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4, May 2019

Boko Haram seizes military base in Nigeria ⁰

Boko Haram Takfiri terrorists have raided and briefly seized a military post in Nigeria’s northeastern province of Borno, stealing weapons before they were forced out, a week after terrorists similarly raided another army outpost in the volatile province.

According to security forces and local residents on Saturday, a column of terrorists in trucks and on motorcycles stormed into a military base in the town of Magumeri, some 50 kilometers from the provincial capital Maiduguri late on Friday.

The Boko Haram terrorists overran the base for several hours, hauling away weapons before they were forced out by army soldiers.

“The terrorists dislodged troops from the base after an intense fight,” AFP quoted an unnamed military officer as saying. “We lost weapons and equipment to the terrorists but it is not clear if there was any human loss,” further said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to pro-government militia leader Gremah Kaka, terrorists came to the town about 5:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and started an hour-long fight with the troops in the base before they “gained the upper hand and chased the troops away.”

He further noted that Boko Haram terrorists overpowered the army soldiers and forced them to flee into the nearby woods, adding that the invaders stayed in the base for “more than four hours” before they were chased away by reinforcements from another base in Gubio, some 46 kilometres from Magumeri.

PressTV-Boko Haram terrorists storm army base in Nigeria

On April 26, Boko Haram terrorists stormed a military outpost in Mararrabar Kimba, some 135 kilometres from Maiduguri, killing five soldiers and stealing weapons, while some 30 troops were listed as missing.

The terror group has since July last year targeted dozens of military bases in attacks that saw the terrorists kill scores of troopers.

Boko Haram’s nine-year militancy is estimated to have killed more than 27,000 people and forced 1.8 million others to flee their homes.

In 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

Source: Presstv

4, May 2019

Closing in on Biya: UN Security Council to hold first meeting on Cameroon ⁰

The UN Security Council will hold a first informal meeting on Cameroon this month to discuss a worsening humanitarian crisis that has left three million people struggling for food.

The United States is organizing the May 13 meeting after persuading African countries on the council to drop their initial reluctance to talks on the two-year separatist conflict in Cameroon’s west.

South Africa, a non-permanent council member, had expressed reservations, arguing that the African Union was leading the international response to the crisis, according to diplomats.

“It’s long past time for the Security Council to address what’s going on in Cameroon, where we’re seeing a devastating humanitarian crisis,” a spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations said Saturday.

“We hope this meeting will draw more attention to this disaster and encourage a more robust regional and international response by member states, the UN, and civil society in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating even further.”

Cameroon is wracked by a conflict between separatists and government forces in its English-speaking west, combined with an influx of refugees from the Central African Republic and Nigeria.

More than one in six people in Cameroon — 4.3 million — need humanitarian aid, an increase of 30 percent from 2018, according to UN aid officials.

The meeting will have a particular focus on the separatist conflict, according to a note sent by the US to the council on Friday and seen by AFP.

More than 560,000 people have been driven from their homes since 2017 including 32,000 who have fled to Nigeria, the note said.

– Starving children –

Rights groups have accused the United Nations of ignoring the conflict in Cameroon, where separatists in English-speaking regions are pushing for independence from the majority French-speaking country.

The government has responded with a crackdown, deploying thousands of soldiers.

More than 200 members of the security forces and at least 500 civilians have been killed, according to figures from the International Crisis Group think-tank.

Cameroon is also reeling from the spillover violence in neighboring Nigeria, which is battling Boko Haram insurgents and from ongoing turmoil in the Central African Republic.

Three million people are in need of food aid, tens of thousands of children are out of school and 220,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the US note.

In February, the government and aid groups launched an appeal for $299 million to fund humanitarian needs, but only 11 percent of that amount has been raised.

“Cameroon has not witnessed a humanitarian emergency at such a scale, and the causes of the different crises are but intensifying,” said the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Cameroon Allegra Baiocchi in late April.

Source: Daily Mail

4, May 2019

Congo Ebola deaths to surpass 1,000, as new vaccine planned ⁰

Congo’s Ebola epidemic is expected to continue spreading though the country’s east, where it has killed 1,000 since August and sparked mistrust and frequent attacks on medical centers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The WHO plans to expand vaccination in that part of Democratic Republic of Congo in coming weeks once a new treatment by Johnson & Johnson is approved. It is already using another experimental vaccine made by Merck .

Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said vaccine supplies were plentiful, but accessing target communities to administer them and treat patients was being hampered by hostility towards medical staff.

Security incidents continued to plague efforts to halt the outbreak, with 119 documented attacks since January, he said.

As a result, “we are anticipating a scenario of continued intense transmission,” Ryan told a news briefing.

“We haven’t exceeded the 1,000 (deaths) as of this morning but we will likely exceed that today when we see the numbers later this evening… You want to use every tool in the box.”

The Merck vaccine will still be used in ‘ring vaccination’ of people exposed to the virus and their contacts, he said. But WHO was also studying use of a single dose to stretch supplies, an option experts would review on Monday.

More than 100,000 people have been vaccinated so far, and the treatment has been highly effective, WHO says.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be deployed outside the rings in surrounding areas to protect people from infection, “as a way of laying down a barrier to the virus”, Ryan said.

PressTV-DR Congo’s worst Ebola outbreak kills over 200: Officials

Militiamen attacked a hospital treating Ebola patients two weeks ago, killing a senior WHO epidemiologist and wounding two others, officials said at the time.

The attacks curtail humanitarian access, slowing efforts to vaccinate more than 900 people a day as well as daily checks on some 12,000 people potentially exposed to the virus, Ryan said.

“We still face major issues of community acceptance and trust,” he said.

There was an attempted assault on an Ebola treatment facility in Butembo on Thursday, he said, adding that nobody was injured and the assailants were captured.

(Source: Reuters)

4, May 2019

Southern Cameroons War: Wisconsin Franciscans raise awareness ⁰

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration’s call to address the political and humanitarian crisis in Cameroon drew about 100 people to a town hall meeting and more than 1,000 viewers online. The April 25 event in La Crosse, Wisconsin, specifically addressed the crisis in Kumba, a sister city to La Crosse, but all of Cameroon is suffering, officials said.

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration formed a relationship with the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis of Cameroon in the 1990s. The relationship grew into the Franciscan Common Venture, a formal partnership with the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi of Milwaukee and the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist of Meriden, Connecticut, that has lasted two decades.

“When you’ve walked together for 20 years and you hear someone you love cry in pain, you can’t help but respond,” Sister Eileen McKenzie, president of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, told the crowd.

La Crosse Friends of Cameroon is the civic group that maintains the sister-city relationship with Kumba. Its chairman, Lee Rasch, told the town hall that the sisters’ and sister-city relationship with Kumba has grown to include projects with other civic groups such as the Rotary Club and led to efforts to improve access to dental care and education and create mobile libraries.

“Friends don’t walk away from friends in a time of need,” Rasch said.

The need is great: Hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in Cameroon since 2016, when tensions rose between the French-speaking majority and the English-speaking minority.

Homes and businesses have been burned, Rasch said, and food production is projected to be 20 percent of what it was before the crisis, leading to fears of famine.

Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisconsin, said the conditions in Cameroon are dire. Kind co-sponsored a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives condemning the violence, but the legislative term ended before it could be heard. He said it will be reintroduced this session.

“What you heard today are classic gradations of genocide,” Kind said. “It’s a call to action for all humanity.”

Kind said while Cameroon “may seem like a million miles away” from Wisconsin, what happens there affects everyone.

“When there’s human rights abuses, when there’s suffering and oppression, there’s death and mass rape, there’s ethnic cleansing, when there’s cultural and heritage attacks, it diminishes our entire humanity,” Kind said. “As long as I have a voice in the United States Congress, I’m going to use it.”

The U.S. has been slow to condemn the violence, Kind said, because Cameroon is an ally against the terror group Boko Haram, but sanctions have been announced in the form of a $17 million reduction in military aid to Cameroonian security forces.

“We will not ignore the situation,” Kind said.

Officials urged town hall participants and viewers to contact their representatives to urge action to end the violence. The gathering ended with traditional Cameroonian music and dance.

Source: Global Sister Report

4, May 2019

French Cameroun soldiers have killed close to 2000 in Southern Cameroons ⁰

At least 1,850 Southern Cameroonians have been killed and 530,000 internally displaced and tens of thousands of refugees registered in the past 20 months as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons, Brussels-based International Crisis Group has revealed.

In its latest report published on Thursday May 2, the International Crisis Group pointed out that there is no dialogue between the government of Cameroon and the separatists, who are both refusing to give ground: the government is counting on a military victory and refuses to discuss the form of the state; the separatists demand independence.

The intransigence of the belligerents threatens to generate further violence and prolong the conflict, which neither can win in the short term, the Crisis Group added.

The group has thus called on Cameroonians and other international actors to encourage both sides in the conflict to make concessions and sanction those who will stand in the way of dialogue.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

4, May 2019

Ambazonia War: IMF Doles Out Another $77 Million No Mentions of Killings By Biya Who Lives in Geneva On Cash ⁰

The IMF is doling out another $77 million to Biya’s government without mentioning his killings in SW and NW nor that he lives, on the cash, in Geneva. Here is the announcement; “An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Ms. Corinne Deléchat, visited Yaoundé during April 23—May 3, 2019 to conduct discussions on the fourth review of the program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF)[1] that was approved in June 2017 . At the conclusion of this visit, Ms. Deléchat issued the following statement: “The IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the authorities on economic and financial policies that could support approval of the fourth review of their three-year program under the ECF.

The IMF Executive Board could consider the fourth review in late June 2019. The completion of the fourth review would enable a fifth disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$ 76.5 million). “Overall economic growth is estimated to have reached 4 percent in 2018, from 3.5 percent in 2017, mostly owing to a lower contraction in the oil and gas sector than anticipated. Non-oil activity is estimated to have remained robust at 4.4 percent in 2018, driven by projects related to the African Cup of Nations (CAN), strong external demand for forestry products and expanding financial services. Inflation remains low but is trending up from 0.8 percent in 2017 to 2.3 percent in March 2019 (y/y) mainly owing to higher food prices and with strong regional variations.

Budget execution in 2018 was broadly as envisaged under the program, but with stronger-than-envisaged revenue mobilization and higher expenditures, notably on public investment. In spite of ample financing, government net deposits at the BEAC declined by 0.5 percent of GDP as the authorities made large payments during the last quarter on unexecuted payment orders of previous years. Structural reforms are moving ahead, albeit with slower progress on already-delayed structural benchmarks in the financial sector. “ The authorities are reprofiling the 2019 budget to take into account higher projected revenue and fully incorporate spending needs related to the forthcoming elections and fuel subsidies, while keeping the overall deficit anchored at 2 percent of GDP .

The revised budget also allows for accelerated implementation of ongoing foreign-financed investment projects based on a well-prioritized disbursement plan. In turn, higher external financing will allow the rebuilding of fiscal buffers and payment of the expenditure float accumulated at end-2018. The authorities continue to strengthen transparency and controls in budget implementation. Resort to exceptional spending procedures will decline and a decree establishing a budget calendar including a reduction of the complementary period to one month will be adopted. The laws transposing the four remaining CEMAC Directives on public financial management are being finalized.” “The medium-term outlook remains positive, with growth expected to gradually increase to 4.2 percent in 2019 owing to higher projected oil production. Finalization of the projects related to the 2021 CAN and coming on stream of large energy and transport infrastructure projects should boost medium-term growth to about 5-5 ½ percent of GDP. Fiscal consolidation over 2019-21, together with enhanced foreign exchange repatriation will support a continued rebuilding of BEAC reserves. Structural reforms to increase investment efficiency, reduce contingent liabilities of public enterprises and support private sector development will support the growth outlook going forward.

“The team met with Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, Minister of State Secretary General at the Presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister of Finance Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development Alamine Ousmane Mey, BEAC Governor Mahamat Abbas Tolli, BEAC National Director Jean-Marie Mani, and other senior officials. The mission also met representatives of the diplomatic and donor communities.” “The team wishes to thank the Cameroonian authorities for their hospitality, cooperation, and the constructive dialogue.'” We’ll have more on this. On December 17 the International Monetary Fund announced more money to Paul Biya’s government, while not answering Inner City Press question about Biya losing the African Cup of Nations on which the IMF relied. The December 17 announcement: “The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the third review of the arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement for Cameroon. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$76.3 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR317.4 million (about US$438.9 million).

In completing the third review, the Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for a waiver for the non-observance of the performance criterion on the ceiling on net BEAC financing and the modification of two performance criteria pertaining to the ceiling on net borrowing of the central government from the central bank, excluding IMF financing, and the continuous performance criterion on new non-concessional external debt contracted or guaranteed by the government.

Cameroon’s three-year arrangement for SDR 483 million (about US$667,8 million, or 175 percent of Cameroon’s quota), was approved on June 26, 2017 (see Press Release No.17/248 ). It aims at supporting the country’s efforts to restore external and fiscal sustainability and lay the foundations for sustainable, inclusive and private sector-led growth.

Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, made the following statement:

“Cameroon’s performance under its ECF-supported program is broadly satisfactory. Most end-June 2018 targets have been met and structural reforms have advanced, with completion of key delayed financial sector reforms.

“The authorities remain committed to the concerted regional effort to rebuild CEMAC’s fiscal and external buffers. To that end, addressing revenue shortfalls and containing investment spending will be key to reaching the 2018 deficit target. Steadfast implementation of the 2019 budget, including measures to mobilize non-oil revenue by gradually removing exemptions and further spending rationalization will be essential to mitigate the risks from the challenging security situation, increasing commodity price volatility and other shocks to growth.

“Public external debt has increased rapidly in 2018, mainly owing to faster-than-envisaged disbursements of foreign project loans. Strictly limiting new non-concessional borrowing and addressing the stock of contracted but undisbursed loans are essential to maintain debt sustainability. Gradual adjustments in administered prices would help reduce subsidies and restore the financial viability of key public utility companies, while lowering risks from contingent liabilities.

“Financial sector reforms should continue to advance, including effective resolution of ailing banks and reduction of overdue loans. Other structural reforms should focus on tackling governance issues and improving the business environment to support private investment and enhance competitiveness.

“Cameroon’s program continues to be supported by the implementation of supportive policies and reforms by the regional institutions in the areas of foreign exchange regulations and monetary policy framework and to support an increase in regional net foreign assets, which are critical to the program’s success.” Inner City Press last week – when the IMF did answer it on Yemen and Haiti – asked, “On Cameroon, gives the IMF’s references and reliance on the 2019 African Cup of Nations (CAF) football tournament which has now on November 30 been stripped from the country, what is the IMF’s comment and modified estimates on this development in Cameroon and the IMF’s program there?” We are still waiting, as as the IMF on December 17 answered when Inner City Press asked, ” I wanted to ask for IMF’s response, if you can, to this sent to Inner City Press from South Africa, that for her visit here there are no public events scheduled (?), and an information void? Substantively, does the IMF have a view of these loans / trends:

· in 2013, $5 billion from the China Development Bank, mainly for Transnet’s purchase of imported infrastructure inputs, especially for corrupt port-petrochemical expansion in Durban and a coal export rail line to Richards Bay (billions of rands were illicitly directed via China South Rail to the Gupta empire); and

· in 2016, $5 billion again from the China Development Bank, mainly for Eskom’s other coal-fired mega-generator, Kusile, initially arranged by Molefe and renewed at the BRICS Sandton summit last July.” The IMF answered, “Dear Matthew, Thank you for your question. Please be advised that Ms. Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, will hold a press briefing with Mr. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Banks, on Wednesday at 4 pm SA time (SARB premises). You will receive a media advisory tomorrow with further details.” Watch this site. Back in October the IMF published this blithe report on Cameroon: “An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Ms. Corinne Deléchat, visited Yaoundé during November 5-13, 2018 to conduct discussions on the third review of the program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) that was approved in June 2017.

At the end of this visit, Ms. Deléchat issued the following statement:
“The IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the authorities on economic and financial policies that could support approval of the third review of their three-year program under the ECF. The IMF Executive Board could consider the third review in mid-December 2018.

Source: Inner Press

4, May 2019

Remembering Cameroon’s prisoners on World Press Freedom Day ⁰

On this World Press Freedom Day, the Committee to Protect Journalists is highlighting four cases of reporters who remain in prison in Cameroon, a destabilized and increasingly repressive nation led for nearly four decades by President Paul Biya.

What began in October 2016 as peaceful protests led by professionals seeking equal treatment in the West African nation’s English-speaking regions has, for many, become a full-blown Anglophone separatist crisis. That’s come with a crackdown on opposition political leaders, journalists and civil society actors.

Among them is Mancho Bibixy, a former radio broadcaster in Bamenda who was sentenced in military courts to 15 years in prison in May 2018.

Bibixy was arrested after making a public speech from inside a coffin in November 2016 to call attention to the Biya administration’s violent response to Anglophone protesters, and the mass detentions in which he too was swept up. He was harassed for weeks over his radio show content and Facebook posts before he was permanently held in prison in June 2017.

He was found guilty of terrorism, secession, insurrection and other serious charges, along with journalists Tsi Conrad, Thomas Awah Jr. and other defendants.

Bibixy also worked as a teacher in Bamenda, and was among the earliest figures associated with the outlawed Anglophone Civil Society Consortium to be silenced. His concern for his fellow detainees led Bibixy to launch a hunger strike in 2017, and his cause united Cameroonian Anglophones against a Biya regime that refused meaningful dialogue and negotiation to end the crisis.

The fourth journalist, Amadou Vamoulké, worked for state-owned CRTV and was arrested in July 2016.

“The official reason for his arrest is a pretext for trying to silence journalists in Cameroon,” said his lawyer. “Amadou never accepted as black what he knew was white.”

Source: Africa Times

3, May 2019

US alarmed as China flexes military muscle with bases ⁰

The United States has expressed disquiet over Chinese increasing military activities, including the deployment of submarines to the Arctic Ocean as well as the construction of military bases around the world.

The US Defense Department released a report on Thursday, saying Beijing was planning to add military bases around the world to protect its investments in its trillion-dollar project, known as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The initiative would reinvent the ancient Silk Road to connect Asia to Europe and Africa through massive investments in maritime, road and rail projects for international trade in an effort to counter US unilateralism and protectionist policies.

PressTV-Xi, Putin slam US protectionism, urge Silk Road alliance

The US report said China, which currently has just one overseas military base in Djibouti, is believed to be planning others, including possibly in Pakistan, as it seeks to project itself as a global superpower.

“China will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,” it said.

The report also said the target locations for such bases could include the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the western Pacific.

The report was issued as Beijing and Washington are locked in dispute over US military presence in resource-rich South China Sea.

The US has been taking sides with several of China’s neighbors in their territorial disputes in the busy sea, stepping up military presence under the pretext of freedom of navigation operations in international waters.

China has constantly warned Washington that close military encounters by air and naval forces of the two countries in the region could easily trigger miscalculation or even accidents at sea or in air.

‘China’s activities reaching the Arctic’

The Pentagon report noted that China has been accelerating military activities in the Arctic as well.

“Civilian research could support a strengthened Chinese military presence in the Arctic Ocean, which could include deploying submarines to the region as a deterrent against nuclear attacks,” the report said.

“The speed of growth of the submarine force has slowed and (it) will likely grow to between 65 and 70 submarines by 2020,” the report predicted.

The eight-nation Arctic Council will convene a meeting in Rovaniemi, Finland on Monday with the presence of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the Chinese military presence in the region.

The expansion of submarine forces is just one element of China’s broad and costly modernization of its military, according to US experts, who believe the move is largely aimed at deterring any action by US armed forces.

The Pentagon assessment also mentioned Beijing’s military actives in Taiwan, the self-ruled island, over which Beijing asserts sovereignty.

China and Taiwan split amid a civil war in 1949, but Beijing’s leadership pursues their reunification.

In 1979, the US adopted the “One China” policy, but under the administration of US President Donald Trump, it has courted Taipei in an attempt to counter China.

PressTV-US defies China, sends warships to Taiwan Strait again

Earlier this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech that China reserved the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, but would strive to achieve peaceful “reunification.”

Beijing has accused Washington of making “a series of moves” on Taiwan and “other issues” that harm China’s sovereignty.

The self-ruled island is only one of a growing number of sticking points in the US-China relationship, which also include a trade war initiated by the US as well as an aggressive campaign it launched against Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

Last year Trump signed a bill, which bans federal agencies and their contractors from purchasing Huawei’s equipment and services over the accusation that the Chinese government uses the company’s 5G (fifth generation) networks to spy on other countries.

Huawei has filed a lawsuit against the law calling the bans unconstitutional.

Source: Presstv

3, May 2019

Southern Cameroons War: Donations pour in after Sako’s dismissal ⁰

A total of 27 000 dollars has already been donated by Southern Cameroonians and several prominent elites in the Diaspora towards relief efforts in Ground Zero. The donations were made to the Ambazonia Interim Government after President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe dissolved the caretaker cabinet that was headed by the disgraced Dr Samuel Ikome Sako.

A well placed source deep within the treasury department who sued for anonymity told Cameroon Concord News Group that, money has started coming in from Ambazonians and President Ayuk Tabe is expected to set a deadline for the funds to be disbursed to needy Ambazonians back in the territory.

The Southern Cameroons leader held an emergency meeting with top aides of the Interim Government from his prison cell on Wednesday dedicated to the Sako Financial Scandal Response. Our source in the US told Cameroon Concord News that that 27 000 dollars has been raised so far and the figure is expected to rise within the coming days.

Contributors include accomplished Southern Cameroonians in Europe, the US and stake holders. Pro Sako Ikome comedians attempted to sabotage the President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe decree saying it was a Milan Atam diabolic harsh ploy to stifle the Ambazonian revolution and quest for independence.

However, we understand President Ayuk Tabe took the decision following evidence of huge financial misappropriation and fraud in the Samuel Ikom Sako regime. Speaking exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, President Ayuk Tabe revealed that he and his team now have details of all Southern Cameroons detainees in French Cameroun jails.

The leader further pointed out that the humanitarian situation in Ground Zero is horrible and that he recently with the help of the Roman Catholic Church got 7 lawyers to defend a group of Southern Cameroons detainees in the Douala High Court. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe hinted that the Southern Cameroons Interim Government will continue to gather donations and the IG is already setting up a special office to deal with medical supplies to Ambazonians living in the forest.

Some criticism has already surfaced among those in the USA who say President Ayuk Tabe should not be allowed to govern from his detention cell at the Kondengui prison.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

3, May 2019

The Ambazonia-French Cameroun crisis: April 2019 update ⁰

Relations between the largely Anglophone regions of Cameroon and the country’s dominant Francophone elite have long been fraught. Over the past three years, tensions have escalated seriously and since October 2017 violent conflict has erupted between armed separatist groups and the security forces, with both sides being accused of committing human rights abuses.

The tensions originate in a complex and contested decolonisation process in the late-1950s and early-1960s, in which Britain, as one of the colonial powers, was heavily involved. Federal arrangements were scrapped in 1972 by a Francophone-dominated central government.

Many English-speaking Cameroonians have long complained that they are politically, economically and linguistically marginalised. Some have called for full independence for the Anglophone regions.

The trigger for the current crisis was the appointment of French-educated judges to courts in the English-speaking regions. Local lawyers demanded their removal and the restoration of a federal system of government.

By the end of 2016, local teachers and lawyers had launched a campaign of strikes and demonstrations. University students and other activists began to get involved too. The security forces responded heavy-handedly. The Internet and all educational institutions were closed down.

Tensions remained high during the first half of 2017. Then, on 1 October 2017, the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon’s independence from the UK, Anglophone separatists unilaterally declared independence. Mass demonstrations were met with force. Amnesty International estimated that at least 17 people were killed in the clashes.

Since then, numerous armed separatist groups have emerged and begun a violent campaign for independence. The security forces have responded in kind. Both sides stand accused of committing serious human rights abuses. Ordinary civilians are often caught in the middle – at least 500 have reportedly died. More than 400,000 people have been displaced, with over 30,000 crossing into Nigeria. There have also been reports of clashes between rival armed separatist groups.

Seriously flawed presidential elections took place in Cameroon in October 2018. 85 year-old president Paul Biya, who has been in office since 1982, sought re-election and won again. The runner-up, Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), who had expressed sympathy for some Anglophone grievances, disputed the result and claimed victory. He called for peaceful protests.

Despite a heavy security clampdown, there was a mass boycott of the vote in the Anglophone regions. This was the main reason why Joshua Osih, the candidate of the party which traditionally has garnered most support in the Anglophone regions, the Social Democratic Front, finished fourth.

There has so far been no improvement in the situation during 2019. If anything, levels of violence have increased. In a report issued on 28 March, Human Rights Watch said that since October “at least 170 civilians have been killed in over 220 incidents in the North-West and South-West regions.”

Protests called by the MRC took place in several cities in January 2019. Then on 28 January, Kamto and other leaders of the MRC were arrested , leading to more protests. In mid-February he and 130 of his supporters were charged by a military court with rebellion, insurrection and “hostility to the Fatherland”. In April, the authorities banned some planned MRC demonstrations.

So, what are the prospects? The outlook looks bleak. Although international engagement on the Anglophone Cameroon crisis has gradually increased, there are no signs currently that this will produce a change of stance on the part of either the Cameroon government or the armed separatists. Mediation efforts by the Catholic Church have so far led nowhere.

It is impossible to say how many people in the two Anglophone regions support secession. Some might still be satisfied by a return to meaningful federalism. But there is no indication that the central government is willing to consider restoring anything approaching federalism. Cosmetic measures remain the order of the day.

Official intransigence appears to be strengthening the hands of the secessionists. There are serious tensions between some of the different armed separatist groups involved on the ground, which further complicates the prospects for a peaceful settlement further down the line.

Source: Researchbriefings