Editorial

14, April 2025

Burkina Faso: Where vision meets discipline ⁰

Burkina Faso is in the news and spotlight for all the right reasons. A once desperate nation is pointing many African countries in the right direction. The message from Ouagadougou is clear – No initiative succeeds without discipline and vision.

African countries are not poor; they have simply allowed others to design a narrative of poverty for them. For centuries, the “lords of the universe” have planted poverty in our minds and we seem to think that our poverty is divine. No, it is not. All money comes from Mother Earth and only those who understand the science of money are wealthy.

The young Burkinabe president, Ibrahim Traore, understands how wealth creation works. He has the vision and discipline to generate wealth. That is what is putting his country on the path to wealth and admiration.

Given his age, not many gave him a chance when he came to power. Many thought that without the regular allegiance to the West, Traore would not last six months in power. But the young man had his priorities properly arranged. He knew that the development of his country without Western support would be an uphill climb; he also knew that no wealth is greater than a people’s support and he has attracted his people to his side.

In this regard, he charmed his people with his simplicity and charisma. He drafted a magnificent communication strategy, knowing that his opponents and enemies were adept at manipulation and that effective communication would be their weapon of choice. His counter-offensive is working. The captain is the man of the moment around the world.

He did not just stop at talking. He knew Burkina Faso had a rich sub-soil which if properly managed could bring about instant economic transformation. He and his team immediately called for a reform of the mining sector which was in the hands of foreigners who were robbing the country blind.

Many of those companies did not pay their fair share of taxes and the former corrupt politicians prioritized self-interest above national sovereignty and economic progress. Today, the country’s gold is being refined in the country and most artisanal mining has disappeared, leaving the government with a huge revenue stream.

Reforming the mining sector has not only cut off the supply of money to terrorists, it also nets the country over USD 7 billion dollars a year. In 2024, Burkina Faso earned USD 6.48 billion dollars in gold sales alone, with Switzerland spending over USD 5 billion to obtain Burkina Faso’s gold.

But Burkina Faso does not only have gold. There is bauxite, there is iron, there is manganese and, above all, there is the right mindset. Of all the resources God has put on the surface of the earth, the human mind is the largest and the most sophisticated and Burkina Faso leaders are clearly buttressing this point.

Besides, the natural resource, governance is also a key factor. The country’s governance has improved ever since Traore and his patriotic friends took over. The country’s new leaders are transparent and determined to pull the country out of the jaws of poverty and many things are already falling in place, increasing the popular support he enjoys. Traore understands that no security system is stronger than the people’s support and he is making the most of this support by implementing projects which are pro-poor.

Captain Traore understands that much money without manufacturing could lead to inflation. He also understands that a restless youth without jobs is a huge pool of willing fighters who can easily be manipulated. Poverty hardly breeds virtue! That is why he is setting up factories which are creating jobs for young Burkinabe. He understands that a hungry man is an angry man who can easily be manipulated. He is not giving his enemies the least chance for them to manipulate his people. He is making the most of social media and the results on the ground are a faithful representation of what he says. His word is his bond!

Factories are popping up every day. Housing projects are taking shape while road construction once considered a rocket science by many Africans has been demystified. The young captain has declared that his government will be tarring 3,000 km to 5,000 km of road each year and he means it and this is music to many ears in Burkina Faso.

But manufacturing is just one sector. The young captain has adopted a holistic approach to development. His government is underscoring the importance of agriculture. Recently, it imported over 400 pieces of farming equipment which were handed over to enthusiastic farmers. The country is today one of the largest producer of wheat on the continent and the wheat is being transformed into flour.

The new leaders in Ouagadougou have packaged agriculture differently, making it more attractive to young Africans who once thought it was for the poor and illiterate. Even the country’s military is proudly involved in food production today. These efforts have put the once hungry country on the path to food security and sovereignty. Hunger is slowly being rolled out of the country and the nationals of this desert country are proud of their leaders.

No African country is financially poor. Corrupt and incompetent leadership is what is keeping many African countries in humiliating poverty which is pushing the continent’s youths to deserts, jungles and seas where they are dying in their bid to reach the Western world.

The continent’s sub-soil is rich. The continent accounts for more than 50% of the world’s mineral resources. It also accounts for 60% of the world’s arable land. Its demographic dividend is wealth other continents do not have.

Burkina Faso’s silent revolution and transformation should be a wake up call to other African leaders. Captain Traore is clearly demonstrating that wearing military fatigue is not a sign of incompetence. On the contrary, he is proving that democracy is not designed for civilians alone. Real democracy, according to him, implies loving your people and your country.

Democracy, the one run by civilians which is unnecessarily expensive, has hurt many African countries. Costly elections will not take Africa out of poverty. Africa needs leaders with a clear vision and the right discipline if this continent has to make grinding poverty a thing of the past. Captain Traore is a living example of humility, patriotism and determination. Many African leaders need to take a leaf from his book if they must kiss poverty goodbye.

By Dr Joachim Arrey

4, April 2025

Prosecution of journalists in Cameroon: European Parliament says enough red flags have been ignored ⁰

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted human rights resolutions on Cameroon.

Prosecution of journalists in Cameroon, including the cases of Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior, and Tsi Conrad

The EU Parliament condemns the systematic violations of journalists’ human rights by the Cameroonian authorities and calls on them to ensure press freedom ahead of the country’s 2025 presidential election.

MEPs demand the immediate and unconditional release of Amadou Vamoulké, Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka, Mancho Bibixy, Thomas Awah Junior, and Tsi Conrad.

They emphasise that their rights and access to medical care must be guaranteed. Parliament urges the EU and its member states to raise these cases with Cameroon’s authorities; as well as to apply diplomatic and economic pressure to improve the respect for human rights in the country.

Additionally, MEPs demand an end to military trials for civilians and to the misuse of terrorism and ‘fake news’ charges against journalists. They call on the EU to support a UN fact-finding mission, and demand the offer of humanitarian visas for journalists at risk of persecution.

25, March 2025

1982-2025: How long will Biya hang on? ⁰

President Paul Biya may not be ready to give up power any time soon, according to Cameroon Intelligence Report sources. The country is at the mercy of Biya and his appointees and remains in the limbo of an uncertain presidential election moment. Biya’s prolonged grip on power has generated crises. Cameroon Intelligence Report is aware that a crackdown had begun that included the arrest of journalists and senior opposition militants.

Our editor-in-chief Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai says at 92, Paul Biya is not in any hurry to leave office. He spoke to Cameroon Concord News in an interview after reports came out that the Minister-Secretary General at the presidency of the republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh had met the Archbishop of Douala, His Grace Archbishop Samuel Kleda.

As members of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate close ranks around their beleaguered president and suggest that he will face off with any opposition candidate, Soter Agbaw-Ebai, is one of the few Cameroonian journalists with insight into Biya’s thinking and a willingness to share it.

“Mr. Biya has lived and ruled Cameroon from the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva for 42 years, and that is his problem,” says Soter Agbaw-Ebai.

“Frankly speaking, Biya’s acolytes are giving him the impression that people love him and I don’t know if there is anyone deep within his entourage who can muster the courage and make him understand that the people have taken the decision to vote against him in October.”

Cameroonians will reject Biya this 2025, Soter Agbaw-Ebai says, but Biya and his men are likely to seek a way to hang on to power. “I personally think the elections will be rigged and there will be an uprising that will put Biya to shame.”

“Biya’s government is broke and doesn’t have the money to pay for any elections. Parliamentarians are happy that he extended their failed mandate and they are pushing Biya to use presidential powers and develop plans to work in his favor against the Cameroonian people” Agbaw-Ebai concluded.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Dublin

25, February 2025

How Biya and Archbishop Nkea protected the sanctity of the family in Cameroon ⁰

Biya did not sign any Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law and he also did not give homosexuality a life sentence. But the “old fox” was actively involved in many behind-the-scenes actions with powerful religious voices including Archbishop Andrew Nkea to prevent former US President Joe Biden from making numerous strides to uplift the LGBTQ community deep within the Central African region.

Joe Biden’s pro-LGBTQ highlights included numerous professionals he reportedly assigned to US federal agencies. His administration made numerous comments in support of the LGBTQ community and on April 15, 2021, Biden announced that his administration was sending a gay person, Christopher John Lamora, to be the next United States Ambassador to Cameroon.

The decision did not go down well with many people in Cameroon. In Cameroon just like in many African countries, the business of being gay is a risky business. It is not fashionable in Cameroon for a man to bend over forward for another man but the Biden Administration wanted to change that. African men love their beautiful women and their best style is the missionary style.

The fight to undermine the American gay stance was not easy and everyone in the West African country was aware that the American gay ambassador would leave the country bruised and frustrated. His business lacked a market in Cameroon.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that on April 19, 2021, John Lamora’s nomination was sent to the US Senate. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 9, 2021. The committee reported him favorably on June 24, 2021 and on December 18, 2021; Lamora was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote.

The gay arrived in Cameroon on March 5, 2022 and presented his credentials to foreign minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella who is not really young on March 21, 2022. An unprecedented fracas had occurred in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital. Biden and his men knew that if Cameroon fell, the entire CEMAC region would fall too!

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Bamenda, His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea fired the first salvos and sounded a note of caution to the regime in Yaoundé. Archbishop Andrew Nkea also sent powerful signals to the Vatican saying marriage was a union between a man and a woman and anything outside that was witchcraft in its superlative degree.

Many CPDM regime insiders were concerned about a gay US ambassador in Yaoundé and the impact that may have on the wider CEMAC region. Four secret meetings were held inside the Unity Palace on how to deal with the situation without destroying the long standing relations with the United States of America.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the CPDM wise men supported by a well placed Cameroonian citizen in the US successfully identified the so-called “husband” of Ambassador Christopher John Lamora and included his name on the list of people banned from entering Cameroon. Etoudi decided not to make it public for fear of reprisal from the Biden administration. Cameroon will not tolerate homosexuality and the business of gay sex was not lucrative in Cameroon.

Life in Yaoundé became boring for Ambassador John Lamora to the extent that he was heard murmuring privately that he wanted his tenure to come to end for him to leave. Yaoundé had become a massive living Hell to him. He had a choice – Enjoy organic sex with a beautiful Cameroonian lady or spend time masturbating in his bathroom.

His saving grace came when Donald Trump, a man who has a bone to pick with homosexuals, asked all of them to resign and return home where they can engage in their ungodly habit.

President Biya and Archbishop Nkea successfully protected the sanctity of the family in Cameroon through strategic thinking and determination. Homosexual sex is not admired in Yaoundé. It is hated more than the garbage heaps which have become the town’s hallmark.

Yaoundé might be dirty and it is disgusting. But throwing homosexual sex into the mix will ruin any morality which still exists in the country. Who says Biya is not working? Fighting homosexuals is not a walk in the park. Biya has won a battle. He however still has many more challenges to deal with. He has rolled back homosexual sex in Yaoundé; at 92, will he be able to roll back the opposition that is advancing to Etoudi?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

20, February 2025

October Presidential Election: Will 92-year-old Biya be re-elected? ⁰

It actually seems like a done deal even though Cameroonians both French and English speaking will not vote for him.

Shortly after he took office from the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo, he pretended to be a man of rigour and moralization. And after 42 years in power, it is now certain that President Paul Biya will be running for an eighth term, and he is expected to win comfortably without campaigning.

He has not submitted the necessary documents to run on October 11, but the activities of his acolytes are quashing any uncertainty surrounding his decision. To justify his intention to run, senior Cameroon government officials from his Beti Bulu tribal extraction have been busy explaining that at 92, he is being urged to do so by other political parties and the civil society.

In fact, Cameroon’s numerous opposition parties have not put forth any credible candidate for the elections. Even the SDF of Joshua Osih and the MRC of Maurice Kamto have still not even formed a coalition.

No specific reason has been put forward to justify why a 92-year-old man still wants to remain in office. Biya’s only curt explanation is that he has experience that has failed to deliver anything positive to the Cameroonian people leaving observers perplexed.

His cabinet ministers and ELECAM officials, the body responsible for organizing elections in Cameroon are busy making things harder for opponents to mobilize their bases and to organize protests. Employees and civil servants who attempt to strike are ruthlessly crushed and severely dealt with!

Biya’s ministers have been campaigning for several months now but there is nothing for them to take advantage of in each outing to boast about his record.

Biya’s 42-years in office have been a prominent and successful failure in the fight against corruption. He has been unable to recover money held abroad by oligarchs close to him. All what his Special Criminal Court claims to do in the fight against corruption ranges from plain fiction to the most absurd. Cameroon as a nation is losing everything including its international presence.

In his forty-two year presidency, Cameroon became the first African country to introduce unemployment benefits for traditional rulers who have all abandoned their villages and are currently living in big cities such as Douala and Yaoundé.

Covid-19 funding disappeared amid rising inflation and Cameroonians have never benefited from increase in oil and gas prices under his leadership. Biya’s repression of civil liberties remains an indelible black mark on his administration. Yaoundé still has more than 5000 Southern Cameroons prisoners of conscience, including journalists, activists and the leader of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

The disintegration of the Anglophone press over the last six years following the Ambazonia uprising has been frightening. The few independent media houses that exist in French speaking Cameroon face financial troubles due to the difficulty of accessing funding of any kind.

Anglophone journalists are subject to regular intimidation that has become formalized in recent years through the arrest and harassment of those who speak critically of the Francophone dominated regime. Journalists who will be allowed to cover the presidential elections will most likely be, as for previous elections, handpicked by the authorities. This will not be a new occurrence.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are of the opinion that the presidential elections will be a hoax. So, boycott or participate is the question that Cameroonian political parties and voters will face this coming October.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

17, February 2025

Why is Biya seeking re-election? ⁰

Many Cameroonians thought that after 42 years in power and following the crash of his reputation both at home and abroad, Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, will no longer run for the presidency, and especially as his health has become a cause for concern.

Biya has reigned over his country for decades and during his time in power, a lot has gone wrong with a country once considered as an earthly paradise by many. The country’s economy has collapsed, the country’s youths are frustrated and depressed, and unemployment in the country has reached record levels.

Despite Mr. Biya’s dismal performance over the last four decades, militants of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement are still pushing for their chairman to seek re-election to extend President Biya’s term after forty long and frustrating years in power.

In today’s editorial meeting in London, the Cameroon Concord News Group Paris bureau chief jokingly said that Mr. Biya needed a 7-year extension because he was looking forward to addressing a few things before leaving power at the age of 100 years.

Biya’s candidacy in the upcoming October presidential election, he said, was justified, adding that the next 7-year term would make him president for life.

The October presidential election is already shrouded in uncertainty amid restrictions on free speech imposed by the country’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, to curb the spread of anti-Biya actions.

The 92-year-old Biya said in a recent address to Cameroonian youths that he wanted the election to go ahead to guarantee his continued stay in power, advising the country’s youths to shun propaganda and misinformation that might hurt them in the long run as if they are not already hurt.

The Francophone dominated Cameroon opposition has accused the out-of-touch regime of putting political gain ahead of national progress and development in its push for Biya to contest the election.

Biya and his ruling CPDM party control everything in Cameroon including the use of condoms but are short of declaring Cameroon a kingdom.

Two prominent CPDM officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Cameroon Concord News that Cameroon as a nation was on the brink and that if appropriate measures were not taken, the country would hit rock bottom in a few months.

“Biya is running because he is ashamed and his conscience is now judging him,” one of our sources in Yaoundé said, adding that “his 42-year reign has brought untold hardship to millions of Cameroonians who once saw Biya as a youthful and effective solution to the country’s problems.”

Biya, our source added, had disappointed many and that he completely out of touch with the country’s youths who are in the majority.

“There is a massive disconnect between Biya and the youths in Cameroon. We live in a world wherein technology is being leveraged to address socio-economic issues, but Biya and his people are stuck in the past. We hope if he gets the next seven years, he will be able to correct some of the mistakes he and his government have made over the last four decades,” the source concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

14, February 2025

Southern Cameroons: Ngarbuh massacre victims wait for justice five years on ⁰

Brutal violence has taken hold in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions since 2016 as armed separatist groups seek independence for the country’s minority Anglophone regions. Attacks on communities and acts of banditry have become the norm.

Government security forces were deployed to stop attacks and bring stability, but the conflict has only deepened. Security forces and separatist groups have both been responsible for serious abuses against civilians. One gruesome case, however, highlights the security forces’ role in cold-blooded attacks and the government’s attempts to delay any accountability.

On February 14, 2020, Cameroonian soldiers and armed ethnic Fulani raided Ngarbuh, in the North-West region, killing at least 21 civilians, including 13 children, and burning homes. Bodies of some victims were found charred inside their homes. The killings shattered the community and sent shockwaves throughout the country. The attack was a reprisal against residents whom government forces accused of collaborating with separatist fighters.

The government initially denied its troops were involved in the massacre and described allegations against them as fake. But following sustained national and international pressure, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya established a commission of inquiry in March 2020. The government eventually admitted the role of security forces in the attack and announced the arrest of two soldiers and a gendarme in June 2020.

A trial opened in December 2020 before a military court in the capital Yaoundé. However, the trial has faced numerous delays and has been marred by irregularities. Hearings have been postponed multiple times for various reasons, including the absence of judges and other court members. Victims’ families have had minimal participation in the proceedings and the court has refused to admit key evidence, including death certificates. Senior officers have not been arrested or charged, and 17 ethnic-Fulani vigilantes, who were also charged with murder, remain at large.

The last hearing took place on October 17, 2024, and the next is scheduled for February 20. The glacial pace of the proceedings has victims’ families wondering if justice will ever be rendered.

The Ngarbuh trial is an opportunity for the government to show its people and the world it can hold its senior officers responsible. The question is whether Cameroon’s judiciary will act.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

11, February 2025

11 February: Paul Biya’s empty speech ⁰

My dear young compatriots,

In my message to you last year, in similar circumstances, shortly after our country’s challenging campaign at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Côte d’Ivoire, I assured you that we would return to winning ways.

Our brilliant qualification for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations tournament to be hosted by Morocco, is testimony to the remarkable achievements of which, you, our talented and courageous youth are capable, by dint of hard work and discipline.

On behalf of you all, I would like to sincerely congratulate our brave Indomitable Lions and their managers. I urge them to forge ahead this path, to continue bringing joy and pride to the Cameroonian people and to set an example to our youth. The Government, under my leadership, will spare no effort to give them all the support they need.

However, I believe I should emphasize here, that the positive momentum we are celebrating together today will bear fruit only if harmony, solidarity and team spirit prevail within and around the team. In this regard, I appeal to the sense of responsibility of all stakeholders.

My dear young compatriots,

This year holds many challenges for our country, our people and our youth. In my recent address to the Nation, I reviewed the constraints awaiting us in our quest for progress.

Some of them stem from the international environment and others from our country’s internal circumstances. I will not come back on that.

On the same occasion, I also highlighted the commendable efforts made by the Government to address these constraints and to actively continue to improve the living conditions of our fellow-citizens, based on strong economic growth and the need to maintain peace and security.

While the vast majority appreciated the sincerity of my message, some pessimists chose to focus on the fact that one thing or another had not been done, or had not yet been done, disregarding the real and verifiable constraints I mentioned.

My dear young compatriots,

Let me assure you: Whatever the criticism, I will always speak the language of truth to you.

And the truth is that, despite the multiple and complex obstacles to our development efforts, we have achieved very much together. Tremendous strides have been made in recent years, thanks to our combined efforts and the unwavering support you have lent me.

My dear young compatriots,

I know that, as with all young people worldwide, your education and training mean everything to you. Understandably, you are particularly concerned about your entry into the labour market.

Let’s talk about your training for a moment.

It is clear that, with each passing year, the training opportunities are getting better and better in terms of quantity and quality.

The school and university landscape continues to expand and diversify with the establishment of new primary, secondary and higher education institutions.

New specialized courses are regularly introduced in government secondary schools and universities. The professionalization of training curricula is ongoing in all types of education systems to provide young graduates with the requisite technical skills likely to facilitate their access to the labour market.

Similarly, through operational training centres, young people without qualifications can learn a trade and find their place in society. In this regard, I am delighted with the opening of the Nanga-Eboko and Lembe-Yézoum vocational training centres. Other centres are being built in various localities around the country.

I have also instructed the Government to fast-track the setting-up of municipal employment offices, to provide optimum support for young jobseekers.

Furthermore, the number of learners in Vocational Training Centres of Excellence has increased significantly following the reduction in tuition fees in these institutions.

My dear young compatriots,

No country is spared by the youth unemployment phenomenon. Commendable efforts are ongoing to reduce it. To this end, I have instructed the Government to establish a regulatory framework to support the recruitment of first-time jobseekers.

This mechanism is intended to provide better support to young people who have never had a job and to help them find their first job.

The National Directory of Jobs, Trades and Professions has also been set up with this goal in mind. It will help to consolidate, analyse and disseminate information on available job opportunities in our country.

Furthermore, the Government will continue to ensure that training opportunities are as relevant as possible to actual labour market needs, to prevent many graduates ending up unemployed. Scholarships were awarded to hundreds of young Cameroonians in 2024.

I have also instructed the Government to involve as many young people as possible in preserving the environment and combating climate change.

Such is the objective of the ongoing Green Jobs Promotion Programme. It will ultimately help to create over ten thousand jobs through income-generating activities in areas such as sanitation, waste recycling and organic farming.

In the coming weeks, the contractualization of health workers that I announced at the end of last year will be launched. This initiative will spare thousands of young health sector graduates from social insecurity and improve their living conditions.

As you can see, Government is actively developing strategies and tools to reduce youth unemployment. Many government services are being mobilized for this purpose and substantial financial resources are allocated each year to achieve this goal.

Believe me, I will not relent in the fight I have been waging for years against unemployment, particularly youth unemployment.

My dear young compatriots,

I want to assure you that public service recruitments will continue. However, you know as well as I that, whatever the Government’s determination and our country’s available financial resources, these will never suffice to offer every young person a job in the public service or in the private sector.

I can understand the frustration of many of you. Unfortunately, this frustration leads some of you to wander off the beaten path, and to go astray.

Others, in desperation, choose the perilous and devious route of illegal immigration, with often tragic outcomes, as we are aware.

And yet, as you know, paid employment is not the only means to enter the labour market.

Other avenues exist. Once again, I urge you to explore opportunities in sectors such as agriculture and livestock farming. You should draw inspiration from the success stories of Samuel Tony OBAM BIKOUE, who has established an agro-industry, or the young TATA BAKARY, who now runs a large farming complex.

Let me remind you that you are definitely the most technology-savvy generation. So take advantage of digital technology to create self-employment opportunities and to address the challenges of your time.

I would also encourage you to participate in the moral, civic and entrepreneurial rearmament programme that the Government has designed to strengthen your civic engagement.

My dear young compatriots,

I understand your legitimate desire to realize your dreams and improve your living conditions. It is only natural that you expect the Government to provide appropriate solutions to the issues that are vital to your fulfilment.

This year, once again, our country will hold important elections. This will afford those of you who meet the legal requirements, the opportunity to freely exercise your civic duty. When the time comes, it will be up to you to make your choice responsibly, in peace and quiet.

Therefore, I urge you not to pay heed to the siren calls by some irresponsible individuals. Do not let them use you to achieve their evil plans of wreaking chaos in our beloved and beautiful country.

Also, do not be swayed by the false and often unachievable promises they try to lure you with.

For my part, I assure you that I will continue to stand by your side in addressing the challenges you face.

Happy Youth Day to you all.

Thank you.

28, January 2025

Clock ticking on Biya as pressure to quit Unity Palace increases ⁰

The Etoudi walls appear to be closing in on President Paul Biya in Yaoundé.

Barrister Akere Muna, Archbishop Samuel Kleda, Professor Maurice Kamto and Jean-Michel Nintcheu are about as influential as you can get within the Cameroon political structure and all of them have advised Mr Paul Biya that any attempt on his part to bid for re-election will be unrealistic and a costly mistake.

There are also reports that the late David Abouem à Tchoyi, the former Secretary General at the presidency and CPDM party grandee, had told government insiders that Paul Biya’s path to another term will be unwise, and that he needed to seriously consider the country and the future generation.

All of the names above have publicly called for President Biya to step down and Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that there are many more prominent members of government who are pushing for Biya to go but doesn’t want to be accused of disloyalty to the 92-year-old president.

Recently, the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji and the Minister-Secretary General at the presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh were alarmed by anti Biya statements from top Roman Catholic clerics and some renowned Imams.

Many political commentators believe an extension of Biya’s rule will lead the country into civil war. There’s also some evidence that the Far North region that has always been Mr Biya’s stronghold is now slipping away.

Paul Biya himself has been revising his view on what it would take for him to bow to the growing pressure. These days Unity Palace has been making public presidential decrees reportedly signed by President Biya appointing junior officials to insignificant positions in the administrtion while ignoring more than six vacant ministerial portfolios. Majority of the cabinet ministers died before the COVID 19 pandemic.

His latest appearance on a wheelchair inside Etoudi has exacerbated the ongoing concerns about his age, health and fragility. This does not look great for a leader many Cameroonians already know has overstayed his time in the Unity Palace.

The 2025 presidential election is not just going to be about flying to Maroua and read a speech for five minutes and return to Yaoundé and wait for ELECAM and the constitutional court to declare you as winner. 2025 is also going to be about projecting physical strength as a leader which Biya does not have.

Ultimately, the decision to stand down has to come from Mr Paul Biya. He is dismissive of everything and only relies on the military and his powerful presidential guards.

There are also some CPDM militants still fully behind the 92-year-old president and consider him to still be sharp. They include his wife Chantal Biya, her blood relation Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh who currently moonlights as Minister-Secretary General at the presidency, 90-year-old House Speaker Cavaye Djibril, 91-year-old Senate leader Niat Marcel and a sea of corrupt traditional rulers whose chieftaincy titles are still being contested all over the country.

But with the presidential election barely some few months away and with many deep within the Biya generation now dying like flies, it feels as if the clock has again reset and is ticking.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

23, January 2025

Yaoundé: Hope and Despair in the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison ⁰

Tsi Conrad, a Cameroonian journalist who has been unjustly imprisoned since December 2016, is hopeful that President Donald Trump will continue to call out the Biya regime’s abuses and push for democracy in Cameroon.

When the news that Donald Trump had been reelected reached my cell in Cameroon’s Yaoundé Central Prison, I was filled with both hope and despair. I felt despair because it was a reminder that I have been wrongfully imprisoned for eight years—I was arrested in December 2016, in the wake of his first electoral victory. But I also felt a glimmer of hope, because during his last administration, President Trump took important action to hold the government of Cameroon accountable, and I am hopeful that he will continue to call out the Biya regime’s abuses and push for democracy in Cameroon.

As an independent journalist in Cameroon, I always knew that my work could land me in trouble. Reporters Without Borders has called Cameroon “one of the continent’s most dangerous countries for journalists,” and with good reason—journalists have been harassed, arrested, kidnapped, and even killed. My reporting is particularly sensitive, as it relates to the Anglophone crisis—the civil unrest in the country’s English-speaking regions —and the abuses and atrocities that have occurred in these areas. This topic is not just a professional interest, but a personal one as well: I am from Bamenda, the epicenter of the Anglophone protests.

On December 8, 2016, I was arrested while filming a demonstration at which police shot and killed four people. The police seized and destroyed my camera and tortured me into signing a false confession. In May 2018, after an unfair trial in which I was not even allowed to call defense witnesses, I was convicted on a variety of baseless charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

It is widely recognized that my detention is nothing more than retaliation for my reporting. In fact, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention not only found that my detention is arbitrary and in violation of international law, but also concluded that it “resulted from the exercise of [my] right to freedom of expression.” Numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch, have similarly called for my release.

December 8, 2024, marked the eight-year anniversary of my detention. If this is to be the last Christmas that I celebrated in prison, and if human rights in Cameroon are to stand a chance, then the Trump administration will once again need to step up.

First, the new administration should refuse to reinstate Cameroon’s benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). In 2019, the Trump administration suspended Cameroon from trade preference benefits under AGOA due to “persistent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” including “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and unlawful detention, and torture.” However, Cameroon has recently been lobbying for reinstatement, and the outgoing US ambassador to Cameroon reportedly told Cameroonian officials that the United States is ready to support the country’s reinstatement. But this would send exactly the wrong message, as Cameroon has only become more repressive over the past few years. In 2017, for example, Cameroon received a score of 24 out of 100 in Freedom House’s annual Freedom in the World report; by 2024, its score had declined to 15 out of 100. And as the US State Department has documented, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and torture remain serious concerns.

Second, the United States should impose targeted sanctions on the government officials responsible for serious human rights abuses. Despite Cameroon’s consistently deplorable human rights record, including the repression and detention of journalists, there are no government officials on the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (though the US State Department did announce a policy of imposing visa restrictions relating to the Anglophone crisis in 2021).

And third, with Cameroon’s October 2025 presidential election fast approaching, the Trump administration should emphasize in all its meetings with Cameroonian officials that a free and fair election cannot occur without a free and independent media. While there are many restrictions on the media that need to be addressed, perhaps the most important—and the easiest for the government to fix—is the detention of journalists who criticize its actions. The United States should therefore demand that I and the other detained journalists be released before the election so that we—and the many others who have been intimidated into silence—can do our jobs.

Culled from Freedom House.Org