About soter

Posts by :

5, September 2019

Yaoundé: Rapper and activist to appear before court, could face death penalty ⁰

The arrest, ongoing detention, and charges against Cameroonian rapper Gaston Serval Abe, known as Valsero, are inexcusable violations of freedom artistic expression, PEN America said in a statement today. Arrested earlier this year in the vicinity of a pro-democracy demonstration, Valsero will appear before a military court Friday and could face the death penalty. He’s charged with rebellion against the state, terrorism, insurrection, inciting public disorder, and propagating false information.

“Valsero, along with his sound engineer, has been imprisoned for over six months for merely attending a peaceful march in protest of the last election results in Cameroon,” said Julie Trébault, director of the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) at PEN America. “This is clearly a targeted attempt to silence an internationally known and beloved rapper who strives, both through his music and his activism, to critique the government and inspire social change. His ongoing detention in poor conditions and the exaggerated charges against him are an intolerable affront both to artistic freedom and human dignity. We urge the Cameroonian government to immediately drop the charges against Valsero and uphold its domestic and international commitments to protect freedom of expression and ensure that artists are free to create without fear”.

Critics say Valsero is being persecuted for his work, which often includes political themes. Songs like “Çe pays tue les jeunes” (“This country kills the youth”), “Ne me parlez plus de ce pays” (“Don’t talk about this country to me anymore”), and the well-known “Lettre au president” (“Letter to the President”) have earned both the ire of the government and admiration of fans across Cameroon. Many of his new songs reference current crises in Cameroon and the current government, in power for nearly four decades.

Although his work fell afoul of censorship laws, his 2008 debut album, “Poltiquement instable” (“Politically unstable”), became a runaway success, earning him the title “The General” from fans across the country. Beyond his rap career, he is also an engaged activist, starting initiatives such as “Jeune et Fort” (“Young and Strong”), which promotes education through citizenship, democracy, and electoral culture, and his new “Our Destiny” association, which aims to empower young people to take control of their existence for the benefit of the country.

Valsero was arrested on January 26 in Yaoundé on the margins of a peaceful demonstration protesting last year’s national elections, which many deemed to be rigged in support of the current president, Paul Biya. Maurice Kamto, the opposition leader, had organized marches all over the country on that day, but the protestors were met with widespread police suppression, and both Kamto and Valsero were detained. Valsero is not a member of the opposition party.

Source: Pen.org

5, September 2019

UK: Jo Johnson quits as MP, minister in another blow to brother, Boris ⁰

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was dealt a fresh blow on Thursday when his brother Jo quit the government, saying he could no longer reconcile “family loyalty and national interest”.

Jo Johnson had campaigned strongly against Britain’s exit from the European Union in 2016, a position that put him at odds with his older and more famous brother Boris.

But he took a job in his brother’s government as universities and science minister, a position he had held previously.

“It’s been an honour to represent Orpington (a London suburb) for nine years & to serve as a minister under three prime ministers,” Jo Johnson tweeted.

“In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest — it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & minister.”

Like many families in Britain, the Johnsons were deeply divided over Brexit — a third sibling, Rachel, and their father Stanley also wanted to stay in the EU.

Stanley worked for the European Commission in the 1970s and then served as a Conservative MEP, while Rachel ran unsuccessfully for the European Parliament in elections this year for the anti-Brexit Change UK party.

The resignation of Jo Johnson, who like his brother Boris is a former journalist, comes after 22 MPs left the governing Conservative party this week.

One MP defected to the pro-European Liberal Democrats and 21 were expelled for voting against the prime minister’s Brexit strategy.

His resignation also comes the day after MPs voted to legislate to stop Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the European Union without a divorce deal on October 31.

Deputy leader Tom Watson tweeted: “Once again, the people who trust Boris Johnson least are the ones who know him best.”

Pollster Joe Twyman tweeted: “It’s going to be a hell of a Christmas lunch in the Johnson household”.

BBC journalist David Cornock quipped: “A rare case of a politician resigning to spend less time with his family”.

(AFP)

5, September 2019

Southern Cameroons: Bible translator’s wife in recovery after hand cut off, husband killed ⁰

The wife of a Bible translator, who was killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Cameroon, is in recovery after having her hand cut off, a ministry source told The Christian Post.

Efi Tembon, who operates a humanitarian ministry called Oasis Network for Community Transformation, told CP on Tuesday that Eveline Fung, the wife of slain Bible translator Angus Fung, is in stable condition and is speaking again after an attack on her home village on Aug. 25.

“She is still in the hospital but she’s improving,” Tembon said. “Her hand is gone but she will be OK.”

Fung was said to have received a blood transfusion at a local hospital.

“Emotionally, it is still a very traumatizing situation for her,” he added. “It is very, very traumatizing and she will need trauma healing.”

Tembon reported last week that the Fungs were among those victimized by a Fulani attack believed to have been encouraged by government actors in the town of Wum in Cameroon’s violence-ridden Anglophone region.

Tembon, who has done ministry work in Wum in the past, said youth from the Fulani herding community are being armed and ordered to attack farming villagers that support separatist rebels.

The separatist rebels are fighting for freedom as those in the English-speaking region feel underrepresented in the majority French-speaking central government.

Angus Fung, who was in his 60s, was a leader in the community and played a vital role in the New Testament translation into the Aghem language, a project completed in 2016. Tembon said Fung was hacked to death by a man wielding a machete.

“[H]e was a huge part of the literacy work because their language had never been written before,” Tembon said. “So he was the one coordinating it and teaching the language. So many people now can read and write the language as a result of Angus’ work.”

In addition to Fung, Tembon said that a couple who had fled their home after military attacks on their village and were being sheltered in the Fung home in Wum were also killed in the Aug. 25 attack. While Tembon initially reported that seven were killed in the Wum attack, he told CP that the death toll in the Wum attack is six.

“They went into houses and pulled out the people,” he said last week. “They attacked in the night and nobody was expecting. They just went into the home, pulled them out and slaughtered them.”

Tembon explained that he doesn’t think that Eveline Fung, who has five children ranging in age from 3 to 22, will be able to return to the home because of the trauma she suffered.

His organization, he noted, sent money to help pay for medical costs and food. Additionally, Tembon is trying to organize support so Fung can flee the country, possibly to Nigeria.

“It will be very traumatizing for her to go back to her home where she was butchered and her husband was killed along with all those people,” he said. “We are thinking about what to do.”

Since last year, according to Tembon, at least 23 people in Wum have been killed in Fulani attacks.

Since the civil conflict began in 2016, estimates suggest that at least 2,000 people have been killed, though Tembon predicts that the number could likely be closer to 7,000.

Oasis for Community Transformation has also helped others escape the violence in Cameroon, including the wife of Pastor Keloh Elijah, who was killed earlier this year by the military in the Mfumte area.

“Not only in Wum but in many other areas, the attacks continue and they continue to kill people,” he said. “Attacks take place every day. There is not a day that goes by without at least five people being killed. Sometimes when the local fighters attack the military, there is a shootout. And sometimes, [innocent] people get killed.”

“Some have been picked up by the military and shot. And others have been killed by bullets during a shootout.”

Since the Aug. 25 attack in Wum, Tembon said he has heard of violence occurring in towns like Kumba, and Bamenda and Santa.

Since the beginning of the conflict, tens of thousands have fled Cameroon into neighboring countries like Nigeria and Ghana while hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced.

Tembon, a Cameroon native who can no longer go back to the country after speaking to U.S. Congress in 2018 about the military’s violence against citizens, is now based in the U.S. He has engaged in advocacy efforts, speaking to the U.S. State Department and Congress to raise awareness of the situation.

He has also advocated in Canada and the United Kingdom to pressure the international community to be proactive in mediating the conflict in Cameroon.

Tembon said he is arranging a meeting between representatives from the separatist groups and staff from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that will take place in mid-September on Capitol Hill. He is still waiting to hear if any members of the Senate will be present for the meeting.

Tembon is also organizing a meeting between the separatist representatives and the State Department.

“There is an initiative that started in Switzerland,” he said. “Switzerland offered to do mediation but they are not very well trusted. So some of the leaders wanted to have a United Nations mandate to [allow Switzerland] to mediate the conflict so that it will be transparent.”

“Without mediation, the war will continue and people will continue to die and be in pain. Because the U.S. is a key stakeholder, the U.S. can use its influence to ask that a U.N. mandate be given to Switzerland to be a mediator.”

In July, Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland led a bipartisan group of senators in introducing a resolution calling on the Cameroon government and armed separatist groups to “respect the human rights of all Cameroonian citizens, to end all violence, and to pursue an inclusive dialogue to resolve the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions.”

“We have an obligation to call out instances of human rights violations wherever they happen,” Cardin said in a statement.

“The situation in Cameroon is untenable. Our resolution encourages all parties to the conflict to uphold the rule of law and prioritize respect for human rights for all Cameroonians — including political, religious, independent media and civil society leaders — over his desire to hold onto power by any means necessary.”

Tembon would like to see “addressing the root causes of the conflict” added to the Senate resolution. “If the root causes are not resolved, then the conflict will continue,” he warned. “Any mediation should address the root causes of the conflict.”

Sourc: The Christian Post

5, September 2019

Ambazonia: Children stay away from school as separatists threaten attacks ⁰

Hundreds of thousands of children in Cameroon’s English language-speaking region are staying out of school this week, after separatists called for a boycott and threatened attacks on those who attend.

Insurgents have been fighting the West African country’s francophone government in a bid to carve out an independent state they hope will be named Ambazonia.

Though Cameroon’s school year officially began on Monday, Unicef says that 80 per cent of schools have been shut down in the anglophone region, in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest, many for the past three years. About 600,000 children have been affected, and at least 74 schools destroyed, the agency said.

This is “putting the future of an entire generation of children at risk, children who with the right support and opportunities can build a more stable and prosperous future”, said Unicef spokesman Toby Fricker.

Schools were originally closed in 2016, after anglophone teachers and lawyers began to protest an enforced increase in how much French had to be used in courts and schoolrooms. In the fighting that has escalated since, more than half a million people have been displaced and thousands killed.

Embedded

“Schools have been at the heart of the conflict since it began,” Emmanuel Freudenthal, one of the only journalists who has been embedded with Cameroon’s separatist forces, told The Irish Times.

“For both the state of Cameroon and separatists, the schools have become a symbol to demonstrate their control over the two anglophone regions.

“Nevertheless, the separatists are divided on this question, some arguing that schools should be allowed to function, while others say that the education offered is of low quality and that the yet non-existent country of Ambazonia will offer a schooling, which has not materialised.”

Parents who can afford to have sent their children abroad, Mr Freudenthal said.

On August 20th, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, one of the leaders of the separatist movement, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Cameroon, along with nine others.

This process has been plagued by pre-trial abuses and serious allegations of fair-trial breaches

On Monday, New York-headquartered Human Rights Watch announced that the 10 imprisoned men had lodged an appeal against the convictions.

“It appears that the military court handed down a hasty verdict and sentence without giving the accused any meaningful opportunity to defend themselves,” said Lewis Mudge, Human Rights Watch’s central Africa director. “This process has been plagued by pre-trial abuses and serious allegations of fair-trial breaches that warrant independent and impartial judicial review, which we hope will happen under appeal.”

Torture

The men were arrested in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, in January 2018. According to Human Rights Watch, they were then held without contact for six months, in a Cameroonian detention facility where torture and abuse is believed to be rampant.

The human rights organisation said the evidence used against the men was only shown to them during a 17-hour overnight hearing, which began on August 19th. Defence lawyers said they were not able to challenge it, or even discuss what was presented with their clients, and eventually withdrew from proceedings in protest.

The trial was also carried out in French, according to the organisation, and there was no proper translation for the defendants.

Source: Irish Times

5, September 2019

EU gearing up for potentially disastrous no-deal Brexit ⁰

Once again at the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, all eyes are on TV sets to see how the political turmoil in London will play out. Inside the building the bloc’s 28 commissioners have been meeting to agree on final plans designed to offset the effects of a no-deal Brexit.

But experts say there is no way that businesses heavily dependent on the UK market can prepare for a no-deal scenario. If it happens, and it’s now looking almost certain, then many thousands of jobs will be lost, according to economists. The remaining 27 EU nations will be badly hit but the UK will come off worst, we are told.

However, there is another important statistic for those who claim the United States is the answer to Britain’s looming trade woes. Currently just 15% of UK exports go to the US and according to analysts it would take years for London and Washington to agree on a new trade deal.

It is no secret that EU leaders cannot stand Boris Johnson. They believe his agenda is for the UK to crash out without a deal. At present the EU is standing firm in its position that the Brexit withdrawal agreement, reached with Theresa May, cannot be renegotiated unless credible concrete proposals are presented by Johnson. The EU’s 508 million citizens are waiting to see what happens next.

Source: Presstv

5, September 2019

The Holy Father Pope Francis is in Mozambique ⁰

Thousands of jubilant Catholic faithful on Wednesday welcomed Pope Francis to Mozambique as he kicked off a three-nation tour of African countries, expected to focus on those hard hit by poverty, conflict and natural disaster.

Touching down just after 6:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) Francis was greeted on the tarmac by President Filipe Nyusi, a military band playing the national anthem and a display of traditional dance.

The first pope to visit Mozambique since John Paul II in 1988, he was then whisked away in his popemobile, flanked by police bikes as crowds waved signs reading ‘welcome to Mozambique Prophet of reconciliation” and danced in celebration.

I hope his visit will bring us effective and long lasting peace.

He stood in his popemobile and waved at the thousands of faithfuls who lined up along the fringes of the city’ main streets as he made the five kilometre (three mile) route from the airport to the Nuncio’s residence in the posh Sommerschield suburb, where he will stay during the visit.

Mozambique itinerary

On Friday he will address a mass at the giant Zimpeto stadium in the seaside capital Maputo.

The pope is expected to discuss the country’s fragile peace process, the devastation caused by two back-to-back cyclones early this year, and the upcoming general election.

The three-day visit to Mozambique comes a month after the government signed a historic peace treaty with the former rebel group Renamo, which is now the main opposition party.

The 16-year civil war devastated the former Portuguese colony and Renamo has never completely disarmed.

The pope may also address the issue of extremism in northern Mozambique where jihadist attacks have claimed more than 300 lives over two years.

Expectations of Mozambicans

“I hope his visit will bring us effective and long lasting peace,” said Arnaldo Menezes, a 25-year-old student, referring to the treaty with Renamo.

“We don’t want war anymore. I want to be able to travel freely across the country, even in the north,” he said.

With elections scheduled for October, some fear violence may break out.

“He is coming at a time when we Mozambicans are trying to consolidate peace,” said Manuela Muianga, a biologist and disaster relief manager in the capital, Maputo.

“We Catholics feel that he is a visionary man who can help Mozambique to strengthen hope and make us forget all those things that make us fight against each other. The biggest concern is the fighting between the two parties. I’m sure he will address this,” she said.

The pontiff will only have time to visit Maputo while in Mozambique, much to the disappointment of those in the central city of Beira where Cyclone Idai killed at least 600 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless in March.

“Although I am unable to go beyond the capital, my heart reaches out to all of you, with a special place for those of you who live in difficult situations,” he said in a video message, adding: “You are all in my prayers.”

The capital has been spruced up for the visit, with the government spending 300,000 euros ($330,000) for the trip, according to Foreign Minister Jose Pacheco, including repairs to Maputo’s cathedral and city roads.

Many locals appear happy to splurge on pope-branded regalia.

Twenty-nine-year-old Catarina Simbine showed off a Pope-branded cloth known as a capulana.

“Me and my fellow congregants from Santa Theresa de Calcutta took about six months preparing for his arrival,” she told AFP.

Beatrice Netu, 70, remembered welcoming the pope on his first visit to Mozambique as “one of the biggest privileges of my life”.

“I would not be able to handle it if the Pope came up to us and greeted us or touched my hand here where I am standing in the crowd, I would probably faint!”

Beyond Mozambique

The pope will also visit the large Indian Ocean island of Madagascar and its much smaller and wealthier neighbour Mauritius — both situated off the eastern coast of Africa.

Mozambique and Madagascar are among the world’s poorest countries and Francis’ decision to visit is seen by commentators as an act of solidarity from a cleric who was a frequent presence in the shantytowns of Argentina and is now called the “pope of the poor”.

Source: Africa News

4, September 2019

Francophone Crisis: Military trial for Maurice Kamto starts Friday ⁰

Cameroon’s main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, the runner-up in last year’s presidential election, goes on trial Friday in a military court accused of insurrection, despite a chorus of international protest.

Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroonian opposition party Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), believe he was robbed of victory in last year's presidential election — Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroonian opposition party Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), believe he was robbed of victory in last year’s presidential election

Kamto, together with several dozen of his political allies and supporters, faces charges of insurrection, hostility to the motherland and rebellion, crimes which, in theory at least, could carry the death penalty.

The trial goes ahead despite repeated protests from France, the United States and the European Union, who have been calling for his release from detention for eight months.

Kamto, the head of the opposition Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC), and about 100 party supporters were arrested in late January.

The arrests came after several months of peaceful MRC protests over the October 2018 presidential election, which they say was rigged in favour of President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 36 years.

The crackdown on the opposition caused outrage among rights groups and many western governments.

In March, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Tibor Nagy, told Radio France Internationale that Cameroon would be “very wise” to release Kamto because his detention is widely perceived as politically motivated.

Later the same month, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini criticised the arrests and what she called the military court’s “disproportionate” proceedings against them.

‘Pressure on Biya’

International rights groups have also condemned the action against Kamto and his colleagues, calling for their release.

For Human Rights Watch, the arrests “appear to be a politically motivated move to curtail dissent”. What had happened so far called into question their chances of a fair trial.

France reacted in May, calling for the release of those arrested.

“We know Mr Kamto’s qualities,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters, stressing that they were pressing Biya to release the prisoners.

On Monday, just days ahead of their trial, Biya and his fellow defendants said they were determined to get the truth out in court.

In a letter Monday to the head of the court in Yaounde, they called for full access to the court for the press and public throughout the trial.

“Mr Kamto is full of confidence,” his spokesman Olivier Bibou Nissack told AFP on Tuesday.

His legal team have submitted a list of 31 witnesses to the court, including two ministers, the chief of police and other senior officers in both the police and the army.

The authorities in Cameroon dismiss claims from the defendants and others that this a political trial designed to “decapitate” the opposition MRC.

The MRC had adopted a logic of “provocation and planning for insurrection”, said junior interior minister Paul Atanga Nji.

Source: AFP

4, September 2019

CPDM 419: 300 new mining sites discovered in Cameroon ⁰

Some 300 new mining sites were discovered in Cameroon in the past five years, Cameroon’s Minister of Mining, Industries and Technological Development Gabriel Dodo Ndoke said on Tuesday.

New mines range from gold, zinc, rare earth, uranium, nickel and rutile to manganese, said Ndoke at the 2019 edition of Cameroon International Mining Exhibition and Conference (CIMEC), held from Monday to Wednesday in the capital city, Yaounde.

“The stakes of CIMEC are high given the multi-faceted, short and medium term benefits accruing from investments made and which we wish to attain through the mining and processing of minerals,” Ndoke said.

This year’s expo will feature an exhibition by mining companies and suppliers, speeches and discussions. More than 100 exhibitors will introduce the latest technology and equipment for the mining industry during the three-day expo, according to the organizers.

Source: Xinhuanet

4, September 2019

Cameroon deploys 6th contingent of troops to troubled Central African Republic ⁰

Cameroon on Tuesday sent its sixth contingent of troops to restive Central African Republic (CAR) to join UN peacekeeping forces mission focused on the stabilization and protection of civilian population.

Speaking at a send-off ceremony in the capital city, Yaounde, Cameroon’s Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo highlighted the peace efforts of Cameroonian troops in the CAR.

“Always determined to fulfill its regional and international commitments as concerns collective security in an honorable, decent and effective manner, the troops have provided the CAR with multifaceted support in order to enable the country to get its institutions which have already been damaged for several years now back on its feet,” Assomo said.

The soldiers are to contribute to the return of peace and stability while strictly respecting UN regulation of impartiality and respect for human rights during their mission, the minister said.

According to Assomo, the sixth contingent comprises 750 soldiers and 350 staff members of the National Gendarmerie.

The contingent is part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) which started in 2014 to protect CAR civilians under the UN Charter.

The contingent is taking over from predecessors who spent a year building peace in the war-torn country.

The conflicts still in progress in CAR started in 2013 following a violent takeover of power by the armed group Seleka, meaning coalition in Sango, CAR’s national language.

Source: Xinhuanet

4, September 2019

French Cameroun tyrant Paul Biya hiding in Mvomeka’a ⁰

The Yaoundé tyrant Paul Biya is reportedly hiding in a bunker he built some three hundred kilometers away from his palace in his native village of Mvomeka’s after rumour of a military coup spread like wild fire in the nation’s capital over the week end it’s been claimed.

The despot left Yaoundé by military convoy mounted by his kinsmen in the Francophone dominated army and is holed up at a bunker in the outskirts of his village.

A well placed source hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report that Biya is inside a room receiving treatment from his private doctors who are presently in the country.

Family relations of both President Biya and first lady Chantal Biya are effectively running Cameroon in his absence as he is banned from making phone calls due to ill health. The dictator’s lavish palaces in Yaounde and Mvomeka’a can no longer provide protection to the ailing leader.

Meanwhile members of the Biya family both in Cameroon and abroad have begun hiding the leader’s financial assets alongside those belonging to his wife, Chantal Biya in the hope of protecting the money when he is gone.

Cameroon Intelligence Report informants have tracked the Cameroon military moving two presidential helicopters from their bases in Yaounde to Mvomeka’a.

Thousands of Southern Cameroonians have been killed ever since President Biya declared war against the English speaking community in the country. The Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima said on Monday that a forceful response to the French Cameroun military onslaught was the only way forward as both Yaoundé and the Southern Cameroons Interim Government battle for control over Ambazonia.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai