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26, December 2023

War in Southern Cameroons likely to continue through at least mid-2024 ⁰

Separatist activism is likely to continue in the Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon through at least mid-2024. An explosive device detonated in Bamenda, Northwest Region, on Dec. 25, without casualties reported. Previously, suspected Ambazonia secessionist militants raided a market in Bamenyam, West Region, a locality bordering the Norwest Region, on Nov. 21, killing at least nine residents and kidnapping an unspecified number. A similar attack in Mamfe, Southwest Region, left at least 20 civilians dead in early November.

The threat of violence remains elevated in the English-speaking regions as various armed groups continue to call for secession, highlighting the dangers for those operating or traveling in western Cameroon. The situation has remained tense since October 2017, when secessionists unilaterally proclaimed the independence of the so-called state of Ambazonia, which is unrecognized internationally. Human Rights Watch estimates that about 6000 civilians have died, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced due to armed forces and separatist-linked violence since late 2016.

Security-related operations are ongoing. Checkpoints and searches of vehicles and personnel are likely, particularly outside major cities such as Buea (Southwest) and Bamenda (Northwest). Authorities may enact temporary security measures such as curfews and telecommunication restrictions without notice in the event of significant violence or unrest.

Source: Crisis24.garda

26, December 2023

Federal Republic of Ambazonia: President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s speech designed for reconciliation ⁰

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024, to the Valiant people of Ambazonia

The feel of the Season is once more upon us. The glory of the Lord has manifested itself one more time, through another year. Twelve months have blown past us and it feels like yesterday. It is difficult for me to say this, especially given where we were this time last year. The circumstances we find ourselves may be trying and tempting but we remain hopeful.

When so many around us are burdened with fear and uncertainty, I invite you to make room for the brothers & sisters who now are struggling to understand the ultimate reason for our fight, for the liberation and independence of our people. No gifts will mean as much as acts of pure love that you offer to the rejected, the worn down and the weary. Please notice and take care of the needy of the struggle.

We have watched the days turn into weeks, months, and years. It is understandable for some to count these years as lost time and lost opportunities. But we have chosen to quantify and qualify these days, weeks, months, and years in terms of our determination and commitment to our cause of freedom and liberty. We are on a quest for the unique feeling of belonging to a homeland wherein all are valued and dear ones can strive to bring out the best in themselves. This is the feeling of ultimate happiness that only the certainty of our fatherland can produce. We are fighting to give our children and theirs a nation that they can call their own; something which none of us now can say within LRC.

As we look forward to spending the sixth and seventh Christmas in the pursuit of this unique endeavor, we should take time to contemplate not only on the purpose but also on the course of our journey. For our purpose, I can assure you that it has never been clearer and brighter. For the course, we remain steadier, sturdier and more resolute than ever.

Now, to each member of our fight for freedom I say: Stay on the covenant path. Whether you are moving along the path or have slipped from it or you can’t see the path from where you are, I plead with you to remain steadfast. Your commitment to doing what is right, by making covenants with our people and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing available to the people of Ambazonia.

Amid the internal division, sibling-rivalry, confusion, power-tussle and contradictions, we need to work tirelessly and ceaselessly to build bridges of understanding rather than creating walls of further division and internal conflict. More than ever before, we need unity of purpose. I plead with us all to work together for peace, for mutual respect and for an outpouring of love for all of Ambazonia’s children.

With this joyful hope and an abundant spirit of gratitude, I join hands with our mothers & fathers, all Prisoners of Conscience & War, and all Ambazonians to wish you the best in this very festive season, full of cheer and blessing. In this same spirit, I pledge and recommit myself to you, to the fight for Homeland and for the freedom and liberation of Ambazonia. With this spirit and in this spirit, I extend my appreciation & gratitude for all what you have been doing, for all that you have done and for what you will continue to do and be for the people of Ambazonia. The foot-of-the-mountain (Buea) beacons at the near horizon.

Sisiku AyukTabe

Kondengui Principal Prison, Yaoundé.

25, December 2023

Blast rocks market in Bamenda on Christmas Day with no casualties ⁰

An improvised explosive device exploded on Christmas Day morning in Bamenda, the chief town of Cameroon’s Anglophone region of Northwest that has been ravaged by years of armed separatist conflict, several local and security sources said.

The blast struck a market in the T-Junction neighborhood of the city, setting three makeshift shops ablaze, a security source said. “Fortunately the market closed for today, and that is why there were no casualties or injuries.”

“We heard the explosion sound. It was so loud and the sound caused panic among residents,” James Mbah, a resident of the city, told Xinhua over the phone.

Last week, separatist fighters warned that Christmas would not be celebrated in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest because the feast falls on Monday, which has been imposed by them since 2017 as “ghost town day” during which all sorts of activities in the two regions do not function.

“We are all spending Christmas at home. The streets are empty and people are just afraid of the unknown and don’t want to step out,” Mbah said.

On Sunday, the region’s governor Adolphe Lele L’Afrique said extra security would be provided to churches and other places of worship because of Christmas.

“Our brave security forces will ensure the safety and security of everyone so that they can celebrate Christmas in peace. People need to collaborate with security forces as well,” the official told reporters after a security meeting in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.

Clashes between separatist fighters and government forces intensified in the regions since the start of this year. According to reports by local non-governmental organizations and security officials, abductions were rife, and more than 100 people including soldiers, separatist fighters and civilians have been killed in the conflict since January 2023.

Source: Xinhuanet

24, December 2023

Catholic Bishops in Cameroon reject Pope Francis’ new stance on Homosexuality ⁰

The National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) has reaffirmed its stance on sexuality that marriage is between a man and a woman.

This comes after Pope Francis, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, recently allowed priests to bless same-sex couples.

According to a document issued by the Vatican recently, Pope Francis said priests should be permitted to bless same-sex and “irregular” couples, under certain circumstances.

However, in a statement issued on 21 December, the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Cameroon) denounced the new position announced by Pope Francis, saying homosexuality is an abomination. Read the statement:

DECLARATION OF THE BISHOPS OF CAMEROON ON HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BLESSING OF “HOMOSEXUAL COUPLES”

Faced with the semantic abuses designed to distort the value of realities and the true meaning of the notions of family, couple, spouse, sexuality and marriage;

Faced with the wave of indignation, questioning and concern that the Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” on the question of the blessing of same-sex couples has aroused among the people of God;

For the sake of human dignity and the salvation of all humanity in Jesus Christ; We, the Bishops of Cameroon, unanimously declare the following on the subject of homosexuality and the blessing of “homosexual couples”:

1. In conformity with our 2013 Declaration on Homosexuality, we strongly reaffirm the truth of the Church, Mother and Educator, which teaches the sacredness of the sexual identity of man and woman created in the image of God (Gn 1:26), of the dignity of their sexuality and of marriage which is the foundation of the family. The human person is created male and female: “Male and female he created them” (Gn 1:26). This invariable difference, which is the foundation of their relationship and their complementarity, is fulfilled in the bonds of marriage.

2. Homosexuality falsifies and corrupts human anthropology and trivialises sexuality, marriage and the family, the foundations of society. In the African culture, this practice is not part of family and social values. It is a flagrant violation of the heritage bequeathed to us by our ancestors. In the history of people, the practice of homosexuality has never led to societal evolution but is a clear sign of the imploding decadence of civilizations. Homosexuality sets humanity against itself and destroys it.

3. The profound identity of sexuality is misunderstood, hijacked and perverted outside the conjugal relationship between man and woman. Consequently, homosexual acts are not “sexual”, but “acts against nature” (Rm 1, 26).

4. Marriage is an institution that legitimizes sexual relations and procreation for the foundation of a new family. It is the union of a man and a woman who commit themselves to the life of a couple, to find a family and to live together in love. Homosexual unions are not marriages. They distort the meaning of marriage by reducing it to a sterile, pleasure-seeking and perverse bond: “infamy between man and man” (Rom 1:26).

5. Homosexuality is not a human right. It is an alienation that seriously harms humanity because it is not based on any value proper to the human being: it is a dehumanization of love, “an abomination”. (Lev, 18, 22). Rejecting it is in no way being discriminative; it is a legitimate protection of the constant values of humanity in the face of a vice that has become the subject of a claim to legal recognition and, today, the subject of a blessing.

6. Literally, “To bless is to speak well of”. And to “speak well of” to gain grace through the gesture of blessing a “homosexual couple” would be tantamount to encouraging a choice and a practice of life that cannot be recognised as being objectively ordered to the revealed designs of God. What is more, differentiating between liturgical and non-liturgical contexts to apply the blessing to same-sex “couples” is hypocritical. The act of blessing, whether performed in a liturgical assembly or in private, remains a blessing. We therefore declare non-compliant any form of blessing, public or private, that tends to recognize “same-sex couples” as a state of life.

7. Faithful to the constant teaching of Ecclesial Tradition which declares acts of homosexuality intrinsically disordered and contrary to the natural law (Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 2357), we, the Bishops of Cameroon, reiterate our disapproval of homosexuality and homosexual unions.

8. Consequently, we formally forbid all blessings of “homosexual couples” in the Church of Cameroon.

9. Since God does not want the death of the sinner, but his/her conversion to eternal life, we recommend those who are inclined to homosexuality to the prayers and compassion of the Church, with a view to their radical conversion. We also invite them to turn away from their mentality of victimization in which they take pleasure in considering themselves as “victims”, “weak”, and “minorities”; to seize the opportunity for conversion that God gives them in the many exhortations of His Word.

The statement was signed by Andrew Fuanya Nkea, who is the Archbishop of Bamenda and President of National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon

24, December 2023

Gaza War: Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel paying ‘heavy price’ ⁰

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Gaza war has come at a “very heavy price” for his side.

The military says 14 more soldiers have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Friday, bringing the total of the ground assault to 153.

Saturday was one of its deadliest days – but Mr Netanyahu said his forces had “no choice” but to keep fighting.

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza – run by Hamas – says another 166 people were killed in the last day.

More than 20,000 people have been killed – mostly women and children, and 54,000 injured in Gaza since 7 October, the ministry says.

Source: BBC

24, December 2023

Bethlehem deserted, Christmas celebrations suspended over Israel-Hamas war ⁰

The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war. The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists who gather each year to mark the holiday.

The gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, although a few did once the rain had stopped pouring down. There were few visitors, however.

“This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there’s just darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.

He said he always comes to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering, as he gazed at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the hundreds of children killed in the fighting in Gaza. Barbed wire surrounded the scene, the grey rubble reflecting none of the joyous lights and bursts of color that normally fill the square during the Christmas season.

“We can’t justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, when some people (in Gaza) don’t even have houses to go to,” said Ala’a Salameh, one of the owners of Afteem Restaurant, a family-owned falafel restaurant just steps from the square.

Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. “Normally, you can’t find a single chair to sit, we’re full from morning till midnight,” said Salameh. This year, just one table was taken, by journalists taking a break from the rain.

Salameh said his restaurant was operating at about 15% of normal business and wasn’t able to cover operating costs. He estimated that even after the war ends, it will take another year for tourism to return to Bethlehem as normal.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town’s economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all of that during the Christmas season.

With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.

Over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel’s air and ground offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas’ deadly assault Oct. 7 on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.

The fighting in Gaza has also affected life in the West Bank. Since Oct. 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the Israeli-occupied territory has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass military checkpoints. The restrictions have also prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians from exiting the territory to work in Israel.

Source: AP

24, December 2023

Kidnappings for Ransoms in Southern Cameroon: A Daily and Deadly Reality ⁰

Five months ago, Amnesty International stated: “Cameroonian authorities must act to end the violence against the population and conduct thorough investigations into the killings, acts of torture, rapes, burning of houses and other atrocities committed in the Anglophone regions…” The 5th July 2023 report, like many before, was disapproving and detailed extensive human rights violations and other crimes committed by multiple actors in the war-torn Anglophone regions of the country. Following the report, Cameroon Concord News Group tasked its undercover reporters in the country to establish the extent of the kidnapping-for-ransom market. Our correspondents have revealed a disturbing criminal empire worth hundreds of thousands of dollars operating due to the security vacuum created as a result of the war in the Southwest and Northwest regions of Cameroon.

The war between forces loyal to the regime in Yaoundé against Anglophone separatists seems to have stalled with vast remote areas of the Anglophone regions now ungovernable and Cameroon Concord News Group can reveal that armed criminal gangs now control most of the rural areas, with the government unable to exert any control and authority over hundreds of square miles of land.

Some separatist groups in the diaspora have taken advantage of the security vacuum in the war-torn country with the AGovC (Ambazonia Governing Council) implementing a “liberation tax” rip-off. Our sources reported that this so-called tax is collected through MTN and Orange Mobile Money transfers by gang leaders who own multiple fraudulent mobile money accounts. In many areas, hundreds spoke on condition of anonymity and recounted the ordeals of dealing with rogue Cameroon army soldiers and separatist gang. In Kumbo, Northwest region, a government official said “These Amba fighters are now kidnapping for ransoms, particularly as the money could be paid through MTN and Orange Mobile Money accounts”

There are stories of families that have been separated as Ambazonia fighters chase people to pay huge ransoms. The campaign of violence and intimidation is unbearable in some cases and the only way is for people to leave the country. The family of Joseph Agbor Ndip, who left Cameroon last year as he was hounded by Amba fighters for money with threats of death are still getting intimidating messages from both the Cameroon army and rogue gangs asking them to pay money for their safety. We uncovered that the amount asked in some of these messages is over $10,000 in a country where over 75% live on less than $5 a day.

In many areas of the country, Amba Fighters are charging 10,000 frs CFA ($20) monthly “taxes” to fund the war for independence. Agbor Ndip’s family says they and many others are being blackmailed as traitors for not responding and they live in fear. The family of Monica Eyambe Agbe, who fled an abusive marriage recounted that Amba fighters “have asked us to pay over 20 million CFA that our late father “borrowed” and never paid. How are we ever going to get that kind of money? Our lives are not worth living”

It is disgraceful that the regime in Yaoundé always ignores credible reports from international human rights organizations about abuses in the country. The authorities in Cameroon have actively discredited and delegitimized the July report from Amnesty International. The stories of hundreds of enforced disappearances are real and painful to the families involved. The families of Joseph Agbor Ndip, Monica Agbe, Alfred Tita and Toto Roland and many more are now facing never-ending harassment from the armed gangs and the lawless French Cameroon army operating with impunity.

Yaoundé’s “military victory only” strategy effectively means that they have ruled out a negotiated solution to the conflict. What this means is that some of the country’s most vulnerable people are now cut up between armed gangs and an unruly army. The refusal of Mr Biya and his men to accept that their conservative approach is leading to several avoidable deaths is regrettable.

The Amnesty International report and the findings of the Concord Group over the last three months have exposed leadership fatigue in Yaoundé. The warring parties have announced a detente and this has created a security vacuum for criminals to operate. Kidnapping gangs and a disgruntled Cameroon army extorting money from businesses and the local population are among the major reasons for the massive exodus from the country.

The scale and horror of the war in the Anglophone regions in Cameroon rightly captured the world’s attention for almost six years, but by some strange happenstance, it now appears to be one of the world’s forgotten conflicts. What Amnesty International and our investigation have uncovered is a vicious and malicious underworld of kidnapping for ransoms in a very poor and unsafe environment.

By Chi Prudence Asong, with files from Alain Tabot-Tanyi

22, December 2023

We want, We go: Biya regime to build 3,060 housing units in Olembe to address shortage ⁰

The Cameroonian government launched the construction of 3,060 new housing units in Olembe, Yaoundé. The foundation stone was laid last December 19 by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development (Minhdu), Célestine Ketcha Courtès.

The initial pilot phase aims to build 60 housing units within nine months on a 5,000 m² space, including three buildings and a green area. The second phase will involve constructing the remaining 3,000 housing units on 20 hectares, starting in 2024 and spanning four years.

The project, entrusted to the Spanish group Pablo y Natalia Holding Group (PNHG), aligns with the government’s program to build 10,000 social housing units and develop 50,000 buildable plots. The Ministry said PNHG has a pragmatic approach to revitalizing the program and meeting the increasing demand, following less satisfactory results from previous initiatives.

The housing deficit in Cameroon is estimated at 2.5 million units. Authorities said the situation is due to demographic growth, poverty, and unemployment. To address this shortfall, the government initiated a program in 2010 to construct 10,000 units, aiming to provide access to decent housing for Cameroonians. The initial phase of this program included the construction of 1,675 homes in Yaoundé and Douala, with 500 planned for Olembe.

Source: Business in Cameroon

22, December 2023

Last French troops leave Niger ⁰

The last French troops deployed in Niger left on Friday, an AFP journalist reported, marking an end to more than a decade of French anti-jihadist operations in west Africa’s Sahel region.

“Today’s date (…) marks the end of the disengagement process of French forces in the Sahel,” Niger army lieutenant Salim Ibrahim said at a ceremony in Niamey marking the end of France’s military presence.

The French exit from Niger leaves hundreds of US military personnel, and a number of Italian and German troops, remaining in the country.

France said it would pull out its roughly 1,500 soldiers and pilots from Niger after the former French colony’s new ruling generals demanded they depart following the coup on July 26.

It was the third time in less than 18 months that French troops were sent packing from a country in the Sahel.

They were forced to leave fellow former colonies Mali last year and Burkina Faso earlier this year following military takeovers in those countries too.

All three nations are battling a jihadist insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012, later spreading to Niger and Burkina Faso.

But a string of coups in the region since 2020 have seen relations nosedive with former colonial power France and a pivot towards greater rapprochement with Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron in September announced the withdrawal of all French troops from Niger by the end of the year, with a first contingent leaving in October.

The Nigerien army said last week their departure would be complete by Friday.

Perilous desert routes

Most French troops in Niger are at an air base in the capital Niamey.

Smaller groups have been deployed alongside Nigerien soldiers to the border with Mali and Burkina Faso, where jihadist groups linked to the Islamic State group and al Qaeda are believed to operate.

The withdrawal is a complex operation, with road convoys having to drive up to 1,700 kilometres (1,000 miles) on sometimes perilous desert routes to the French centre for Sahel operations in neighbouring Chad.

The first French road convoy of troops withdrawing from Niger arrived in neighbouring Chad’s capital N’Djamena in October, after 10 days on the road.

From Chad, French troops can leave by air with their most sensitive equipment, although most of the rest has to be moved by land and sea.

According to a source close to the matter, some of the French containers carrying equipment will be driven from Chad on to the port of Douala in Cameroon, before they can be ferried back to France by sea.

US, German troops

France’s former ally in Niger, overthrown president Mohamed Bazoum, remains under house arrest.

A US official said in October that Washington was keeping about 1,000 military personnel in Niger but was no longer actively training or assisting Niger forces.

The United States said earlier this month it was ready to resume cooperation with Niger on the condition its military regime committed to a rapid transition to civilian rule.

Niger’s rulers want up to three years for a transition back to a civilian government.

Military leaders in Niamey early this month said they were ending two European Union security and defence missions in the country.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visited Niger earlier this week to discuss the fate of around 120 German troops based in the country.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in September banded together in a joint defence pact to fight jihadists.

France’s withdrawal from Mali last year left a bitter aftertaste, after the bases it once occupied in Menaka, Gossi and Timbuktu were rapidly taken over by the Wagner Russian paramilitary group.

Source: AFP

22, December 2023

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 5 government soldiers killed in Mbakong ⁰

Hundreds of Cameroon government troops have gone on a violent rampage in Mbakong, setting alight dozens of homes after five soldiers were killed by Ambazonia fighters on Wednesday.

Cameroon Concord News correspondent in Bamenda said the five army soldiers were killed by an explosive device on the Mile 24 road linking Bafut in Bamenda to Wum, the chief town in Menchum Division in the North West region.

The deadly incident on Wednesday, followed by several attacks against Cameroon government military installations throughout Southern Cameroons immediately raised doubts about the feasibility of the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé to calm the seven year-long wave of bloodshed.

Local media houses in Bamenda reported that about 20 homes were torched on Wednesday evening and many innocent Southern Cameroons civilians were arrested in Mbakong.

We gathered that the Francophone leadership of the military deployed to the North West region ordered soldiers to strike Mbakong “without mercy”.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Fon Lawrence in Bamenda