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20, August 2019

Revealed: President Biya’s role in the Ambazonia leaders trial ⁰

The principle that French Cameroun political elites who are all militants and barons of the ruling CDPM crime syndicate in Yaoundé should not make representations to judges concerning court cases be it in the Yaoundé Military Tribunal or High Courts is a good one that has never been accepted by President Biya ever since he came to power in 1982.

Members of the French Cameroun judiciary pride themselves on their independence. But, because of the nature of their appointments’ system that is done by the head of state Paul Biya, there has been massive political input to decision-making that continues to fuel public suspicion of partiality.

The issue of judicial interference by politicians raised its head once again in the just ended trial of the Southern Cameroons leaders at the Yaoundé Military Tribunal. In the President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the NERA 9 trial, French Cameroun politicians including the 86 years old President Biya all got sucked in.

Last night, President Biya dispatched a special envoy from Mvomeka’a to hand over the verdict he and his Beti-Bulu Council of wise men had written against the Ambazonian leaders. The team from Mvomeka’a got into the court premise at exactly 30 minutes after midnight and hinted the presiding judge Lieutenant Colonel Misse Njone Jacques Baudouine that they had come with a special message for him.

Lieutenant Colonel Misse Njone wrote a short note to the Biya emissary via the court clerk informing him that he would take a look at the document sent by the head of state when the court goes on recess. Our intelligence sources revealed that Biya attached a letter inside the document in which he drew Colonel Misse Njone’s attention to exceptional circumstances in the Ambazonia case.

After a short but bitter debate in their native Beti tongue with Colonel Misse Njone threatening to step down from the case, one of the secretaries to Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh entered the court premise incognito and handed another sealed envelope addressed again to Colonel Misse Njone in which Biya and his gang had settled for a life sentence.

The Ambazonian leaders shouted and started singing in protest to the attitude of the French Cameroun Beti-Bulu judges and soldiers. Rather than listen to the Southern Cameroons leaders and adjourn the case for the Court of Appeals to decide on Recusal, they brought in a massive public address system with amplifiers that were very loud and while the Accused sang for about 7 hours running they called witness after witness till all 4 prosecution witnesses were heard.

The loud speakers blasted the evidence far even beyond the court premises. Even though the Southern Cameroons leaders were all abducted from Abuja, Nigeria and transferred to Yaounde, the French Cameroun judges brought in over 1000 dane guns, spears, machetes, knives allegedly seized from Ambazonia fighters and imposed them on the leaders and admitted it as evidence without their consent.

The sealed envelope from President Biya placed the judges in an uncomfortable position during yesterday’s trial. The judges had to abandon the 6 volumes of documents put together during the trial process, the least of which was about 700 pages and instead read out what was handed to them as coming from the presidency of the republic. The thousands of exhibits against the Ambazonia leaders were ferried out of the court room into a lorry and taken away.

The Francophone judges frustrated the Southern Cameroons lawyers and all of them withdrew from the case and Justice Colonel Misse Njone went ahead with the trial throughout the night till 5.38am in the morning when he handed down the French Cameroun verdict. After Justice Misse Njone read the ridiculous judgment, the Southern Cameroons leader delivered the Ambazonian National Anthem forcing the French Cameroun judges to hurry out of court having accomplished their mission.

President Biya’s involvement was inappropriate and raised the prospect that representations by French Cameroun senior political figures could influence a judicial decision. Foreign investors be aware!!

By Sama Ernest and Rita Akana in Yaounde

20, August 2019

Ivory Coast: Didier Drogba aims for presidency of football federation ⁰

Former Ivorian international Didier Drogba is running for president of the Ivorian Football Federation, FIF; according to local media reports.

The former Chelsea man is reported to have filed his application for elections slated to be held later this year.

The 41-year-old will face competition from among others, a former playing colleague and turned politician Bonaventure Kalou, who was in October 2018 elected mayor of the municipality of Vavoua.

Incumbent president Augustin Sidy Diallo, will be another candidate to beat. He has been in the role since 2011. The final list of candidates should be known in the coming weeks according to reports.

Recently retired Drogba is on record to have voiced ambitions of heading the football federation in the West African country.

“It’s something that interests me: I want to get more involved. I think more and more about it. I know Ivorian football, I have played in selection for years and I invested in Ivorian football lately …

“I have not made my decision yet, but, if all conditions are met, why not?” he said in an interview on French broadcaster, RFI.

Source: Africa News

20, August 2019

Security situation in Northern Ireland expected to deteriorate as no-deal Brexit looms ⁰

Police officers escaped injury after an explosive device detonated in Wattlebridge, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

The bombing appears to have been a highly sophisticated trap involving a telephone warning and a hoax device discovered close to where the actual bomb exploded in a follow-up operation.

Army bomb disposal officers, who were deployed to the area at the weekend, initially declared the item to be a hoax. But, according to multiple reports, another device exploded on the main A3 Cavan Road on the morning of August 19th.

This well-planned attempt at killing and maiming Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and army bomb disposal officers has caused deep worry and anxiety amongst the security establishment in Northern Ireland.

PSNI Deputy Chief Constable, Stephen Martin, said he is of the “firm belief” the attack was designed to “lure” PSNI and army personnel into the area “to murder them”.

According to Martin, there have been five attempts to murder police officers this year and that the adverse security situation is becoming “more entrenched”.

The PSNI, and the broader security establishment in Northern Ireland, have lost no time in attributing the bombing to “dissident republicans”, which is often a reference to two groups, the Continuity IRA and the New IRA.

For their part, mainstream republicans in Sinn Fein have condemned the attack as “totally wrong”.

Sinn Fein MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Michelle Gildernew, said: “Those responsible for this incident have nothing to offer society and need to end these actions immediately”.

This latest bombing occurs against the backdrop of an intensifying political crisis in Northern Ireland.

Power sharing arrangements and devolved government collapsed in January 2017 in the wake of a flawed green-energy scheme.

Furthermore, the looming prospect of a no-deal Brexit, and by extension the return of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, has caused deep anxiety in the nationalist/republican community.

In late July, Sinn Fein President, Mary Lou McDonald, called for an Irish unification referendum in the event of a no-deal Brexit and the return of a hard border.

Source: Presstv

20, August 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Robbing Cameroon of its peace! ⁰

After close to three years, it seems the Yaounde government has learned nothing. The leaders seem to blind to the changes taking place around them. They seem to be stuck in their old mentality of wanting to send home strong messages.

Strong messages no longer threaten Cameroonians, especially the Southern Cameroonian, who has seen his siblings, mother, brother and father killed by trigger-happy soldiers. The Southern Cameroonian loves peace, but not the poisoned gift that was given to his parents in Foumban shortly after independence.

If some Southern Cameroonians have picked up weapons against their own government, it is not because they are a barbaric people or people who do not have any regard for law and order. It is more because they are faced with a government that is indifferent to the sorry plight of its citizens.

The Yaounde government has no regard for its people. Human life does not mean anything to it. Instead of serving their people, Yaounde authorities have been serving themselves using the people’s resources. The large number of ministers and directors that are today languishing in state jails is testimony to the egoism that these officials are noted for.

After three years of intense debates on and challenges to state authority, a selfless and reasonable government that holds national unity and peace so dear to its heart should be reaching out to all the stakeholders in all the crises that are tearing the country apart.

A reliable government should be thinking of the country’s future and its actions should speak to its determination and sincerity to pursue peace and national reconciliation.

But its latest action, that of slamming a life sentence on President Julius Ayuk Tabe and his fellow Southern Cameroonians speaks to the government’s recklessness and determination to pursue a line of action that will instead deepen the crisis in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

After a questionable and sham process, the leaders of the Southern Cameroons struggle have been sent to prison although they were already in hell before the politically motivated decision. This decision will not make things better in the country. Schools will surely not resume. Ghost towns and lockdowns will intensify in the coming days, and justifiably so.

Southern Cameroonian leaders and activists have been given a reason to pursue their own policies and they will do so in the firm belief that they do not have a reliable and peace-loving partner on the other side with whom they can hold a constructive and inclusive dialogue that will lead to sustainable peace in the country.

The Yaounde government has miscalculated on all fronts. It has mismanaged all the crises that are threatening to tear the country apart. While other countries of the word are seeking stability and peace so as to attain sustainable development, the Yaounde government that many Cameroonians hold is a crime syndicate is displaying a lot of irresponsible behavior and this is disturbing to the international community that is tired of calling for an inclusive dialogue to address the crises that are giving the country a very bad name.

President Julius Ayuk Tabe and many of those in jail are the people the population considers as leaders of the struggle. Slamming them with a life sentence only reduces any real chances for dialogue. President Julius Ayuk Tabe is the poster boy of this revolution and he must be at the negotiating table if any real results must be achieved.

Instead of throwing him in jail for life, the Yaounde government should have sought the middle ground as a means of defusing the tensions that have transformed the country into a “blast furnace”.

Cameroonians are going through the toughest moments of their lives. Jobs are scarce and life is a permanent struggle. Decisions like the one that was taken under the cover of darkness only makes the country to look like a ticking time bomb that might go off anytime soon.

The sentencing of Julius Ayuk Tabe in such circumstances does not address any real issue. He has been in jail for a long time and he is already used to his new environment. He is a man with a strong mentality and today’s decision will not break him down.

He has a cult following which makes it hard for the government to celebrate any success. A wise decision would have been to use him to defuse the tensions in the two English-speaking regions of the countries. The government seems to be willing to set a fire to a “tinder box” and the consequences will be catastrophic.

Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla’s message on Facebook aptly captures the mood in the country and it rightly depicts how the country is being managed. “The sentencing of Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe to a life sentence is an affront to due process and the rule of law. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right. The sham process is a reflection of the sham management of the country,” he said.

Today’s decisions are indeed a travesty of justice. The Yaounde government has displayed its reckless for all to see. It does not have the interest of the country at heart. Its cardinal objective is to send home a message strength to a people who are already deaf and frustrated. A message which does not have any legal basis will surely not have the desired impact. If anything, it will simply speak to the numerous accusations Cameroonians have been making against the government.

These unfortunate decisions are robbing the country of the peace it dearly needs at this time. The Southern Cameroons crisis will only deepen and the determined fighters will never drop their weapons. The violence will soon escalate. Many civilians in the two English-speaking regions will lose their lives while many soldiers will sent to the regions will never go back home.

The decisions are indeed a dead sentence to the school year which was already a lightning rod for controversy. If the government cannot show flexibility at this critical moment, how does it expect Southern Cameroonians who have been complaining for more than five decades to be understanding?

This is not the time to score points. This is time to take actions and decisions that can bring peace to Cameroon. The Yaounde government must take a look at its own actions and decisions to see if they are really helping to defuse the tensions in Cameroon. This is the time to show flexibility and any tough stance does not work in the interest of peace.

By Joachim Arrey in Canada

20, August 2019

No deal Brexit will hurt UK more, EU warns ⁰

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday (August 18) that she would meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday (August 21) evening to discuss Britain’s planned departure from the European Union, adding that Berlin was also prepared for a disorderly Brexit.

Johnson is seeking to persuade European Union leaders to reopen Brexit talks or face the prospect of its second-largest member leaving abruptly on Oct. 31 with no deal in place to mitigate the economic shock a move that businesses expect would cause major disruption.

“We are prepared for any outcome, we can say that, even if we do not get an agreement. But at all events I will make an effort to find solutions up until the last day of negotiations,” Merkel said during a panel discussion at the Chancellery.

“I think it’s always better to leave with an agreement than without one. But if that’s not possible, we’ll be prepared for the alternative as well.”

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that Johnson would tell Merkel that the British parliament could not stop Brexit.

(Source: Reuters)

20, August 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Leader given life sentence on separatism charges ⁰

The Yaoundé Military Tribunal has sentenced the prominent leader of Southern Cameroons, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides to life imprisonment for promoting separatism.

It’s the harshest sentence handed out ever since the Ambazonia struggle and quest for independence started many years ago. President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe an IT professor seen as a moderate within the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and his colleagues were kept in the court room till 6 am this morning following a so-called marathon trial that started yesterday the 19^th of August 2019 at exactly 11:30 am.

The French Cameroun military court also ordered the Ambazonia leader and 9 of his cabinet members to pay 250 billion FCFA to La Republique du Cameroun and an additional 12.5 billion cost for civil party.

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was arrested in the Nigerian capital Abuja, along with 9 of his senior aides by a joint operation that included the Cameroonian and Nigerian secret servicemen and women. The Southern Cameroons leaders were transferred from Abuja to Yaoundé, capital of La Republique du Cameroun to face charges of organizing a separatist group.

During his detention, the Ambazonia Interim Government say, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was tortured, denied basic amenities for months and shackled for more than 75 days. The Southern Cameroons leader has long maintained that his goal was to build a Federal Republic of Ambazonia from the suffering and marginalized British Southern Cameroons minority population that was forced into a union with French Cameroun. Yaounde has always said Cameroon remains one and indivisible.

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was denied access to lawyers for the first five months of his detention, rights groups say, and members of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) raided his home in Ewelle village in the Manyu County and killed members of his family.

By Sama Ernest

19, August 2019

Southern Cameroons: Trial of Ambazonia leaders fraught with political baggage ⁰

Yaoundé is still not prepared to launch a campaign that would explain to the world that the trial of the Ambazonia leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his senior aides will be held with total transparency as it unfolds. The Francophone regime headed by 86 years old President Paul Biya has not realize how much is at stake and that they have to do things right.

The whole process of abduction and extradition to Yaoundé from Abuja has discredited both Nigeria and French Cameroun democracies and the Biya Francophone regime as well. The President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the NERA 9 trial is the most politically explosive in modern French and Bristish Cameroons history.

The Ambazonia-French Cameroun trial also reflect how divisive the so-called one and indivisible Cameroonian nation has become : while the Cameroon government and its ageing leadership insist the trial of the Ambazonia leader is an exemplary demonstration of justice in action, the Ambazonian Interim Government has warned it will prove that French Cameroun’s judiciary is not fit for purpose.

Ten prominent leaders of the Ambazonia Interim Government are in the Yaoundé Military Tribunal and the whole trial process has been shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. They could face the death penalty or a jail sentence of up to 25 years if found guilty of charges of terrorism presented by public Francophone prosecutors predominantly from the Beti-Bulu tribal extraction.

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima has warned that the outcome of the trial is a foregone conclusion, because, he claims, the judiciary is controlled by Biya and his French Cameroun political elites who are determined to punish not just an alleged violation of Francophone law but Southern Cameroons nationalism as a whole.

Vice President Dabney Yerima told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the NERA 10 trial is not against a crime, because no crime was committed against French Cameroun. He opined that the Yaoundé Military Tribunal Theater remains a political trial and a prosecution of pro-independence ideology.

Dabney Yerima pointed, for example, to the fact that the NERA 10 have been in Nigeria and French Cameroun custody for more than a year and the Yaounde court keeps changing its trial judges. Another major bone of contention has been the charges themselves particularly that of terrorism, which implies the use of violence, something that President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has always publicly rejected.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

19, August 2019

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: Vice President to address nation tomorrow ⁰

Ambazonia Vice President Dabney Yerima will be addressing Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero tomorrow Tuesday the 20^th of August on the issue of school resumption. Comrade Dabney Yerima is also expected to say that Ambazonians will continue resisting French Cameroun colonization including its economic and political wars in Southern Cameroons.

Mr Dabney Yerima will also speak of the controversial trial of the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides currently going on at the Yaounde Military Tribunal. The VP’s address will be made public live by the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corperation (SCBC)

In a rare public conversation over the week end in Berlin, Vice President Yerima observed that standing and resisting the French Cameroun genocidal campaign in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is the only way forward.

Tensions between the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and the Biya Francophone regime have soared in the past month following Yaounde’s decision to remilitarized Southern Cameroons towns and cities.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

19, August 2019

US: Trump slams Fox News over unfavourable polls ⁰

US President Donald Trump has slammed his preferred news network over its recent poll results.

Trump, who always attacks news media writing against him, claimed on Sunday that Fox had turned against him.

In a poll released on Wednesday, Fox, which is notoriously identified by the public as a supporter of Trump’s policies, revealed that Trump’s disapproval rating had risen to 56 percent following the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which left 31 people dead.

Trump said something wrong was going on at Fox news.

He said he didn’t “believe” the poll results that Fox News had published.

“Fox has changed. My worst polls have always been from Fox,” he claimed.

“There’s something going on at Fox, I’ll tell you right now. And I’m not happy with it,” Trump complained.

Trump said he was of the opinion that the recent disapproval ratings were erroneous. “I think Fox is making a big mistake.”

Trump’s criticisms of Fox News is a small fraction of his unending attacks on the news media. Trump has accused the media of deliberately giving him negative coverage to damage his approval ratings in the run up to the 2020 presidential election. Trump accused US news media of chasing what he called a “racism witch hunt.”

He claimed the US news media were shifting their focus “from their Phony Russian Collusion Narrative (the Mueller Report & his testimony were a total disaster), to a Racism Witch Hunt.”

Source: Presstv

19, August 2019

Filipino, not Chinese, sailors kidnapped off Cameroon ⁰

Most of the sailors kidnapped off the Cameroon coast last week were Filipinos, not Chinese as first reported, according to an official document seen by AFP Sunday.

On Friday, an official in the port of Douala told AFP that 17 crew had been abducted, including “nine Chinese civilian sailors” from one of the two ships attacked, along with Ukrainians.

The attacks took place on Thursday in Cameroonian waters off Douala, located at the apex of a gulf that has become a hotspot of seaborne crime. The port document said instead that “nine hostages, all Filipinos,” were seized from a Greek-owned ship while “eight (three Russians, four Filipinos and a Ukrainian)” were taken from a German-owned vessel.

Noel Choong, head of the information service of the International Maritime Bureau based in Kuala Lumpur, confirmed the figures but said he could not be sure of the nationalities on the second ship.

“The IMB has issued a warning to all ships at Douala. We ask all ships to take additional precautions,” Choong said Friday.

In Moscow, press reports citing the foreign ministry said three of the victims were Russian.

The Gulf of Guinea, whose coastline stretches in a huge arc from Liberia to Gabon, is notorious for piracy as well as oil theft, illegal fishing and human and drugs trafficking.

Source: AFP