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3, March 2019

US: Sanders attacks Trump at campaign launch ⁰

At his first rally for the US 2020 presidential bid, Senator Bernie Sanders promised to defeat Donald Trump, calling him “the most dangerous president in modern American history,” in New York City on Saturday, March 2.

Back to his native neighborhood, Sanders was cheered by a crowd at Brooklyn College, where he studied for a year. Greeted with chanting and banners reading his name, the senator criticized Trump’s approach to immigration.

Sanders contrasted his spare upbringing with Trump’s privileged youth as the son of a New York real estate developer.

“I did not come from a family that gave me a $200,000 allowance every year beginning at the age of three.” Sanders said. “I did not have a father who gave me millions of dollars to build luxury skyscrapers, casinos and country clubs,” Sanders added in another dig at Trump.

The first weekend on the campaign trail signaled Sanders’ emphasis on expanding his support among minority voters, who he struggled to connect with during his 2016 campaign.

The twin rallies over the weekend also served as a reminder to Democrats of his ability to generate grassroots enthusiasm. During his 2016 campaign,Sanders frequently held big rallies with thousands of supporters, matching Trump’s ability to capture attention and generate large crowds.

Sanders was an outsider candidate three years ago. But with his massive political network, muscular fundraising capacity and resilient message, he is now a frontrunner. Sanders already has shown his fundraising ability this time around, as the campaign said on Tuesday he had raised about $10 million in the first week. But he also has faced new challenges – three of his top media strategists during the 2016 campaign split with Sanders this week over creative differences.

He promised that his campaign would say “loudly and clearly that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, hatred and lies.”

On Sunday, Sanders heads to Selma, Alabama, to mark the anniversary of the 1965 clash known as “Bloody Sunday” and will also visit Chicago, where he graduated from college and was active in civil rights protests.

Over the next few weeks, his campaign said, Sanders will travel to states with early nominating contests, including Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada before returning to his hometown of Burlington, Vermont, for a formal campaign launch.

(Source: Agencies)

3, March 2019

Barcelona defeats Real Madrid for 2nd time in four days ⁰

La liga leaders Barcelona, have registered another El Calsico victory, beating Real Madrid 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona’s players celebrate their win at the end of the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on March 2, 2019. (AFP)

The Catalan giants had humiliated Los Balncos 4 days ago at Bernabeu in the Copa del Ray semis, and were looking for another triumph at Real’s home turf on Saturday Night.

Ernesto Valverde’s men managed to break the dead-lock when Ivan Rakitic lifted the ball over the Real’s keeper, 26 minutes into the match.

The league leaders held-on to the advantage, and with the full 3-points, temporarily moved 10 points clear of 2nd placed Atletico Madrid at the La Liga summit.

3, March 2019

Douala: Biya donates 50,000 euros cash to traders ⁰

President Paul Biya made a “cash donation” of 32.5 million CFA francs, 50,000 euros, to traders of a market in Douala ravaged by fire in February, state owned radio and television reported.

“The Head of State, HE Paul Biya, offers 32.5 million CFA francs to the traders of the Congo Market in Douala, whose shops were ravaged by fire on February 24,” said Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, on social networks.

“The cash donation was given to the beneficiaries by (the Minister of Territorial Administration), Paul Atanga Nji,” continues CRTV on Twitter.

In Cameroon, where Paul Biya, 86, has been president for 36 years, presidential donations are common deep within the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

3, March 2019

The Judgement of the Federal High Court of Abuja: Unmasking Another International Conspiracy ⁰

HAIL THE RULE OF LAW

The judgment of the Nigeria Federal High Court in Abuja on March 1, 2019, declaring illegal and unconstitutional, the abduction and deportation to Cameroun of the President of the Interim Government of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, members of the Interim Government and several Southern Cameroons refugees carries significant symbolic weight.

The judgment has comprehensively determined the legal status of the abductees which was in controversy since Cameroun characterized them as terrorists on the account of alleged crimes committed against Cameroun from the territory of Nigeria; so, the Isa Tchiroma and the Court-martial alleged. The Federal High Court of Abuja Nigeria on the territory of which the crimes alleged in the court-martial were allegedly committed has decided that they are persons who were legally in the territory of Nigeria as refugees under the protection of international conventional law at the time of their abduction and deportation. They were not therefore terrorists nor did their presence and activities constitute terrorism to warrant their being characterized as terrorists to warrant abduction and deportation to face a court-martial. Even if they were terrorists, international law still outlawed the abduction and deportation without compliance with the municipal and international rule of law.

This judicial determination settles a key issue in the subsequent case brought against the victims by Cameroun, the state to which they were deported. The failure of the court-martial in Cameroun where the abductees are forcefully subjected over their objections, to take judicial notice of the Judgment of the Abuja Federal High Court will have bilateral relations and multilateral treaty obligations consequences on the two countries, in the short and long term. Nigeria and Cameroun are state parties to the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees and its Additional Protocol 1967. Both countries are state parties to the OAU 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa which came into force in 1974.

The refugee problem globally and in Africa is a matter of significant international emergency, if not a humanitarian crisis. Without the existing multilateral treaty regime to manage this humanitarian crisis, millions, of the world’s vulnerable refugee population will be pursued across international boundaries and slaughtered by the murderous regimes and criminal squads from whom they fled in the search for protection. International law mandates state parties to the Refugee Convention to open their frontiers to allow refugees fleeing from wars, genocide, crimes against humanity and other life-threatening conditions to their lives to provide them protection. International law outlaws the abduction, deportation, rendition or the refoulement of persons who have sought refugee status to the countries from which they fled. Once the status of refugees is sought or obtained, the person concerned becomes a ward of international law under the Refugee Convention and its Additional Protocol. State Parties to the Refugee Convention are mandated to ensure compliance and indeed are obligated to submit periodic reports on compliance with their treaty obligations under the convention. Nigeria and Cameroun had a multilateral obligation to ensure that the refugee status of the abductees in Nigeria was respected and protected. Their mandate and responsibility are to the international community, since the 1951 Refugee Convention has near world wide membership. By engaging in criminal conduct to abduct and deport the victims to face a court-martial that applies the death penalty to Cameroun, Nigeria and Cameroun betrayed, violated and endangered the multilateral treaty regime and a protected international human rights value system.

The Federal High Court Judgment provided an opportunity to Nigeria to explain to the world, the rationale and legality of the abductions. It is significant that Nigeria did not convince the court that the abduction and deportation was informed by any compellable reasons justifiable in municipal and /or international law. Nigeria did not convince the court of any legally justified reason to violate with impunity the Nigeria Federal Constitution (1969), its multilateral treaty obligations under the UN Refugee Convention and its Additional Protocol, the African Convention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Rome Statute. There is no compelling reason to explain why Nigeria mortgaged its reputation, its influence in Africa and its claims to lead and represent Africa as a world power at the UN Security Council to fulfil the dictatorial and criminal proclivities of a regime baying for the blood of millions of Southern Cameroonians. Hundreds of thousands of Southern Cameroonians have been deported by Cameroun from their ancestral home which are systematically torched as a deliberate government policy as senior military commanders and civilian government officials have admitted, across the border with Nigeria. The victims who at a great risk of a genocide sought international protections within the territory of Nigeria are living under continuing threat of abduction and assassination, after Nigeria provided support to Cameroun to pursue the commission of international crimes against them in the territory of Nigeria.

The answer as to what endeared President Mohammadu Buhari to place Nigeria at the centre of an unfolding genocide, rather than acting as a facilitator of negotiations and peace may not be answered in this one critical historic judgment. Yet the judgment has the merit of laying an enduring foundation for answers to be provided within the compelling injunction of history. The truth, it is said, will never die with those who thought they could imprison it with sheer political chicanery and stealth transborder corrupt operations. Truth is as stubborn as a rock. Nigeria and Cameroun are aware, and this is important, that the underlying cause of the war declared by Paul Biya as a proxy of France, are the resources within the territory of the Southern Cameroons. These minerals are the umbilical cord to the perennial Nigeria misadventure that has devasted the Niger Delta, its ecosystem, maritime resources, economy and human health. Time will reveal if there are a convergence of economic and hegemonic interests by the known yet, invisible political god fathers enforcing the genocide using Nigeria and Cameroun proxies.

I learnt from my years as a lead counsel at the Special Court for Sierra Lone, in the case of the Revolutionary United from for Sierra Leone (RUF)-Morris Kallon that minerals are the curse of Africa. That is why Central Africa Republic has never been at peace since independence despite its mineral rich capabilities. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one case in point; so also, Burundi where abundant mineral resources have attracted the interest and wrath of neo-colonial economic and natural resource predators.

The bazaar auctioning of the Southern Cameroons at independence as my late friend Dr Bate Besong stated, or the Mc McLeod slave deal, as the father of Ambazonia Fon Gorgi Dinka described it, was intended to silence the liberating ambition of Ambazonia patriots. For the record, the slave and bazaar dealers did not know that Ambassbay from which Ambazonia derived its name, stood watch over the liberating spirit of its Ambazonia offspring. Ambassbay is a natural environment for the sharks in the Ambazonia sea as opposed to the neighbouring sea which is inhabited by “crayfish”. Those with a good sense of aquatic life know that a shark is not an ordinary fish, surely not a crayfish. And this is where the difference lies.

This judgment of the Abuja Federal High Court conveys an underlying message to the abductors that the abduction of Southern Cameroons leaders and citizens will have consequences that may potentially threaten peace and security in the Gulf of Guinea. That Nigeria has become a key ally of the state actor that declared the war of choice that have the capacity of igniting a conflagration in the Gulf of Guinea affecting its own citizens and interests on both sides of the borders, is a matter of profound concern.

The judgment is a municipal judgment on compliance by Nigeria of its multilateral treaty and constitutional obligations. Finding that Nigeria violated its municipal laws and treaty obligations, is an important contribution to international law. This judgment therefore must be served on the United Nations Secretariat, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, all the permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council through their permanent representations in New York, all ECOWAS state parties through their diplomatic representations in Abuja, the EU state parties present in Brussels, the AU Commission, and give wide publicity.

This judgment negates the charge by Cameroun that the abductees were and are terrorists. Nigeria did not make this charge before and during the hearing. Nigeria should be concerned that persons found to be refugees by its own judiciary are facing a court-martial based on international and municipal violations of its own government. With this judgment, the blood of the abductees and other Southern Cameroonians will lay on the hands of Nigeria should they be further held in violation of this judgment or should they be executed pursuant to the court-martial.

International law mandates that any offence committed on the territory of Nigeria can be investigated and prosecuted by Nigeria failing which Nigeria can send the refugees to a third country willing to accept them but not to the country from which they fled and sought refuge in Nigeria. Will Nigeria submit itself to a court-martial in Cameroun to provide evidence of acts alleged in the charges before the court-martial that were allegedly committed in Nigeria? Does Nigeria recognize a court-martial for civilians which is international human rights jurisprudence has characterised as torture and thus illegal? Does Nigeria by the abductions give legal approval to the crime of abduction which criminalised under the Rome Statute which Nigeria is a state party? Is abduction of civilians not one of the crimes alleged against Boko Haram in which hundreds of thousands of Nigerian civilians have lost their lives? The Abuja High Court trial was an occasion for Nigeria to prove that abduction is legal when conducted by a state actor but illegal when carried out by non-state actors. Nigeria failed to prove this or even convince the court that this crime may be legal under such or other circumstances.

Nigeria under President Mohammadu Buhari tends to disobey court orders and indeed disobeyed the order of the Federal High Court in Abuja made by Justice Gabriel Kolawole dated December 2, 2016 ordering the release of Ibrahim el Zazaky the leader the Shiite Muslim Movement who was abducted by the DSS on December 13, 2015. The DSS alleged that he was detained at his own request for protection. The Judge was unpersuaded on the grounds that protective custody was unknown to law or National Security Agencies Act establishing the DSS. Since December 29, 2015, Colonel Abubakar Malami former National Security Adviser of President Goodluck Jonathan has remained in jail despite court orders for his release.

However, in a suit brought by a constitutional lawyer Johnmary Jideobi praying the court to void the SAN of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami for professional misconduct for advising the Federal Government to disrespect court orders, the Attorney General refused being held accountable for advising the Federal Government to disrespect court orders and that he was not informed about the detentions and so his advice was never sought in the cases. The Attorney General argued in his defence that in cases where his advice was sought, he advised, and the Federal Government complied with court orders. He cited the release on bail of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the leader of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and that of the survivals of an attack on an uncompleted house in Abuja which was stormed and murdered by some operatives of the National Intelligence Services after the Nigeria Human Rights Commission ordered that victims and their dependents be compensated.

This defence by the attorney therefore begs the questions, if he was never informed how then did, he enters appearance to defend the illegal actions of the Nigeria Government?

Africa, and African leaders should hail the Judgment of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Abuja and pressurise Nigeria and Cameroun to execute it without delay. This judgment protects the municipal and international protections of refugees afforded by multilateral treaties and municipal constitutional provisions. The international multilateral treaty regime has been tested and proved to be critical in checking the excesses and exactions of the world refugee crisis and the humanitarian calamity that is rocking the conscience of humanity. In their imposed inhuman dungeons Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Ambazonia abductees represent the face of humanity at risk. This judgment protects that human value represented by Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. African leaders and the international community should applaud this judgment and pressurise Nigeria and Cameroun to obey and execute it.

This judgment should be a shock reminder to everyone, the powerful and the weak, that a refugee is a protected ward of humanity and the legal regimes emplaced to protect him or her attest to this fact. Abducting and deporting refugees to be court-martialled or placing them in harm’s way tantamount to driving a sword on the collective conscience of humanity. This should not be allowed to happen without consequences.

I have a message for those responsible for the abduction and court-martial of civilian victims. Respecting this judgment may be the only opportunity for them to avoid placing their own poisoned chalices to their own lips. Babatoura Ahmadou with the use of terror pursued nationalists who sought refuge in foreign lands but died a refugee himself in solitude in distant Senegal. The refugee status he imposed on others and pursued, abducted and killed or assassinated them was the status that protected and sustained him until he died. In 1968, Joseph Desire Mobutu otherwise called Mobutu Sese Seko lured and murdered Pierre Mulele over strong world-wide appeals and condemnation. Mobutu died a miserable refugee in Morocco. The extensive empire he acquired through, murder, looting and plundering the mineral resources of his country are in ruins. The blood of the thousands he slaughtered to keep himself in eternal power still haunts the memory of him. His countrymen and women are even traumatised, turning his extensive empire into the memorial for his innocent victims.

This recorded history may already have extended a hand of invitation to the actors in the theatre of criminality and violations that the Federal High Court High Court in Abuja addressed in this judgment. Whether they will on their own volition abide by this judgment, is not known to me. However, this judgment is addressed to the collective conscience of Humanity represented by the multilateral treaty regime which the court found was violated. The multilateral treaty regime must demonstrate that it has teeth and that it must not condone or encourage the impunity of state violators of their treaty obligations, lest it wrongly encourages non-state actors. Nigeria itself has a refugee problem in far and distant lands, including Cameroun. It will be unfortunate if Nigerians allow their government to determine their fate through the legitimisation of the violations found in this judgment.

I wish to conclude by addressing a few words to Ambazonians who should be strategizing on how to rely on this judgment to highlight their predicament worldwide where ever they find themselves. I am appalled by how much social media activism and sideshows are distracting them from following the rapidly evolving events that may determine their fate yet again while they are asleep or self-destructing in search of power. While internal squabbles must be addressed, that cannot override rallying behind the Interim Government that instructed the lawyers working on this and other cases to raise the profile of the cases to the highest levers of international intervention. While not trivialising the complaints or matters which some components of the struggle may hold dear to their hearts, and I will not and never get involved in such squabbles, I strongly advise all Ambazonians, to henceforth recognize that the Abuja abduction of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others and their deportation to Cameroun requires a strong international legal intervention. It is a crime against the Rome Statute which Nigeria is a state party. The unwritten underpinning of the Judgment indeed has this implication. It has violated the UN multilateral treaty regime and that of the AU.

Social media activism alone will not get this judgment executed, enforced. It will not rely on the judgment to pursue all international crimes and violations in which hundreds and thousands of civilians are systematically exterminated and civilian settlements, places of worships and hospitals are torched and reduced to rubbles. It is therefore advisable to support the IG to move quickly to fulfil these tasks while other weighty issues are internally reviewed and quickly redressed without the intension of rocking the boat for the sake of power. Protracted disagreement empowers adversaries. Clearly established areas of agreement should be identified, and prioritised and collective action sought to attain the position outcomes while perennial disagreements struggle for institutional solutions. What cannot wait even for a minute are contributions intended for the collective good, the protection of victims, refugees, vulnerable categories and preventive and protective strategies.

By Chief Charles A. Taku

2, March 2019

US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs expected in Yaounde ⁰

The US Department of State announced on Thursday that the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, was due to visit four African countries this month.

The diplomat will be in Central, East and southern Africa, the press statement noted. Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC; Uganda and Rwanda will be his destinations.

“He will promote stronger business ties between the United States and Africa, engage Africa’s vibrant youth, strengthen partnerships that aim for greater peace and security, and reinforce the United States’ commitment to the people and nations of Africa,” the statement noted.

On March 17–18, Assistant Secretary Nagy will visit a U.S.-owned firm in Cameroon, discuss Cameroon’s role as a regional partner with government officials, and meet civil society.

But before arriving in Africa, he will be in Belgium and France where he is expected to discuss the U.S. shared objectives for Africa’s security, prosperity, and self-reliance with key partners and media in Europe.

Africa News

2, March 2019

Investigation into Biya regime killings wins Royal Television Society award ⁰

An investigation led by Emmanuel Freudenthal (MPhil in Development Studies, 2007) and colleagues into mobile phone footage of the brutal killings of two women and their children in Cameroon has won the 2019 Royal Television Society’s (RTS) News Technology award.

The footage, which went viral in July 2018, showed a group of soldiers leading away the women and children, who they accused of being part of Boko Haram, before blindfolding them and shooting them dead.

The footage appeared to have been filmed in northern Cameroon, but the country’s government dismissed the video as fake news and denied that the soldiers taking part were Cameroonian.

However the team, working as part of the BBC’s Africa Eye and with a group of amateur investigators on Twitter, used clues from the footage together with open source data and software to determine where and when the killings took place as well as the identity of the killers.

The team used satellite imagery and tip-offs to help pinpoint the location, clues such as the angle of the soldiers’ shadows and the presence of seasonal paths to determine the time of year, and details of weaponry and army uniforms to confirm that the killers were indeed Cameroonian soldiers. They also used Facebook profiles along with nicknames heard in the video and information from a military source to identify the soldiers involved.

The investigation itself, named Anatomy of a Killing, went viral on Twitter and was picked up by multiple news outlets. While the investigation was taking place, the Cameroonian government announced that seven soldiers had been arrested, of whom three appear to be those identified by the team.

According to RTS, the judges described the report as ‘a superb piece of public interest journalism which held power to account and had a huge impact in social media’. The awards were announced on 27 February.

Emmanuel Freudenthal is a freelance investigative journalist based in Nairobi. He completed the MPhil in Development Studies at ODID between 2007 and 2009.

Source: Oxford Department of International Development

2, March 2019

APNC and Dr Sako’s IG: Ambazonia sources of glory and shame ⁰

The so-called APNC conference has come and gone and from every indication the meeting failed in contributing anything to the Southern Cameroons restoration struggle. 28 anti Interim Government personalities took part in the conference including some hired photographers. It was forbidden to show any picture of the super crowd and super delegates the organizers had claimed would filled the hall.

The scantily attended Southern Cameroons forum aired out a group photo but no images of the audience have ever since been made public. This was indeed a Southern Cameroons conference of glory and shame. Glory because Ambazonians now have a group of people who are challenging the interim government rocked by numerous financial scandals. And shame because it was an ill-disguised attempt at toppling the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

Southern Cameroonians all over the world were waiting for the APNC to give their Interim Government a vote of no confidence, but it is now abundantly clear that those who travelled to the USA for the said conference gave themselves a red card.

Through the organizers of APNC, the dust has now settled and the world can see clearly that the Southern Cameroons Interim Government is the people’s government-though acting now like a train with no brakes.

Acting President Sako’s recent action of freezing all Interim Government bank accounts has instead helped the organizers of the APNC conference who should have gone home with nothing!!! The language coming from members of the Interim Government has been consistently inconsistent with some rejoicing and calling on the APNC men and women to humble themselves and make recommendations to the IG. This is just a repeat of CPDM politics in Southern Cameroons. Correspondingly, the Interim Government can also be painted as Ambazonia’s source of glory and shame.

The finances of the Ambazonian Interim Government is now organised around one man-Acting President Ikome Sako. That is dangerous, shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. By going that direction, Acting President Sako seeks to remake the Ambazonia Interim Government in CPDM image. President Paul Biya of French Cameroun has been more successful in this regard.

From the start, thousands of Ambazonians including the Cameroon Concord News Group were mesmerised with Sako’s coming as head of the Interim Government and we embraced him more fervently than SCOOP. However, as our briefing explains, Sako has taken ownership of the Interim Government. It is an extraordinary achievement from a man who had never earned a thousand dollars since moving to the US, who never held public office, who boasted of being a pastor and who, as recently, was sacked from a security job.

The organising principle of Mr Sako’s Interim Government is loyalty. Not, as with the best Southern Cameroons leaders such as Fon Gorgi Dinka, Justice Ebong, Chief Ayamba and Sisiku Ayuk Tabe who had loyalty to the restoration vision or the rule of law and order, but to just one man—Samuel Ikome Sako. In the Federal Republic of Ambazonia that is unprecedented and it is dangerous.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

2, March 2019

Understanding Acting President Sako’s financial message ⁰

We are a people who respect authority when authority earns respect. We also confront authority when authority crosses the acceptable boundaries in projecting excesses and disregard of honest engagements. I watched Acting President Sako today as he delivered his message to the nation and felt like I was watching one of those devilish conmen of the genocidal vampire terrorist Paul Biya government. It was hard to take. Tears came to my eyes that at this moment of the history of our long struggle when our people are being slaughtered every second and suffering indignities we would have a leader who will find the needs to be taking us for fools.

Let me explain: a member of Sako’s cabinet came out to tell the world that another member of the same cabinet has not been accountable with the funds of the government. Immediately after that Sako came out siding with the member who made the allegations by ordering an audit. While that audit was ongoing, the member who made the allegations came out again attacking the other. Sako remained quiet. Then a partial audit sent to his office was deliberately leaked to public to set the stage for him to come out with a pretentious gesture of taking full responsibility and issuing an executive order, which in a way is empowering one member of his cabinet and sanctioning another. No Dr Sako you are very wrong. You cannot take such measures if you are genuine and honest about the audit. Unless your audit is just for window dressing and is not independent. Your executive order already taints the validity and accuracy of the so-called audit. That executive order can only come as part of the recommendations from the audit, not you doing it in mid-audit.

Maybe you miss what the audit should be about. The treasurer whom your executive order is empowering to open new accounts must also submit to the audit. The office of the presidency that has been receiving funds as we have seen in the partial leaked audit, must also account for all the funds it received. All the departments of your cabinet that received funds must also account for those funds. You seem to be thinking that this audit is for Brado Tabenyang alone. You are wrong. It is for your whole cabinet and your cannot issue executive orders to open new accounts when there is an ongoing audit.

You mentioned the restoration council as if it is a department of your cabinet. From all indications you have functioned in total disregard and disrespect of that body. Since you seem to be influencing this audit process and putting its independence in doubt, without taking any instructions from you, the restoration council should and must order its own independent audit of all the funds that have come in since you came to office and how it was spent to the last penny. Stop directing and interfering with the audit process. You are not dealing here with fools.

And please stop sending out people to attack fellow Ambazonians who disagree with you. You do not own the IG we do and we will not allow these games on the blood and sufferings of our people.

Christmas Ebini

1, March 2019

Cameroon soldiers ‘invade’ Catholic hospital in search for separatists ⁰

Cameroonian soldiers ‘invaded’ a medical facility as they hunted Anglophone separatists in the country’s troubled northwest region.

The attack took place on Feb. 17, in the Diocese of Kumbo, which has been plagued by the fighting between the army and rebels.

The Shisong Cardiac Center at St. Elizabeth Catholic General hospital is the only facility where heart diseases are treated in Central Africa. The soldiers stormed the building searching for separatist fighters.

“It is giving us a very bad name,” said Bishop George Nkuo.

“The army can come in to the hospital where there are cardiac patients and move around in search of whomever. It is not done; but that was done. And they shoot around even with people who are cardiac patients. That is the most irresponsible act to do. Most unprofessional I would say at the least,” he told Crux.

A local Catholic radio station in the area, Radio Evangelum gave details on how the military assault was conducted.

“About 11 a.m. that Sunday, defense forces of Cameroon got into the premises of Saint Elizabeth Catholic General Hospital and Cardiac Centre, Shisong. It is alleged that they were in search of wounded separatist fighters who might have been admitted in the hospital,” the station reported.

“Five military men, carrying arms, entered the hospital through the gate leading into the Farewell Home. They moved into the Cardiac Centre section of the hospital next to the Farewell Home. The soldiers, reports say, went into the wards in that section, and took out a boy who was taking care of his grandmother admitted in the hospital. They proceeded to the inner sections of the hospital, went to the Surgical Unit, and moved into one of the wards. The soldiers are said to have fired some gunshots inside the hospital premises,” the report continued.

The station said the Tertiary Sisters of Saint Francis who run the hospital were on a day of recollection that Sunday, but some of the sisters immediately came to the hospital where they met the soldiers.

The nuns told the soldiers to stop their disruptive actions and to leave. The soldiers complied, and released one young man they had detained.

“The likelihood of trauma on patients and health workers is high. The effect of the incident on patients in the Cardiac Center section could be disastrous and long lasting. The administration of the hospital was uncomfortable with the incident,” said Sister Mary Aldrine Kinyuy, the director of the hospital.

The incident happened just a day after separatists kidnapped over 100 students from a Catholic school in the diocese. They were released the next day.

Nkuo said Kumbo has recently become a theater for conflict, with people being killed, homes burnt and property destroyed.

About 80 percent of Cameroon is French-speaking. However, the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon are majority English-speaking, a legacy of the colonial history of the country: Cameroon was originally German, but after World War I the defeated country transferred it to the Allies, and it was divided between France and Britain.

At independence, the two parts were reunited, and currently about 20 percent of the country’s nearly 25 million people is anglophone. The Catholic Church is the largest religious group in the country, representing about 40 percent of all Cameroonians.

In October 2016, strikes by lawyers and teachers over perceived attempts by the Francophone administration to assimilate the legal and educational systems practiced in the two English-speaking regions turned violent, and morphed into rising demands by Anglophone Cameroonians for independence.

The government has been accused of razing entire villages and extrajudicial killings in their hunt for separatists, who are calling on the English-speaking areas to form a new country, called ‘Ambazonia.’

Separatists have also been accused of atrocities, and have attacked Cameroonian security forces, and kidnapped opponents for ransom.

“There is shooting and random killing,” the bishop said. He said much of the killing is carried out by government soldiers, whom he accuses of acting unprofessionally.

“I have seen houses burnt and I am even told that there are a number of people being killed… And the people who have been killed are innocent people, innocent civilians. I am very sad indeed,” Nkuo said.

“I can tell you that people are living in great fear. I have had the chance to go round the diocese, to go on pastoral visits, in fact today (Feb. 17), I was in one of the parishes and three-quarters of the people have left. They are not there. They have left. I can even say that some of them have threatened they would never come back,“ the bishop added.

The bishop admitted that he himself wasn’t safe, but he can’t abandon those “who have no way else to go.”

“The bishop cannot leave them. I am there with them because somebody must be there to reassure them that there is hope, that there is a future and that God is in control. That is why I am still in Kumbo,” he said.

Recently, a picture of the bishop went viral after it showed him carrying a box on his head while visiting a remote village in November.

“I don’t know why it went viral. I am sorry about that,” he said, before noting that he was just doing what he ought to do as a pastor in the circumstance.

“If I have to go and meet the people and the road is blocked, what should I do? Should I stay back? No! This is what the missionary does and this is what we should do. We must go to meet the people even when we meet obstacles, we must be humble enough, we must show a sense of mission that we can overcome the obstacles and go to where the people are,” Nkuo said.

He acknowledged the fact that he has not been able to reach all his parishes, but insisted that wherever possible, he would go.

“God, the Church expects us to do that and we do it joyfully and happily because we know that the people of God need us and we must go there and attend to them,“ the bishop explained.

Source: Crux

1, March 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: There’s hope on the horizon ⁰

After more than two years of violent confrontations in Cameroon, the world is gradually taking note of the ferocious brutality that is playing out in the country. The Southern Cameroons crisis that has been unfolding for two years spiraled out of control in 2018 as many armed groups in the two English-speaking regions of the country threw their hats into the ring.

During this period, some 5,000 Cameroonians – both civilians and soldiers – have met their death as the government pursues its policy of collective punishment. Many civilians have seen their homes burnt down by government forces which have opted for a “scorch-earth” policy that is hurting many vulnerable people who have nothing to do with the conflict.

For some time now, there has been some silent diplomacy behind the scenes and Americans have been working hard to ensure the Biya regime caves in. The US embassy in Cameroon needs to be credited for all the diplomatic efforts it has made to ensure that government forces do not kill innocent civilians with impunity. The US administration has been urging the government to comply with the Geneva Convention. It even reduced its military aid to Cameroon as a first and serious step toward demonstrating that it will not tolerate impunity and human rights violations.

With the Biya regime still insisting that state authority must be respected and that Southern Cameroonians must be made to regret their decision to kill some 2,000 troops, the country’s military has continued to unleash the full spectrum of its anger on a population it accuses of supporting the separatists.

This ferocious violence has caught the attention of many and this time around, the Swiss have also decided to play a key role in efforts aimed at restoring peace in Cameroon. The Southern Cameroons crisis which started in October 2016 has finally caught the attention of the world and some steps are being taken to alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Southern Cameroons. Many around the world are hoping that his visit will lead to a ceasefire that will enable the United Nations (UN) to deploy its staff in the troubled regions.

It should also be underscored that in January 2018, a Swiss delegation, led by Nicoletta Mariolini, was in Cameroon where it had a long discussion with members of the Musonge bilingualism commission on the possibilities of cooperation with a view to enhancing national unity and peaceful co-existence between the various linguistic groups of the country.

The President of Switzerland, Ueli Maurer, has joined the ongoing efforts to end the brutality. He is expected to be in Cameroon in the coming days where he will be meeting Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, where their discussions will focus on ways and means of putting an end to the brutality.

For two years, Southern Cameroonians have been longing for the UN to come in and save lives, but the global body which does not have a standing army was caught up in a cobweb of negotiations with the Yaounde government that is wary of the global body.

Despite pressure from powerful nations like the United States and Canada, the Yaounde government has continued to play ball with the UN and this has resulted in many people losing their lives. Things have been complicated by the fact that the UN lacks the resources to carry out a peacekeeping mission in many parts of the world.

Currently, the UN needs USD 15.2 million but has only succeeded to mobilize USD 5.1 which has enabled it to send some international staff to Buea and Bamenda and there is a huge recruitment campaign going on in those two cities. The various UN humanitarian bodies need local staff to help them deliver humanitarian assistance to those who need it the most.

In a report published in January 2019 on the situation in Cameroon, the UN highlighted the need for a prompt and urgent response to ensure things do not further deteriorate.

“Insecurity in the affected regions remains high, with continuing armed attacks and confrontations between the military and armed groups. The crisis further worsened from mid-2018 onward due to increased hostilities ahead of the presidential election. Movements continue to be restricted in the two regions due to a curfew in the North-West, a “No Movement” declaration by non-state actors and the increase of both official and informal checkpoints,” the report says

“In the South West, on 3 January CDC workers of the Rubber Plantation in Tiko, Fako Division while at work were attacked by Non-state armed men (NSAG). They were tortured, and their toes and fingers cut off for working in the Plantation against the policy of armed groups. In January, troops clashed with armed groups across the two regions with ensuing fatalities and destroyed properties and vehicles. Military operations increased in both regions to counter armed group plans for February ‘lockdown’. Preventive displacement and stockpiling was ongoing at the time of writing of this report. Declining security situation during the month is expected,” the report says.

“Hostilities have continued to claim civilian lives, from indirect fire and from disturbing reports of targeted killings. Urban attacks have resulted in deaths from cross-fire and civilian casualties have been reported as a result of raids on villages. In late January, large scale military operations were launched in the Bafut area resulting in numerous casualties for both combatants and civilians. On 25 January, the military killed 11 people they suspected of being armed separatists in Mpundu-Balong in the Southwest region. Incidents were also reported taking place in Marumba and Tiko amongst others. Abductions continue to be an ongoing concern,” the report reveals.

“The violence has uprooted 437,500 people from their homes and forced over 32,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring Nigeria. Humanitarian organizations are striving to scale-up their presence in the conflict-hit regions. Shelters, NFI and Education have been identified in the North-West and South-West regions as the most urgent needs. Almost 50 per cent of the displaced have settled in rural areas and have an increased need for shelter and non-food items. More than 80% of girls and boys no longer have access to schooling on a continuous basis because of the crisis,” the report says.

“The outlook for 2019 is one of emergency response as displacement continues due to the ongoing conflict. Vulnerability is compounded as services deteriorate and resilience is eroded. Access remains challenging as poor levels of understanding of humanitarian action persist and infrastructure is damaged in armed conflict related operations to deny mobility to opposing forces. Armed fighting and insecurity continue to be the principal impediment to the provision of assistance as well as a barrier to those in need in terms of reaching areas where they can receive aid,” the report points out.

The majority of those displaced are women and children. Protection is the principal humanitarian concern as the ongoing conflict is the main cause of human suffering. Food and shelter are also of concern as displacement continues. Needs across all sectors are high and are being further compounded as the conflict deepens.

Of particular concern is access to water for areas requiring water transportation during days when movement is limited. Many of the conflict-affected populations are growing more vulnerable as the violence persists and humanitarian assistance remains inadequate, the report stresses.

“The deployment of humanitarian actors to the field continues. A further allocation of CERF to Cameroon will in part support humanitarian activities in the North-West and South-West regions. As of 7 January, donors had provided 35 per cent of the US$15.2 million required as per the emergency response plan, according to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS). This amount constitutes the US$5.1 million CERF allocation under the rapid response window. Additional contributions were received by other donors but not yet reported on FTS,” the report says.

For almost three years after the conflict started, the international community has been calling for inclusive dialogue, but its passivity and lack of interest in the whole situation have led many Southern Cameroonians to accuse it of connivance with the Biya region to decimate the indigenous people of Southern Cameroons. The international community is now coming out of the “Omerta” it imposed on itself. This will surely enable Southern Cameroonians to stop seeing it as an accomplice in the genocide that is currently playing out in their country.

Now that the government is listening, it is time for the international community to get tough on a government that is considered by its own citizens as a crime syndicate. Its corruption has robbed its own people of happiness and prosperity. Today, it is fiercely promoting the principle of political tribalism as a means of sustaining itself in power. The market-dominant minority that has enriched itself through unorthodox means has brought untold hardship to Cameroonians. It has to go and Cameroonians in general hold that the intervention of the international community will be a welcome relief. Turning a blind eye to the problem will not make it go away. The international community must step in to restore peace in a country that is anything, but democratic.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde and Irene Nanyongo in North America