Interim Government Statement on the Murder of a Physicist in Kumba

Last Thursday, 1 July 2021, 52-year-old Mr Fuh Max Dang, a Physics teacher at GBHS Kumba, Meme County, was murdered by unidentified gunmen in the presence of his children after returning from work. The Interim Government condemns this atrocity robustly.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his close family and friends during this challenging time. The Interim Government of Ambazonia directed Ambazonia Intelligence Services to open an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the tragedy.

While the investigation was still ongoing, The Interim Government of Ambazonia aimed not to make any statements that may influence its outcome. Late last night, Ambazonia Intelligence Services briefed the Interim Government that initial reports attributing the murder because Mr Fuh was a teacher are unsubstantiated. The investigation into this tragedy is still inconclusive, and the Interim Government of Ambazonia will report soonest as more facts are made available.

On Sunday 4 July 2021, in Bamenda, the French Cameroon army opened fire and killed Mr Njibril Dula in an unprovoked attack in Below Foncha neighborhood in Bamenda. The victim was unarmed in his car. This attack bears similarities with the execution of Mr Fuh Max Dang. These executions of unarmed citizens going about their business are the hallmarks of a regime on its last legs. For a long time now, Ambazonia Intelligence Services have reported that local militias loyal to the regime in Yaoundé have been carrying out executions with the intent of pinning their criminalities on our self-defense forces. So, we call on our self-defense forces to remain vigilant.

Self-defense is a right, and it is a core component of our liberation struggle. However, The Interim Government wants to caution all genuine self-defense forces within Ambazonia that acts of violence on persons for being teachers are intolerable. We must not target any non-combatants also. We know our enemy and must remain focused as we march towards Buea. The Ambazonia we intend to build will need talents from all walks of life, and we cannot afford to waste lives.

To all in Ground Zero, the Interim Government of Ambazonia urges you to persevere, for victory is coming our way soon. Soon, and very soon, we will be free. We call on the UN to commission a Security Council Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the atrocities in this conflict. Such a mission will curb the loss of lives and bring this war to an end.

Thank You, and God Bless You

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Cameroon has been in the throes of a military conflict for more than four years now and the violence has continued to claim both civilian and military lives.

In Bamenda on Sunday, a young man was killed by soldiers in a neighborhood known as “Below Foncha” and this killing has revolted young people in the city of Bamenda, sending thousands of them to the streets.

The latest killing has resuscitated old demons, with many young people calling on the military to pack and leave their land.

The military check-point where the young man was gunned down has been dismantled by angry youths who say they were sick and tired of the military brutality that the country’s arrogant government has unleashed on the Southern Cameroonian population.

The killing will surely not be ending anytime soon. Over the last month, Southern Cameroonian fighters have been killing army soldiers like flies and this has created doubts in the minds of many politicians who were counting on the military for a fast and clean military operation.

But Southern Cameroonian fighters are not ready to turn down the heat on the military. They have found new ways of demystifying the soldiers, especially officers of the Brigade d’intervention rapide (BIR) which had been touted as the finest and the best in the business of suppressing the population.

The news of Southern Cameroonian fighters killing thousands of army soldiers over the last four years is gradually deflating extremist politicians in Yaoundé who thought they would teach rebelling Southern Cameroonians a bitter lesson by dispatching the military to the two English-speaking regions of the country.

The Southern Cameroons conflict was not even supposed to have existed. It was simply a situation that could have been addressed through frank and fruitful discussions if the country’s authorities had rid themselves of their legendary arrogance that has put the country on a downward spiral both politically and economically.

The arrogance of the country’s officials is hurting the country. By not listening to the people, Cameroon authorities have created a very nasty situation that might result in the splitting of a country that is expected to be a good example to other countries on the continent.

Arrogance could be a very bad ally if not well managed. It could result in self-destruction and excruciating pain. This is exactly what is happening in a country wherein appointments, even those negotiated in the most difficult circumstances, are seen as a sign of intelligence.

This mentality is consuming Cameroonians and it is generating conflicts and giving tribalism a chance to rear its ugly head. Cameroon, once an oasis of peace in a desert of peace, is falling apart.

Disagreement is as old as time and negotiations are the easiest way to bring about peace and security when people disagree. This philosophy has been embraced by many around the world but the Yaoundé government seems to be frozen in time. It is stuck in the past and it clearly holds that the old tool in its toolbox that can bring about peace in the country is military violence.

But the government’s principle on peace-building and nation-building seems to clearly belong to the past. Its monopoly of holding weapons and spreading falsehood has been shattered by new technologies also known as technologies of freedom.

The Internet has produced billions of citizen journalists all over the world and many Southern Cameroonians have used these technologies to sell their case and win hearts and minds across the world.

The same technologies have granted Southern Cameroonians the ability to mobilize resources to purchase arms to confront a military and government that have unleashed death and destruction on their own people.

The government has been in denial and has been living in the past to the point of not noticing what globalization was throwing up for many people around the world. It has not only made it possible for lots of people to collaborate, it has also created huge economic and financial opportunities which have made it possible for Cameroonians to be less dependent on their government.

But old habits die hard. The arrogance of the past is still stalking the country’s officials like a stubborn shadow. They are not ready to walk away from those bad ways which have dumped the country in a massive military conflict that has already consumed more than ten thousand lives and has robbed the country of its development dollars.

The conflict in Southern Cameroons is the easiest to address. The differences might be huge and complicated, but only the negotiating table can throw up much-needed solutions.

Arrogance has ruined Cameroon. It has transformed the country into a pretty mess that is driving its citizens out of the country. Unfortunately, only the leaders are not seeing the adverse impact of their arrogance on the population. They seem to be locked in in a form of blindness that is without a cure. Their disease – arrogance – does not seem to have a cure.

However, with Southern Cameroonian fighters kicking the country’s army soldiers in the teeth, the country’s boastful and arrogant authorities will be cut down to normal human proportions and this might push them into thinking that dialogue will surely solve the problem which military violence has not been able to address too close to five years.

Recently, members of the regime’s inner circle have been testing the waters, clearly indicating that the ruling party also known as the crime syndicate was open to the idea of federalism which they had criminalized in the past.

But many analysts hold that the government might be shutting the barn when the horses might have bolted. Southern Cameroonians have been hurt by the government’s arrogance.

Their family members have been killed by soldiers even when they were not combatants. Their businesses and farms have been destroyed by soldiers who thought a scorch earth policy would bring the population to its knees, thus reducing its support for the fighters.

But the government’s extreme measures have only turned out to be counter-productive. By pauperizing the population of the two English-speaking regions of the country, the government has simply pushed the population into the waiting hands of those it considers as terrorists and separatists.

The pain and anger are palpable. Southern Cameroonians simply want to walk away from a hastily stitched union with East Cameroon, a union that has brought them more pain and death rather than the peace and prosperity they had been promised by their Francophone counterparts.

The deaths and destruction of businesses will make negotiations tough, but there is no conflict that cannot be addressed. When people talk, they turn to understand each other and, in the process, they will see their mistakes and will work together to clear out those obstacles that have made it hard for them to work together for the prosperity of their people and common humanity.

Arrogance is not a curse. It can be addressed. When reality stares us in the face, we are bound to change course. If we don’t, we will continue down the same path and many things will continue to fall apart.

Cameroon authorities must change course. The reality is there. There will never be a military victory in this conflict. Dialogue will deliver better answers than the costly and ineffective military operations. It is time to think differently!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon has come up with a massive and modern digital passport production office, but old habits will always die hard.

The new digital system is designed to help reduce frustration and the corrupt practices that characterized the old system.

The old system provided a platform for self-enrichment to corrupt police officers who never hesitated to extort money from the helpless public.

Over the last two years, obtaining a passport in Cameroon has been a lot tougher than going through the eye of a needle, with passport officials asking for close to USD 1,000 for a passport, especially if the passport applicant was in a rush.

For those who wanted to go through the normal process, the issuing of an ordinary passport could take up to a year if the “Lords of the Universe” were in the right mood to do their job.

Cameroon is a country where there are no checks and balances. It is a country wherein a police officer can cook up a story and lock you up for years and this has struck fear in the minds of most French-speaking Cameroonians.

The country has no recourse mechanism and if they do exist, the objective is always to please the gullible international community that has been dumping money on the country, hoping that the country’s numerous and complicated issues could be addressed by throwing huge chunks of money at them.

The reckless behaviour is indeed the hallmark of the country’s passport production office. A police officer has the prerogative of charging the country’s citizens hundreds of dollars for just a passport and when those passports get produced, the frustrated citizens have no way of knowing that their documents have been issued.

This is what centralization can do to a country. But if you think that is the worst scenario, just take a trip to the old passport office and you will find a mountain of unclaimed passports just sitting outside the office and nobody really cares. The interest of the citizens is never paramount.

This is even a great sight to behold by the country’s standards. In certain circumstances, a drunken or angry police officer could scoop a bunch of passports and dispose of them at the nearest garbage bin and nobody will ask any questions.

This is the country of great ambitions and emergence. Like a friend said, Cameroon seems to be emerging into unprecedented chaos which is being ignored by the country’s authorities and tolerated by the citizens who do not know where to take their anger and frustration to.

The new passport office is designed to be a panacea for all the headaches that characterized the old office, but not many Cameroonians are hopeful. The government has been selling illusions for decades and many desperate citizens hold that their beloved government might simply be repackaging and old lie to sell it to its citizens.

No government in the world knows how to beautify a lie. This is a government that can put lipstick and mascara on a pig and sell it to the public, claiming that the pig is the most beautiful girl in town.

For more than four years, the country has been dealing with a bloody civil war, with the country’s English-speaking minority seeking to walk away from a hastily put together union.

In response to the demands of the English-speaking minority, the government has been claiming that only decentralization can address the core issues that are splitting the country.

To deceive the international community, an ill-planned national “monologue” was organized, with members of the country’s ruling crime syndicate known as the CPDM taking decisions that will only help them perpetuate their stay in power.

At the end of the day, their decentralization agenda was upheld and promoted. They added something new to their Machiavellian plan, calling it Special Status which was nothing but a scheme designed to hoodwink the English-speaking minority into abandoning their plan to walk away from the lopsided union called the United Republic of Cameroon.

From every indication, the Yaoundé government has been paying lip service to the whole notion of decentralization and the strong centralization of the country’s passport issuing process in Yaoundé is just a reminder to the English-speaking regions of the country that their hope for a better life in Cameroon will never be a reality.

If decentralization is what the government has been selling all these years, what then has gone wrong with the decentralization of the passport production process?

Does this imply that someone living in Mamfe and needs an urgent passport, will be heading to Yaoundé to face the uniformed crooks who have made life unbearable to the ordinary Cameroonian?

What happened to Buea which is a lot closer to Mamfe than Yaoundé? When will the Yaoundé government understand that little actions and acts can go a long in calming down flaring anger?

Old habits really die hard and the Yaoundé government which is made up of “living ancestors” and is used to old ways will surely not be embracing new ways anytime soon.

If Cameroonians think they will one day know an easy life in their own country, then they must act differently.

Their leaders are not going to embrace new ways and they do not care if their out-dated ways are killing every Cameroonian.

The country’s leaders see themselves as the new colonial masters and they will stop at nothing to ensure their citizens go through excruciating physical and psychological pain.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The last two weeks have been the worst for Cameroon’s military. Many soldiers are walking around with lots of butterflies in the stomachs. Southern Cameroonian fighters have struck fear in their minds and many of them are thinking twice. The profession they chose just to earn a decent living has become the source of a nightmare that is not going away anytime soon.

Southern Cameroonian fighters have stepped up their game. They are disabling military trucks and rendering the soldiers powerless. The “boyses in the bushes” have turned the heat on army soldiers who thought their mission to Southern Cameroons was going to be like a walk in the park.

In Manyu Division, which is where the fighting started, three army soldiers were killed in the border town of Otu and many others are still reported missing. Their families are still waiting for their loved ones, but the jungles of Manyu might not be throwing up anytime soon these murderous killers dressed up in national military fatigue.  

After more than one week, those who jumped into the Manyu jungle for safety only landed into greater danger. In Manyu Division, forgiveness is a rare word, especially if the intention to kill is manifest. The army soldiers sent to Otu were not angels. Their mission was well-defined. They had a shoot-and-kill order if they suspected anybody. But things hardly go as planned. Their best plan was upset by Southern Cameroonian fighters who now have more sophisticated weapons and are ready to blow up anything in Cameroonian military uniform.

Even if the jungles throw up the missing soldiers, they will not be fighting again. They will be heading home in body bags, as the “boyses in the bushes” have helped to put them out of their misery. 

According to a voice note sent to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s Mamfe Office, two of the missing soldiers – both of Beti extraction – have been killed in the jungle. Those who made the voice note clearly said the missing soldiers would never be heading home. The missing soldiers were located by Southern Cameroonian fighters in the jungle between Otu and Eyumojock and they were killed in the most gruesome manner. Their uniforms were seized, and their bodies buried in a shallow grave.

The war in Southern Cameroons has assumed new dimensions. Southern Cameroonian fighters are now dictating things. They have the right weapons to face army soldiers who, for a long time, thought they had a monopoly of killing whoever crossed their path.

The fear triggered by those killings in Otu has changed the dynamics. There is a wave of apprehension and demoralization blowing among Cameroon’s army soldiers. They know the government will never win the war, especially with the arrival of Russian-made AK47s that are considered the deadliest and the best in the business of killing. 

Many have been looking for a way out of the pretty mess the government has lumped them into. In the past, many army soldiers simply pretended to be sick to avoid being posted to the two English-speaking regions of the country.

But now that Southern Cameroonian fighters are gradually diminishing the number of those soldiers in the war zone, the sick certificates presented by many of those soldiers are simply rejected by their superiors. Nobody is safe! All the soldiers must head to the war zone to do the job they had signed up for when joining the military. Many of these young boys and girls who joined the military just for the money now spend many weeks without sleeping, especially when informed that they must head to Southern Cameroons where the determined Southern Cameroonian fighters are waiting for them with open arms.

With those sick certificates no longer popular, the new strategy is to head to the war front and simply defect. Two weeks ago, a bunch of seven army soldiers simply travelled to Nsanaraki in Eyumojock Sub-Division and divulged their intention to surrender to the villagers who could not understand French. 

Thanks to one soldier of Manyu extraction who interpreted for them, the villagers offered them clothes and their military fatigue and protective gear were handed over to Southern Cameroonian fighters who were not far from the village. The deserters are now in Nigeria, seeking to leave the continent for greener pastures in Europe or North America. 

In Ndian Division, Southern Cameroonian fighters are still proving that they are a force to reckon with. Last week, they arrested some government civil servants who thought they could move around freely in total disregard of the rules rolled out by the Ambazonia Interim Government. These lawless civil servants are still being held in various locations where they are being interrogated and they are doing their best to help Southern Cameroonian fighters in their investigation into who has been encouraging them to violate the laws of the land. 

Ndian Division is in the hands of Southern Cameroonian fighters who are in no hurry to give it up. Also, last week, they quietly dismembered an army soldier and put his body parts on display for other soldiers to see and understand that they were the masters of that land. The gory images were very demoralizing to young army soldiers who had to head to Ndian to fight in a jungle they do not even know. Success in Ndian Division, like in Manyu Division, clearly depends on a better understanding of the terrain.

The dense equatorial forest is providing much-needed cover to fired-up Southern Cameroonian fighters whose main objective is to bring about total independence in Southern Cameroons. This is messing up the government’s apple cart.

But the mother of all humiliation was somewhere else. The situation in Manyu Division looked like a very serious situation, but it clearly pales in comparison to what happened in Bamali in Ndop a week ago. Army soldiers were simply treated like animals. They were butchered like little rats. The way seven of them were killed simply spoke to the poor training they get and the lack of motivation that drives true soldiers.

Ever since these incidents took place, the government has been silent, giving the impression that it is not bothered by the numerous setbacks it has suffered in a war it hastily declared. But sources close to the minister of defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, say the warmonger is very disappointed with the way things are turning out. 

Southern Cameroonian fighters have been emboldened by their numerous victories and the purchase of modern war machines which have struck fear in the minds of many army soldiers has only bolstered their confidence. Even the top military brass in Yaoundé is at a loss for words. 

But General Valery Nka, the man who claimed he would clean up the Northwest Region of Southern Cameroonian fighters had to admit to the BBC that things were really headed in the wrong direction following the humiliation in Bamali.

“It is a disgrace for an army to be treated that way. They are attacked, killed and weapons carried away. They don’t take to instructions. It means there are no sentinels at their various command posts. This is disgraceful for a trained army such as ours,” a frustrated and disappointed General Valery Nka said. 

At the Presidency, nobody wants to discuss the failure, though they all know that they are losing their authority. The soldiers do not want to fight, but they do not have many options in life. Politicians are burying their heads in the sand, hoping that time will help them out of the quagmire they have created for themselves and the country. 

Whatever options the Yaoundé government chooses, Southern Cameroons will forever be a huge scar on the collective conscience of a country predicated on brutality and arrogance. Southern Cameroonians never wanted to quit their French-speaking counterparts, but the government’s military response to calls for an overhaul of a political system that is spreading death and destruction among the English-speaking minority has pushed many Southern Cameroonians to the brink. Many want to leave the lopsided union and their support for the fighters is total and unwavering.

With so many killed, it will be tough for Southern Cameroonians to accept anything short of independence. The pain is excruciating, and the anger is spilling out of control. Recently, some government hawks have been talking about discussions on federalism, but a few years ago, it was against the law to talk about federalism in Cameroon. Could this latest move by these regime hawks be seen as a testing of waters or a simple acknowledgment that the government’s policies and strategies over the last four years in the prosecution of the war have simply failed?

A source within the country’s presidency has revealed that senior government officials are mulling the possibility of engaging with Southern Cameroonian leaders at the Yaoundé Maximum Security Prison on how best to end the bloodshed and unnecessary destruction of human life and property in the two English-speaking regions of the country. 

The source said that members of the ruling party’s inner circle were currently strategizing on how best to engage with a group of people the government had clearly branded as terrorists. The ruling party wants to ensure that the country’s president, Paul Biya, comes out of this mess in a way that makes him look like a hero. But some ruling party stalwarts hold that the situation is dire and that pulling it off to give Biya a hero’s tag will require more humility than trickery.

“The people are smarter today and Southern Cameroonians are determined to inflict huge losses on the government. If they must be brought to the table, it will be through objective, sincere and humble negotiations and not through the arrogance and trickery that have become the government’s hallmarks,” the source stressed.

As army soldiers keep on dropping like flies in Southern Cameroons, the government knows that if it does not employ other approaches, it will be humiliated, and the independence of Southern Cameroons will continue to be more probable than impossible. Currently, there are silent efforts in the Diaspora to put more sophisticated weapons in the hands of the fighters who have proven that they can take the war to the enemy. 

If the government wants to save its face, it must acknowledge reality, take corrective measures, and engage with Southern Cameroonian leaders abroad and with those in jail. Last week’s setback has left the government with a bloodshot eye and there is more bad news for the government if it does not act promptly. With its forces defecting, deserting, and demoralizing, the days ahead will only bring more pain and humiliation to a government that sees negotiations as a sign of weakness.

With things going south for the government, it must learn how to bend over backwards if it really wants to stare down the barrel of peace. The situation is dire. The population is sick and tired of the bloodshed and state coffers are running dangerously low. Negotiations and not war will help the government save its bloody face. The ball is in its court!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News/Cameroon Intelligence Report

Nobody in the Cameroonian army had ever thought that the country’s military would be humiliated by a hastily assembled ragtag group of fighters when the Southern Cameroons crisis started. 

The government, its sycophants and spin doctors had clearly said that the mission to the two English-speaking regions of the country would be swift and without casualties on the military’s side.

The government had floated the idea that the country’s military efforts would be bolstered by the Israeli-trained Bridgade d’Intervention Rapide (BIR) known for its ruthlessness, inhumanity, and rank brutality. All this propaganda was intended to strike fear into the minds of ordinary Southern Cameroonian citizens who simply wanted their government to listen to them. 

Of course, it did not take long for the country’s military to get to work. Whole villages were burned down, sometimes with the elderly in them; young, unarmed men and women were killed in the centers of most towns in Southern Cameroons; many fighters who only had hunting rifles, were brought down by the bullets of well-trained snippers; and civilians were caught in the middle of a situation they knew nothing about, with many running into the nearest jungles to spare themselves the pain and agony that their own government was inflicting on them. 

The population’s cry was so loud. Even the deaf could hear. The killing and maiming of ordinary civilians were really disheartening. Material destruction was revolting, and the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora could not be indifferent to the desperation and wailing of its people and this resulted in massive fund-raising campaigns across the globe for the purchase of arms. This was indeed the game changer and it brought much pain and premature death to many young army soldiers. 

The country’s government was not listening despite calls from many governments and organizations around the world for a negotiated and peaceful resolution of a conflict that should have never existed. 

Within the country, many people had called on the government to listen to the people and address the core issues that were causing the pain in the two English-speaking regions of the country. Honorable Joseph Wirba, a Member of Parliament for Kumbo at the time, had addressed the Parliament, highlighting the shortcomings of the current system of governance. 

Instead of taking him seriously, he was treated as an outcast and many death threats were sent to him just to intimidate him. He had informed the government that if prompt action was not taken, when the lid will go off the pressure pot, the country will never be the same again. His prophecy is gradually taking shape.

Out of the country, the Pope called on the country’s president to prioritize peace over war. He invited the country’s president, Paul Biya, to the Vatican where he pleaded with the senile president to preempt a disastrous armed conflict, but Mr. Biya and his collaborators were already beating the drums of war and the Pope’s wise counsel fell on deaf ears. 

The European Union, excluding France, urged the government of Cameroon to take an objective and peaceful approach to the issue, but their efforts did not pay off, even when the American Administration and Canadian government had added their voices to that of the European Union. Mr. Biya had prioritized war over peace and he felt only a swift and brutal military action could restore the country’s broken peace.  

Today, the story is different. The pain is excruciating. Some 47,000 Cameroonians – both soldiers and civilians – have lost their lives in a war that could have been avoided if the Biya government had carefully listened to the voices of wisdom and to the English-speaking minority to gain a better understanding of the issues. 

On the contrary, the government clogged its ears with arrogance, only listening to a bunch of desperate political sycophants whose mastery of the art and science of flattery and lies-telling is second to none. 

The political sycophants are milking the country dry. They want to perpetuate their stay in the corridors of power. They understand that only lies-telling can keep them where they are. They love the perks that come with power and they will stop at nothing when it comes to manufacturing a beautiful lie for the Head of State, who himself, is completely and unfortunately out of touch with his country’s political and economic realities. 

The fighting is already in its fourth year. The hunting rifles have been replaced with more sophisticated killing machines. The once formidable BIR has been demystified and many of its members are biting the dust in the jungles of Southern Cameroons.  

More than 3,000 soldiers have been killed. More than 2,000 army soldiers have been maimed and over 1,000 cannot be accounted for by a regime that has not got the interest of its people at heart.

The last two months have been very challenging to the country’s military. It has lost many of its members, with their weapons falling into enemy hands. The use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) against the military has been very effective. Many soldiers have been killed, heavy equipment disabled, and thousands of soldiers demoralized.

Today, many soldiers are being killed like animals by Southern Cameroonian fighters who have adopted new and innovative strategies that are proving to be very effective. The military’s uniforms and protective gears are being used by these fighters, making it hard for government forces to make a difference between them and their enemies.

Last week, many soldiers were blown up in Otu in Manyu Division by Southern Cameroonian fighters and their protective gear and weapons fell into enemy hands. These weapons are being used today to kill more soldiers and maybe to harass ordinary civilians.  

Yesterday in Bamali in the Northwest Region, officers of the Bridgade d’Intervention Rapide (BIR) were humiliated and killed in a disgraceful manner by determined Southern Cameroonian fighters who happily shared videos of their exploits with the world.

In Indian Division in the Southwest Region, angry Southern Cameroonian fighters beheaded a soldier and put his head and legs on display for all to see. Thousands of soldiers have disappeared, with many buried in the jungles of Southern Cameroons by heavily armed Southern Cameroonian fighters. 

Cameroon has been caught in a spiral of self-destruction because of the arrogance of its leaders. In Cameroon, once you get appointed, it implies you are the most intelligent person and you immediately stop paying heed to wise counsel. Being a minister in Cameroon implies you are omniscient and omnipotent. You are, indeed, a repository of wisdom and nobody can advise you. This is a mentality of the past and this is what is breeding a real disaster in Cameroon.

If the government had listened, we would have saved so many lives. If the government had listened, Cameroon would not have become a stream of blood. If the government had listened, development dollars would not have been diverted to the purchase of arms. If only the government had listened, the peace Cameroon was known for would not have been shattered. If only they had listened!

Honorable Joseph Wirba and many others had advised them of the disaster ahead and they are now seeing it clearly. Many young soldiers are today leaving their lives in the artificial killing fields of Cameroon created by their own government.   When will the government swallow its pride and call for a genuine negotiation so that the blood that is flowing in the two English-speaking regions of the country can be stopped?

As it stands, the government will never win this war. It must look for a way to safe its face. If it really wants to keep Cameroon one and indivisible, then it must stop coming up with cosmetic solutions for a situation that requires that the bitter truth be told, and a new future designed for a country that has been blessed with everything. 

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board should ensure that a three-year loan sought by Cameroon is used to meet its human rights obligations and not lost to corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. It should require the government to make its spending fully transparent, conduct a comprehensive independent audit of its Covid-19 spending to date, and hold anyone responsible for corruption accountable.

“The IMF Board is voting on its third loan to Cameroon since the start of the pandemic in the midst of a Covid-19-related corruption scandal and violent crisis roiling the country’s English-speaking regions with a devastating impact on people’s right to health,” said Sarah Saadoun, senior business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “When badly-needed aid is being squandered or stolen, it would be irresponsible for the IMF to approve another loan without safeguards to ensure that the money goes where it is intended.”

On May 27, 2021, the IMF announced that it had reached a staff agreement for the loan “to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic,” among other objectives. The IMF did not specify the amount or detail any concrete measures to address corruption other than saying that “effective enforcement of the anti-corruption legal framework will also be critical.”

The IMF previously disbursed two emergency loans totaling US$382 million to Cameroon in response to the pandemic. Although the government made specific commitments to the IMF to use these funds transparently and accountably, its Covid-19 spending has been marred by secrecy and credible allegations of widespread mismanagement and corruption.

On May 19, Cameroonian media published a summary of an audit by a Supreme Court investigative body, the Chambres des Comptes. The audit detailed findings of large-scale corruption and mismanagement involving 180 billion CFA ($333 million) spent in response to Covid-19 up to December 31, 2020. It recommended “initiating 10 judicial cases regarding findings that likely violate criminal law.”

Citing the findings, as well as major corruption scandals, including one linked to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) project that took place during a past IMF loan program and for which no one was held accountable, 20 prominent Cameroonian women urged the IMF Board not to approve any additional funding until the government accounted for prior IMF loans and held those complicit in corruption accountable.

The audit found “numerous abuses” in the use of funds. For example, it found that a single company, Mediline Medical Cameroon, was awarded a “quasi-monopoly” on government contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE), Covid-19 tests, and other medical material, despite not being active in the country before the pandemic.

Local media reports referred to it as a subsidiary of South Korea-based Mediline Medical Korea, but that company told Human Rights Watch it “has no subsidiary company or investment companies in/outside of the country.” A June 1 news release from Mediline Medical Cameroon in response to the audit report was signed by Sangki Yi, as the board chairman. Human Rights Watch was unable to find any contact information for him or his company. A Cameroon government document identified Sunguk Yoon as the company’s sole beneficial – or actual – owner. Human Rights Watch wrote him on LinkedIn, the only contact information we were able to find, but received no response.

The audit found that Mediline Medical Cameroon overcharged for its products, delivered defective or the wrong material, and that its orders lacked documentation to enable tracking and delivery confirmation. The authorities were unable to account for products they had apparently received, including 610,000 Covid-19 tests. The audit also found that the government had bought 16 ambulances from Mediline Medical Cameroon and another company for 880 million CFA ($1.6 million), yet none had been delivered by December 31.

Human Rights Watch spoke with medical and administrative staff in hospitals across the country, including in the two English-speaking regions where violence has severely disrupted access to health care, who said they received little or no additional funds or equipment during the period covered by the audit to help them respond to the virus.

One doctor said his hospital initially only received 12 masks, 20 boxes of gloves, and four full body gowns for almost 50 employees and that a nurse from a nearby hospital died from Covid-19 in June 2020. It was not until early August that the 10 health facilities in his district received a combined 10 million FCA (around $17,000), which enabled his hospital to buy some PPE. However, when Human Rights Watch spoke with him in September, he said the hospital still lacked sufficient protective gear for most staff and had no ambulance.

Mediline Medical Cameroon’s June 1 statement dismissed these allegations as part of a “disinformation campaign.” It said that as of January, the company had delivered 1.9 million out of the 3 million tests the government bought, for which it has been paid 24.5 billion CFA ($45 million) and is still owed 8.5 billion CFA ($15 million).

It said that the prices “conform to regulations,” although the amounts it cited effectively confirm the audit findings that the government paid 17,500 CFA ($32) per test, significantly more than alternative options. It also said it was still processing what it said was the purchase of 17 ambulances for 8.5 billion CFA (around $15 million), citing challenges posed by the pandemic.

The audit found that the government requisitioned 32 hotels for 1,028 people who needed to be quarantined but has not repaid about 200 million CFA ($370,000) in expenses incurred by the hotels, deepening their financial distress from the pandemic.

Human Rights Watch spoke with several people who worked at these hotels between November and December who said their pay had been reduced in part because the government hadn’t fully paid these bills. An events manager at a hotel in Douala said she had to ask her brother if her two children could stay with him because her salary had been cut and she could no longer afford to provide for them. Human Rights Watch contacted the Health Ministry about the issue in February but received no reply.

These irregularities may have been identified and addressed had the government kept its commitment to the IMF regarding timely publication of how it spent funds. Nonetheless, the IMF still approved a second emergency loan in October, and now appears poised to approve a third, larger program, without addressing this fundamental lack of transparency despite serious allegations of mismanagement and corruption.

The IMF required the government to publish some information about the contracts it awarded, including the names of all of the companies’ actual owners prior to awarding the second loan. However, that disclosure is not accessible from any government website, it has not been updated since the approval of that loan, and the quality of information is poor. For example, that document lists Sunguk Yoon as the beneficial owner of Mediline Medical Cameroon, even though media reports refer to him as a project coordinator.

Cameroonian authorities have also not yet commissioned or published an independent audit of Covid-19 spending, despite promising the IMF to do so by the December 31 end of the fiscal year. In February, media reported that the Financial Ministry had called for tenders for an independent audit and in March the IMF told Human Rights Watch that the government had shared with its staff the terms of reference for an independent audit, but it is unclear whether a firm has been hired.

The Chambre des Comptes audit is important, though it only examines spending by two of the 10 ministries that received Covid-19 funds and the government did not disclose its findings, which journalists published on social media. It is no substitute for a full independent audit.

Between March 29 and April 8, the secretary general of the presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, sent a series of letters on behalf of President Paul Biya to various ministries regarding investigating and restructuring Covid-19 spending. This was apparently due to pressure stemming from the government’s loan negotiations with the IMF. One letter directed the Justice Ministry to initiate proceedings against those identified in the Chambre des Comptes’ audit. A separate May 28 statement referred to the audit and said that judicial inquiries are ongoing before a special criminal tribunal.

Though investigations are useful, recent events hint at the serious difficulties with holding corrupt Cameroonian officials accountable. Between June 7 and 9, multiple government offices, including for the Tax Administration and the National Business Association, were burglarized, despite being housed in heavily guarded buildings. Media reports, citing a confidential source, said “tons of documents” were stolen, possibly complicating the justice ministry’s investigations. On June 15, police announced the arrest of someone in connection with the Tax Office break-in and released a video of the suspect, who claimed to have acted alone.

“The IMF’s attention to corruption has spurred Cameroonian officials to take small steps on transparency and accountability,” Saadoun said. “But faced with evidence of widespread mismanagement and corruption, those efforts are insufficient, and the IMF should insist on much more.”

Source: Human Rights Watch

Nobody ever thought that the peaceful demonstrations organized by lawyers and teachers in 2016 in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions could morph into something more dangerous, especially as they were not planned and Cameroonians, at least, these generations, are not used to fighting for their rights. 

If anybody had pretended about seeing the future regarding this dispute, it would have been the Yaoundé government which held that it would roll the “trouble- and attention-seeking” lawyers and teachers back to their courts and classrooms using the “government’s” conventional method of governance – military violence.

To the government, the people of Cameroon are like slaves and those in government must dictate everything to them. Arrogance has a way of blurring the human mind and when it gets mixed with egoism, the blindness could be total. That is the unfortunate tale of governance in Cameroon.

The people of Southern Cameroons had been pushed to a very tight corner for more than fifty years by a government they thought was theirs, but the government, for its part, really thought every Cameroonians was having a blast in the country. 

There had been lots of red flags that could have alerted a people-centered government, but since the Yaoundé government and the country are about one person – the country’s president – nobody really paid attention to the challenges and frustrations that were stifling lives in Southern Cameroons.

The country’s educational policy in the past had created only a single university where French was the language of communication, causing most Southern Cameroonians to seek university education out of the country, with many ending up in the West or other English-speaking countries where the seeds of a dangerous rebellion were being slowly but surely sown.

The country’s heavily centralized system was also suffocating many Southern Cameroonians, with little or no appointment of Southern Cameroonian to strategic leadership positions. Southern Cameroonians by their nature are used to highly decentralized systems that make the people the masters of their destiny, but the hastily and forcefully stitched “dictatorship” ramped down their throats in 1972 has, for decades, remained a bitter pill to swallow.

The Yaoundé government was simply oblivious of the danger that was brewing in the two English-speaking regions. Unemployment, lack of social service, crumbling infrastructure and marginalization had compelled many Southern Cameroonians to look for greener pastures elsewhere.

America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, South Africa and others offered a good environment for the fleeing Southern Cameroonians who needed a sound education that could proffer them huge opportunities on the global stage.

More than five decades following the wave of migration to these freedom-loving countries, many Southern Cameroonians have seen their dreams come through. Thousands have acquired knowledge and wealth and they honestly hold that their country of birth could be better if the rules of governance could be altered a bit. 

This school of thought has been common among the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora which holds that it too can have a say in the management of the country’s affairs. But their concept of governance cannot be applied in Cameroon as the Yaoundé government thinks differently and its policies are designed to keep one person in power forever. 

Changing the core principle of governance in Cameroon will imply that the president’s rights would be curtailed, and his authority would not be felt in every nook and cranny of the country.

But the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora which is replete with some of the finest professionals in all walks of life has been lying in wait for the government to make its mistake. And the mistake came when lawyers and teachers called for a federal system that would enable Southern Cameroonians to be masters of their destiny and the government responded by arresting the leaders of the demonstration and sending out its “dogs of war” to mow down any dissidents who stood in its way.

A peaceful demonstration was therefore transformed into a military conflict that is in its fourth year and has sent thousands of young Cameroonians to an early grave.

While the government threw its entire military into the war, Southern Cameroonians used whatever means that were available to them. Catapults, machetes, and hunting rifles were employed by hastily formed Southern Cameroonian fighters to protect themselves and their people against the Yaoundé genocidal regime whose intention was to kill anything in its paths.

The country’s military burned down homes, businesses and even the helpless elderly people were roasted alive to send home a message to any young men and women who had opted to fight against the country’s military. But its message was the wrong message. It completely fell on deaf ears. 

The dynamics had changed. The world had become a global village, significantly reduced by the invention of “technologies of freedom” which enabled ordinary citizens to capture the government’s horrific acts in Southern Cameroons and share them with the Diaspora which has also been seeking to jump into the fight.

These shocking videos triggered waves of resource mobilization campaigns across the globe. In less than no time, the catapults, machetes, and hunting rifles were replaced with more sophisticated killing machine which caused the military to rethink its strategy. 

The mass murdering of ordinary people by the military would no longer go unpunished. Revenge was driving the fighters and anybody suspected of collaborating with the regime became a target. Southern Cameroonian fighters attacked soldiers all over the two English-speaking regions, killing thousands and sending many to hospitals around the country. 

The power dynamics were no longer in favor of government forces. In the Southwest and Northwest regions, the massive jungles and wide savannas provided coverage for the determined fighters and they made the most of this natural advantage. Those who doubted the determination and courage of these fighters had to think twice before expressing their views, especially as the number of body bags heading to East Cameroon increased by the day. The tell-tale signs of a political and military miscalculation had begun appearing on the government’s dashboard.

The “two cubes of sugar” which were supposed to have melted are not going anywhere, anytime soon. The fighters are determined, and the weapons are pouring into Southern Cameroons to bring about a quick fix to the mistakes made in Foumban. The much-dreaded Brigade d’intervention rapide (BIR) has been demystified in Southern Cameroons, with many of its officers either captured, injured, or killed in a very graphic manner that has even shocked government officials who, at the beginning of the fighting, thought the country’s military would sweep through the English-speaking regions like a Tsunami, swallowing up all the free radicals challenging their authority.

Instead of seeking sustainable solutions to the problem, the Yaoundé government has been performing a mincing dance around the truth, using all tricks that it thinks could douse the fire. But the problem will not go away anytime soon without genuine, frank and fruitful negotiations held in a neutral place and facilitated by a neutral body or groups of neutral persons and countries. 

As the government drags its feet, so too does the situation evolve. Southern Cameroonian fighters have been honing their skills and strategies. Over the years, they have found innovative ways to diminish the enemy’s presence in their territory. 

While the fighting was started with hunting rifles, AK-47s were thrown in the mix as things progressed and their presence has been a long nightmare to the Cameroon military. These dangerous Russian-made war machines have cut short the lives of many soldiers, sending their families into long periods of mourning. Many are already questioning the rationale behind the fighting. 

But the fighters are not yet done. They still have unfinished business. Southern Cameroons is not yet independent. They still have more tricks up their sleeves. In their view, the enemy must be humiliated. Either he comes to the negotiating table or he will be pushed out of the mineral-rich region. 

The lethality of the weapons in the hands of the determined armed fighters has morphed into something more sinister. The AK-47s are gradually yielding the floor to IEDs which have struck fear into the minds of French Cameroon soldiers.

These IEDs have been going off every day and they are decimating the military population in Southern Cameroons while robbing the government of the expensive military trucks the French and Chinese have been supplying at a very high cost.

The Northwest region, in particular, has become a graveyard for many young soldiers who get blown up by these IEDs. The Yaoundé government is in the grip of confusion. It has thrown all it has at the Southern Cameroonian fighters but none of its military devices has dampened the determination of the “boyses in the bushes” who are determined to bring about an independent Southern Cameroons.

The IEDs are hurting. Yaoundé is looking for a way out. It needs help. It has put itself in a tight corner. It has finally understood that not all battles get won militarily. Diplomacy sometimes trumps over violence. 

The pain is too much. Many bereaved families blame the government for the deaths of their loved ones. They hold that real dialogue could help reduce the number of IEDs. 

The IEDs are really hurting to the extent where even regime stalwarts such as Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, a strong believer in military violence, are now telling the world that the Yaoundé government is ready for talks on federalism. Can he be truly considered as a bearer of a special message from the Unity Palace? What has happened to the melting of the “two cubes of sugar?”

Is the government suddenly realizing that its military might may not put an end to its nightmare? Even if Prof. Fame Ndongo’s message were to be taken seriously, can anybody really trust a government that is wont to speaking from both sides of its mouth? 

If the government really wants to end the mess it has created in Southern Cameroon, it must start implementing some confidence building measures which will reassure the fighters and the Diaspora. A general amnesty to all those who have been remotely or directly involved in the conflict will be a welcome measure. 

The release of Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, the poster boy of the revolution, and all those who have been arrested over the last five years due to this conflict will be considered a sign of seriousness on the government’s path. The government could also set up a commission comprising trusted national and international personalities to run the period leading up to the discussions and the implementation of any resolutions and recommendations that will be made during the negotiations. 

Without such confidence-building measures, Southern Cameroonians will continue to be wary of a political system that is full of snares and hypocrisy. The ball is in the government’s court and it is up to it to take the right decisions and measures. The more it delays, the more the IEDs will continue wreak havoc on the country’s military.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News/Cameroon Intelligence Report

The United States is deeply concerned by the continued violence in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon.  We continue to call for both the Cameroonian government and separatist armed groups to end the violence and engage in a dialogue without preconditions to peacefully resolve the crisis.  It is important that children can attend school and that humanitarian aid can be delivered.  We urge all relevant stakeholders in Cameroon and in the diaspora to engage constructively and seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

We condemn those who undermine peace through engaging in or inciting violence, human rights violations and abuses, and threats against advocates for peace or humanitarian workers.

I am establishing a policy imposing visa restrictions on individuals who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the peaceful resolution of the crisis in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. This decision reflects our commitment to advance a dialogue to peacefully resolve the Anglophone crisis and support respect for human rights.  The United States strongly supports the Cameroonian people, and we remain committed to working together to advance democracy and mutual prosperity for both our countries.

The ruling CPDM party also known as the crime syndicate is unfortunately weak against the Southern Cameroons Interim Government now under the stewardship of Vice President Dabney Yerima which includes other Ambazonian restoration groups.

The so-called one and indivisible Biya French Cameroun war doctrine being followed by the consortium of crime syndicates in Yaoundé is greatly limited in shaping an endurable reality for the British Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun.

The Biya French Cameroun one and indivisible strategy was buttressed by the theory that the Cameroon government army will crush the Southern Cameroons uprising within a month and restore law and order with the support of some French Cameroun Anglophone surrogates such as the late Chief VE Mukete and Simon Achidi Achu. The Biya French backed policy has failed to achieve its far-reaching goals in four years of the war in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia.  

Consequently, Biya and his acolytes have seen their positions eroded further with each new round of fighting with Southern Cameroons resistance groups. Correspondingly, the Ambazonia Interim Government and its sister groups are growing stronger in Ground Zero and in some international political spaces.

French Cameroun politicians and some progressives deep within the Francophone dominated army are getting closer to an agreement that will prevent Franck Biya from succeeding his father.

A recent conversation between the US Secretary of State and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs on the situation in Southern Cameroons is proof that the Biya Francophone regime’s standing is deteriorating and the Cameroon government military’s continues acts of aggression against innocent Southern Cameroons civilians with a bloody military onslaught is causing a deep tear in the fabric of Anglophone-Francophone relations everywhere in the world.

The Ambazonia Restoration Force with support from the powerful Southern Cameroons diaspora has upgraded its capacity to inflict damage on Cameroon government army soldiers, both in terms of quantity and quality as recently seen in Bui, Mezam, Akwaya, Ekondo Titi, Kupe Muanenguba and Menchum.

The new strategy propounded by Minister Paul Atanga Nji with the support of Minister Secretary General at the presidency of the Republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh to arrest Common Law lawyers defending Southern Cameroonians in French Cameroun jails constitutes a desperate attempt to freeze reality with the best case scenario that things will not get any worse.

Every Biya CPDM policy including his appointments lacks the vision or the desire for long-term policy that will keep the two Cameroons together. Biya is indeed a political disaster that has been around La Republique du Cameroun for a long time.

While Biya and his French Cameroun gang are busy trying to preserve the status quo in La Republique by preparing to hand over power to Franck Biya and the disgraced Sako Ikome and Chris Anu are working tirelessly on social media for Southern Cameroonians to see them as liberators, Vice President Dabney Yerima and the Ambazonia Interim Government are learning, adapting and improving conditions for the next and decisive phase of the independence battle.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Kidnap of Father Christopher Eboka in the Diocese of Mamfe

Fellow Ambazonians,

On Friday, 21 May 2021, unknown criminals abducted Father Christopher Eboka, a Priest in the Catholic Diocese of Mamfe. The perpetrators have since made contact, demanding a ransom of CFA 10 Million from the Catholic Church. The Interim Government of Ambazonia robustly condemns this reckless and ridiculous act and calls for those involved to release Father Christopher Eboka immediately without preconditions. The Interim Government has been briefed that the population of Mamfe has made a financial proposal to the kidnappers, but the criminals are holding out for more money. The Interim Government takes a strong view against paying ransoms to criminals.

After ten days of intense intelligence gathering and evaluation by Ambazonia Intelligence Services, the Interim Government of Ambazonia can confirm that the perpetrators of this dreadful crime are not associated with any legitimate self-defence group loyal to the Ambazonia cause. Instead, these criminals are profiting from the security vacuum currently in our country. The kidnapping of members of the clergy is unfortunate and unacceptable, which underscores the need for all the factions involved in the conflict to seek ways of reaching a peaceful resolution. Those who kidnap men of God are crossing a dangerous red line, and all God-fearing Southern Cameroonians must condemn this unreservedly.

The clergy in Southern Cameroon has played a significant role since the war in Ambazonia started in November 2017. We must not make enemies from our allies and sympathizers. All those fighting for the freedom of Ambazonia must commit to alleviating the suffering of our people, not organize activities that bring misery upon our communities. Religious institutions are indispensable parts of the Southern Cameroon structure, and any attack on their members and workers is an attack on Ambazonia.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia is committed to confronting and defeating the evil of kidnappings in Ambazonia. All self-defence groups are called upon to collaborate with the Interim Government to root out all rogue elements operating in our country. Our quest for self-determination will succeed if we do the right things. Unfortunately, kidnapping is not consistent with our state values.

Sincerely,

Dabney Yerima,

Vice President,

The Federal Republic of Ambazonia