narrow the race.

Voting was due to start at 0700 GMT, but at least five polling stations in the capital Libreville saw voters waiting hours for polls to open, a Reuters reporter said.

“This election is very tense because I don’t think a vote in our country has ever started so late,” said voter Jeff Mbou at a polling station in Libreville’s Martine Oulabou school, where voting started nearly four hours late.

It was not immediately clear how many areas were affected by the delays or if all voters were able to cast their votes. The election commission did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Any irregularities will add to concerns about the post-electoral period, which in Gabon has previously seen violent protests linked to the opposition disputing the result.

There is no fixed deadline for the announcement of results, but joint opposition candidate Albert Ondo Ossa, 69, and his alliance on Saturday were already questioning the legitimacy of the outcome.

Citing the threat of online disinformation, the Gabonese government cut the internet until further notice and imposed a night-time curfew from Sunday “in order to prevent any misbehaviour and to preserve the security of the entire population,” according to a statement read out on national television on Saturday evening.

Fraud allegation

The vote is a much-anticipated test of support for Bongo, whose detractors say has done too little to funnel Gabon’s oil wealth towards the third of its 2.3 million population living in poverty and question his fitness to govern after a stroke in 2018.

Bongo has sought to disprove this image on a wide-ranging campaign trail. He has promised to create more jobs, boost micro-loan programmes and cut public school fees.

“We are voting and we are winning,” he said in an online post on Saturday, sharing a video of his supporters wearing T-shirts with his campaign slogan “Ali for Everyone”.

The run-up to the election has been smooth, but many fear the post-election period could see turmoil like the protests that broke out after Bongo’s 2016 victory. The opposition has disputed both his previous election wins, saying he won fraudulently.

“I am perfectly informed about the fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters,” Ondo Ossa told reporters at the polling station at Ba Oumar High School, in Libreville, without detailing the exact allegations.

“Ali Bongo still has time to negotiate. The only negotiation that is necessary is his departure; 60 years in power is too much,” he said.

In online posts, his opposition alliance Alternance 2023 and Bongo’s spokesperson said some polling stations had not received ballot slips for their respective candidates. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.

Bongo’s team rejected allegations of fraud.

“The vote hasn’t even finished yet, and already the opposition is losing its nerve and its composure. This attempt to sow discord, because defeat is near, will not work,” Bongo’s spokesperson said in an online post.

Recent changes to the voting system could further complicate the aftermath, said Remadji Hoinathy, a researcher at the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies. These include the introduction of a ballot that requires voters to pick a presidential candidate and lawmaker from the same party.

The opposition has also voiced concern about a recent constitutional change to abolish two rounds of voting for the president.

The changes “might add more tensions on the outcome of the elections, and then maybe contestations and maybe violence,” Hoinathy said.

Bongo’s camp has positioned him as the firm favourite to win the race, although there has been no reliable polling.

His main threat comes from Ondo Ossa, an economics and management professor who has campaigned on the need for change and better economic opportunities.

The pitch could resonate in a country where one in three young people are unemployed and the vast majority of the population has only known Bongo’s rule.

Source: Reuters