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6, January 2019

Congo-Kinshasa election results postponed until ‘next week’ ⁰

The long-awaited announcement of the results of last week’s DR Congo presidential election, promised for Sunday, will be postponed to next week, the head of the electoral commission announced on Saturday.

“It is not possible to publish the results on Sunday. We are making progress, but we do not have everything yet,” said commission president Corneille Nangaa. An exact new date has not been announced.

Last Sunday’s DR Congo presidential election has proved most divisive. The United Nations Security Council is split over how to react to this election process, according to an internal report. The United States also condemned a lack of transparency, while China, a major investor in DR Congo, lauded the process.

The election to pick a successor to President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the country of 80 million people since his father was assassinated in 2001, should mark the first democratic transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

But tensions have risen since the vote after observers reported a litany of irregularities that the opposition says is part of the ruling party’s effort to steal it.

Worried that the dispute could spark the kind of violence seen after the 2006 and 2011 elections, the Security Council met on Friday to discuss how to react.

“Tensions were mounting while the CENI tabulated the results, notably in light of posturing by parties and candidates,” Leila Zerrougui, head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo, told the meeting, according to the internal report.

But the 15 council members “differed in their appreciation of the problems that beset the process and were divided over the question of whether the Council should issue a press statement,” the report went on to say.

A negative or cautionary international reaction could be problematic for Kabila whose government has defended the election’s organisation, and could weaken the legitimacy of Kabila’s hand-picked successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, should he be declared winner.

Inflame the situation

In Saturday’s meeting, France pushed for the publication of a statement that recognised that Congo’s election allowed people to exercise their democratic right and called for calm, but criticised the government’s decision to cut access to the Internet and some media outlets.

The United States, which has threatened to impose sanctions against those who undermine the election process and has deployed troops to Gabon in case its citizens need rescuing from any violence, backed the statement, alongside Britain, Ivory Coast, Belgium and others.

South Africa, long a Kabila ally, said the statement could “inflame” the situation if issued before the results, the report said. Russia said it could be seen as an attempt to skew public opinion. China “lauded the manner in which elections were conducted”, the report said, and said a statement should not be published before the results.

Initial results were expected on Sunday but the electoral board (CENI) said they could be delayed because vote counts were slow in arriving. The opposition, represented by its two main candidates Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi, and the ruling coalition say their candidates have won.

Congo’s Catholic church body, CENCO, said this week that it had identified the victor based on its own tallies collected by 40,000 observers, though it did not name the winner. The declaration was widely seen as a warning to authorities against rigging the vote.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)

6, January 2019

Ukrainian church granted independence from Russian church ⁰

The spiritual head of Orthodox Christians worldwide formally granted independence to the Ukrainian church on Saturday, marking an historic split from Russia which Ukrainian leaders see as vital to the country’s security.

The decree, granting “autocephaly”, was signed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at a service with the head of the Ukrainian church Metropolitan Epifaniy and President Petro Poroshenko in St George’s Cathedral in Istanbul.

“I want to thank the millions of Ukrainians around the world who responded to my appeal to pray for the church to be established,” Poroshenko said at a ceremony accompanied by solemn liturgical singing.

“I want to thank the generations of Ukrainians who dreamed…and finally God sent us the Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” he told the congregation in the crowded church.

The patriarchate, the seat of the spiritual leader of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, endorsed Ukraine’s request for the new church in October. The decree, or Tomos, will be handed to Epifaniy at a ceremony on Sunday, completing the process of recognition by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Ukraine last month chose 39-year-old Epifaniy to head the new church, in a move which Poroshenko compared to Ukraine’s referendum for independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The move incensed Moscow, and prompted President Vladimir Putin to warn of possible bloodshed in his annual news conference. Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed after Moscow’s seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Ukraine imposed martial law in November, citing the threat of a full-scale invasion after Russia captured three of its vessels in the Kerch Strait.

Bitter Russian opposition

The Ukrainian Orthodox church has been beholden to Moscow for hundreds of years, and Ukraine’s leaders see church independence as vital to tackling Russian meddling.

Kiev says Moscow-backed churches on its soil are a Kremlin tool to spread propaganda and support fighters in the eastern Donbass region in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people. The churches strongly deny this.

“Tomos – is just a paper, the result of restless political and personal ambitions. It was signed in breach of canonicity and this is why it has no power,” Vladimir Legoida, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations, posted in Telegram messenger.

Epifaniy was chosen by a council at the St Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, built by the son of Prince Volodymyr whose baptism in 988 led to the spread of Christianity in the region.

The new church may boost pro-Western leader Poroshenko, who lobbied hard for its creation and faces a tight election race in March.

Russia bitterly opposes the split, comparing it to the Great Schism of 1054 that divided western and eastern Christianity. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill made a last ditch appeal against the process last month.

“Huge win for Ukraine, defeat for the Kremlin,” economist Timothy Ash wrote on Twitter. “(It) will make Moscow’s hope of some future pull of Ukraine back into its ‘orbit’ nigh on impossible without the use of overwhelming (catastrophic) military force.”

Religious divisions deepened in Ukraine after 2014 and two Orthodox factions vie for dominance.

The church known as the Moscow Patriarchate, aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church, sees itself as the only legitimate church in Ukraine. On Dec. 20, Ukrainian MPs passed a law that could force the church to add “Russian” to its name.

The rival Kiev Patriarchate was born after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its popularity has grown since 2014. It favours European integration and championed the independent church but the Moscow Patriarchate denounces it as schismatic.

(REUTERS)

6, January 2019

US: Pentagon chief of staff quits after Mattis ⁰

The US Department of Defense’s chief of staff, Rear Admiral Kevin Sweeney, has quit his post in the wake of his boss’s resignation.

Sweeney released a statement not long after a resignations was submitted by Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

Mattis’s former deputy, Patrick Shanahan, began serving as acting Defense secretary at the beginning of January.

“After two years in the Pentagon, I’ve decided the time is right to return to the private sector. It has been an honor to serve again alongside the men and women of the Department of Defense,” he said.

PressTV-'Mattis resignation protest at Trump decisions'

Before him, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White had announced her resignation at the end of December.

The US president pushed James Mattis out of his post after disagreement over Trump’s decision to end the US military presence in Syria and scale it back in Afghanistan, making Trump further isolated at helm.

Before leaving Pentagon, Mattis ordered withdrawal of an estimated 2,200 US forces from Syria.

PressTV-Trump defends Syria plan, slams Mattis, McGurk

Mattis submitted his letter of resignation after he failed to convince the president that the US military presence in Syria is associated with maintaining critical alliances and partnerships.

The long list of dismissals and resignations in the Trump administration reveals the chaotic play of power inside the White House.

Source: Presstv

5, January 2019

Amba December Resistance Spoils Biya’s New Year Eve “Victory” Soundbite ⁰

The Ambazonia resistance is also a war of soundbites and news headlines reaching international news media and western capitals. The Ambazonia “spartan” resistance in December, including Christmas day clashes despite otherwise crippling losses at the hands of government defence and security forces, were a race for the headlines in classic international news and on social media.

That has spoiled what would have been the declaration of President Biya’s career if he had to open his New Year Eve address thus: “Fellow Cameroonians, my dear country men, we crushed them!”

(Remember the American official in Iraq declaring with unsuppressed relish after the capture of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!”)

That soundbite from Biya, would have had to go viral over international media and, received in the capitals of powerful countries and organizations, would have had to douse pressure on Yaounde to engage genuine, inclusive dialogue with Ambazonia leaders. After all, the world only seeks to solve a problem affecting the world, that is, the strategic interests of the big players; they are not drawn by moral, humanitarian considerations. So, if Yaounde was having the situation under control, why would the world waste scarce resources here?

Despite or because of the creation of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee (also obviously in Biya’s end of year speech calculations) which looked like an olive branch weeks ago, government forces increased their fire power, hoping to build on undisputable gains from what they thought would have the impact of “serial” decapitation killings of Ambazonia field commanders.

Because of DDR and the hope that offer of amnesty to “misled good boys” dragged into the bush by “criminal bad boys” would instigate desertion by some Ambazonia fighters as Dr Simon Munzu lamented in a recent TV interview or a mutiny, government forces might also have hoped for some rudderless or demoralized combatants to surrender to government forces or naively throw themselves into government ambush, get massacred in quantums and their bodies displayed as signs of failure of their resistance.

Yes, some field commanders have been killed. Yes, the “Bali Massacre” and the Batibo/Guzang “friendly fire” backstabbing left big wounds in the heart of the Amba revolution, and there have been other factional tragedies. But there are no signs of decapitation, demoralization, induced (not coordinated) demobilization nor even desertion from the rebellion (DDDDR).

It is a good guess that recent gun battle resistance by Ambazonia forces, including some reported ruthless actions taken against captured government forces are calculated moves to dictate the soundbites that reach international media and foreign governments.

Now, it is obvious Biya cannot deliver a victory speech tonight. The Ambazonia resistance has not been crushed. The world won’t be fooled by a “victory” soundbite. Biya will have to cave in to talks as the only way of making peace with the Ambazonia resistance.

By Franklin Sone Bayen

5, January 2019

China’s Xi orders army to be battle-ready amid US tension ⁰

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the country’s armed forces to get prepared for a “comprehensive military struggle” amid escalating tensions with the United States.

Addressing a meeting of the Central Military Commission in Beijing Friday, the president urged the armed forces to strengthen their sense of urgency and do everything possible to prepare for battle.

Xi said the world is in an era of drastic changes and “China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development,” Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

He said various predicable and unpredictable risks and challenges have been arising and that the armed forces needed to be able to respond quickly to emergencies and nurture new types of combat forces.

Xi’s remarks follow his speech on the 40th anniversary of a key Taiwan policy statement in which he said Beijing would make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserved the option of taking all necessary means to achieve “reunification” with Taiwan.

PressTV-China: Independence to bring profound disaster to Taiwan

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty under a policy known as “One China.”

‘Sinking US warships will resolve tensions’

A senior naval official said recently that tensions with the US will easily be resolved if the Chinese naval forces sink two of American warships in the South China Sea.

The deputy head of a Chinese military academy Admiral Lou Yuan said in an address late last month that “what the United States fears the most is taking casualties.”

He said sinking one carrier only would kill 5,000 and sinking two would double that number.

Beijing should, Lou said, deal with Washington by using an “asymmetric counter-attack,” that is “use our strengths to attack the enemy’s weaknesses. Whatever the enemy fears, we strike. Wherever the enemy is soft, we will exploit it.”

US military presence in the sea has long been a source of concern for Beijing which claims almost the entire South China Sea.

Beijing has also warned Washington that close 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.

The US, however, says military operations are meant to protect “freedom of navigation” in the sea, a gateway for trillions of dollars in maritime trade each year.

Taiwan appeals for support

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who accuses Beijing of interfering in the island’s political and social development, called on Saturday for international support.

“We hope that the international community takes it seriously and can voice support and help us,” Tsai told reporters in the capital Taipei.

She said if the international community did not support her government, “we might have to ask which country might be next.”

Taiwan has already lost several allies one after another since Tsai took office in 2016. Only last year, it lost three allies, who switched diplomatic allegiance to Beijing, leaving Taiwan now with just 17.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (C) speaks with US President-elect Donald Trump through a speaker phone in the capital Taipei on December 2, 2016. (Photo by AP)

China says Taiwan is historically part of its territory, with no right to formal diplomatic ties of its own with other countries.

Almost all countries, including the US, recognize Chinese sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan. Washington, however, has long courted Taipei in an attempt to counter China.

US President Donald Trump signed the so-called Taiwan Travel Act last year, which encourages high-level visits between the two sides, despite Beijing’s strong opposition.

Taiwan and the mainland separated amid a civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the island under its control — by force if necessary.

Source: Presstv

5, January 2019

US deploys army to secure Congo-Kinshasa election ⁰

The United States has deployed military personnel to Gabon, in anticipation of possible violent demonstrations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, when results of a presidential election are declared.

In a letter to congressional leaders, president Donald Trump said the first batch of about 80 military personnel arrived in Gabon on Wednesday.

He said they ‘will remain in the region until the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo becomes such that their presence is no longer needed’.

5, January 2019

Chief Dr. Dion Ngute’s invitation to “Come and Chop” ⁰

President Paul Biya has appointed Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute as the new Prime Minister replacing Philemon Yang. The appointment was made public some 24 hours after his residence was burnt down by Ambazonian Restoration Forces in his native Bobongo, Ekondo Titi in the Ndian County of Southern Cameroons

Joseph Dion Ngute was Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic. Born on March 12, 1954, Joseph Dion Ngute is a career diplomat with a Ph.D from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom attached to his name.

He was rector of the Advanced School of Administration and Magistracy ENAM in 1991 before joining the Biya ruling CPDM clan on the 7^th of December 1997 when he was appointed as Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External Relations in Charge of the Commonwealth. Joseph Dion Ngute also moonlights as the traditional ruler of the Barombi tribe, Ndian County in Southern Cameroons.

Dion Ngute’s appointment and the war in Southern Cameroons

Rotating the post of Prime Minister between the two Southern Cameroons zones with these men of yesteryears will not resolve the Anglophone crisis. Moderate Southern Cameroons political commentators have opined that “If Biya wants to save Cameroon from implosion, he should without further delay, return Cameroon to a federal system with a rotating presidency.” “Only such bold initiatives which give Anglophones a stake in the country called Cameroon can convince Ambazonians to reconsider their struggle for independence.”

All these musical chair appointments are token measures of appeasement a smack of desperation to fuel the NW/SW schism and divide the resistance. It might have worked before, but it will fail because people like Musonge, Philemon Yang, and Dion Ngute no longer speak on behalf of Anglophones. His house was burnt just yesterday, and this should signal to Biya that Dion, like other SW CPDM elite, are considered traitors of the Ambazonia struggle. His appointment as PM is just an invitation for him and his cronies to “come and chop”

5, January 2019

There are reasons why the Swiss won’t stop President Biya’s Geneva stays ⁰

Reports in 2018 that alleged Cameroon’s president Paul Biya runs his country from a Geneva hotel raise questions whether official Switzerland can intervene in such cases.

Neutral Switzerland, and international Geneva in particular, have long been known as a playground for the rich. But should the Swiss clamp down when some of these people, like Biya, are linked to regimes with dubious democratic records in corrupt countries?

According to a report in early 2018 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Cameroonian president has spent at least 1,645 days on private visits abroad since he came to power in 1982, and Geneva is by far his favourite destination. The Hotel Intercontinental in Geneva with its swimming pool and view of Mont Blanc is the residence of choice for the Cameroonian presidential couple.

“According to reporters’ conservative calculations – based on publicly available hotel room prices and a compilation of entourage lists – the total hotel bill of Biya and his colleagues for one stay at Intercontinental adds up to around $40,000 per day,” says OCCRP. “At that rate, the cost of all of the president’s private trips (1,645 days in total) would add up to about $65 million since he came to power – and that’s not counting food, entertainment and the rental of a private plane.”

A traffic light in the foreground of an image of the Intercontinental hotel — (Keystone)

A report by the Wall Street Journal in November 2018 said that since Biya became head of state the hotel is transformed several times a year into a kind of offshore presidential palace for several weeks. According to the WSJ, Biya pays for everything in cash. A normal stay costs several million Swiss francs (about the same in US dollars), according to Christian Penda Ekoka, who was Biya’s chief advisor before moving to the opposition. Ekoka told the WSJ that the money came directly from the treasury, and that everything was paid in cash to prevent the trips appearing in the state account.

Cameroonian protestors

Another report by Swiss public broadcaster RTS in June this year also highlighted Geneva as a “paradise for dictators”. It includes some scenes of the frequent demonstrations by Cameroonian exiles outside the Hotel Intercontinental when Biya is there. “Shame on Switzerland!” they cry. “It’s taxpayers’ money!” “He is stealing the money from the oil of our anglophone region, which is in ruins.”

Cameroon has a reputation for corruption. In 1998 and 1999 it was ranked bottom of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, and in 2017 it was rated 153rd out of 180 countries. Although Biya is recognized as the legitimate president of Cameroon, his democratic credentials are questionable. The francophone president, 85, won re-election for a seventh term this October in what foreignpolicy.com called a “master class in fake democracy”. That election took place amid an upsurge of rebellion in the country’s anglophone regions, which has been violently repressed by his security forces.

According to the International Crisis Group, “Cameroon’s structural weaknesses (hyper-centralisation, no separation of powers, restriction of civil liberties, corruption of state officials, weak institutions and failure to renew its leadership) are becoming more problematic each passing year. President Paul Biya, in power for 36 years, governs through a combination of clientelism, manipulation of ethnic rivalries and routine human rights violations.”

So what should Switzerland do?

So is Biya’s frequent presence in Geneva an embarrassment for Switzerland, and should it act? “Foreign heads of state can – in a private capacity – stay in Switzerland without the federal authorities being formally informed or involved in the visit,” the foreign ministry told swissinfo.ch.

“As a legitimate head of state, he has a right to travel, especially to Geneva which is the seat of many international organizations,” says Marc Guéniat, Senior Researcher at Swiss NGO Public Eye. “What is problematic is that he spends so much time at taxpayers’ expense, taking over an entire floor of a 5-star hotel.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, which spoke to several former hotel managers, the Intercontinental vacates the entire sixteenth floor for Biya and his entourage, sometimes adding around 30 rooms on other floors.

“He’s not wanted by Interpol, so it’s not a legal question,” says analyst Daniel Warner, a retired former deputy head of the Geneva Institute of International and Development Studies. “Unless he’s on trial somewhere, it’s a political question and a judgment question, and as a neutral country what do you expect the Geneva or Swiss authorities to do? If he’s wanted for a crime, that would be something different, but there is no formal legal process against him.”

Some people nevertheless think Switzerland could do more, starting with tighter checks on visas and on cash coming into the country. One angry Cameroonian demonstrating outside the Geneva Intercontinental in the RTS report tells a Swiss police officer that if Biya “has come to live in Switzerland” he should ask for his residence permit like everyone else.

Asked what the visa regulations are for non-European heads of state visiting Switzerland, the foreign ministry told swissinfo.ch that “when a head of State comes on a private visit to Switzerland he is subject to the same rules as any other foreigner staying in Switzerland”. It did not, however, directly answer the question of who delivers the visas and how long such heads of state are allowed to stay.

Cash rules

Unlike the EU, Switzerland does not automatically require a declaration when importing large amounts of cash. However, under an Ordinance of 2009, Swiss customs officials can request information “on the import, export and transit of cash in an amount of at least CHF10,000 or an equivalent amount in foreign currency”, including the reasons and origin of the money. If there is suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing, the customs office can also request information when the amount of cash is less than CHF10,000 ($10,000).

As a head of state, Biya enjoys diplomatic immunity. This was confirmed by the foreign ministry. “A sitting head of state enjoys, according to international customary law, absolute legal immunity (for both public and private acts) and personal inviolability,” the ministry said in response to swissinfo.ch. “As for the members of his entourage, the statute they may be granted in Switzerland is examined on a case by case basis, according to the aim of the visit and the function they perform.”

Brazil recently seized millions of dollars from the luggage of a delegation accompanying Teodorin Obiang Nguema, the playboy Vice-President of Equatorial Guinea who is also a frequent visitor to Switzerland. But “Teodorino”, unlike Biya, has a court ruling against him. He was sentenced in France in absentia in October 2017 to a suspended three-year prison sentence for money laundering. And in that case, the Swiss authorities seized luxury cars and a yacht belonging to him, at the request of the French authorities.

Culled from Swissinfo.ch

4, January 2019

UNICEF says 400,000 children in Southern Cameroons need aid ⁰

According to the United Nations Children Emergency Fund, UNICEF, some 400,000 children are in need as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons. UNICEF revealed that approximately 309, 0000 of the children (77%) are in the Northern and Southern Zones adding that some 206,000 are badly in need of immediate assistance.

The report further pointed out that since 2016, political and social instability exacerbated by sporadic violence, impacted negatively the life of the civilian population of Southern Cameroons. Correspondingly, more than 437,000 persons have been displaced.

Going by the report, the Child Protection Area of Responsibility has been activated in October, along with the activation of the other clusters. Its response strategy will focus on 4 different pillars: prevention of further abuse; response to children victims of abuse; capacity building of local actors and communities on child protection; advocacy and multisector collaboration on child protection.

By Sama Ernest

4, January 2019

Southern Cameroons War: Minister Dion Ngute’s house set on fire ⁰

Southern Cameroons fighters defending the Ndian County have set the residence of Minister Dion Ngute ablaze to protest his continued loyalty to the Biya Francophone regime in French Cameroun. Joseph Dion Ngute who also moonlights as the traditional ruler of the Barombi tribe is currently a Minister without portfolio in the Biya regime.

The massive villa was reportedly built with stolen oil money from the Bakassi Peninsular and diamond reserves in the Ndian County. The palace located in the Minister’s native Bobongo, Ekondo Titi was torched on Thursday by heavily armed Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

Several frontline Anglophone CPDM barons have been shortlisted for attacks including Chief Tabetando, Peter Mafany Musonge and Elvis Ngolle Ngolle. The Dion Ngute residence was burnt late in the night and gun shots were fired from behind the building. It should be recalled that Joseph Dion Ngute was attacked at the Cameroon embassy in South Africa on August 6^th 2017 while on a mission to dialogue with the Southern Cameroons Diaspora.

By Rita Akana