There have been rumors about a cabinet reshuffle in Cameroon for a long time now, but the “monarch” neither seems to be under pressure to change his collaborators nor willing to reverse the current unfortunate trend of events.

The monarch is used to functioning as a typical government machinery which needs to be jolted into action by external factors and this has been the trend for some four decades and this could account for some of the sluggishness in the civil service, in particular, and the country, in general.

As the president’s collaborators age, it is imperative for him to replace them with some experienced and humble hands that have been working quietly and honestly in the system.

Cameroonians need youthful, energetic and selfless hands to ensure the country weathers the many storms many around the world have said will hit Cameroon like a ton of bricks after the current president, Paul Biya, bows to the inevitable.

Of course, age is just a number, but when age is accompanied by illnesses, the actors must be humble and courageous enough to exit the political scene in a very honorable manner.

Age has a way of robbing humans of their vitality. It deprives them of that enthusiasm that is a characteristic of many young people and it is that enthusiasm and energy which drive young people and spur them to achieve a lot for their families and country.

It is, therefore, not an error when many Cameroonians hold that a new political class should emerge in Cameroon if the country has to be prepared for a future that will be very challenging for people who are showing signs of senile decay.

Of course, there are many young, determined and ambitious Cameroonians who are willing and ready to put their time and energy at the service of their country, but many argue that the current political dispensation makes it hard for them to jump into the political arena where they can demonstrate that they have what it takes to help put Cameroon on the right track to prosperity and sustainable development.

But even within the ruling CPDM that has been indicted of so many crimes and sins, there are still some young, competent and hardworking Cameroonians who have kept their noses to the grindstone and if given the opportunity, they could make their country proud.

As a cabinet reshuffle looms large on the Cameroonian horizon, many forces of evil are at work to ensure that the good and competent young men do not make the president’s list of ministers.

The Cameroon Concord News Group has noticed that some shady characters, working under the cover of darkness, are at work and they are using all the tools available to them to sling mud at anybody who has made hard work his hallmark.

A voice note recently sent to the Cameroon Concord News Group London office has been indicting the Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency, Elung Paul Che, of crimes that have never been reported or documented.

Through its Yaoundé correspondent and other sources, the Cameroon Concord News Group have conducted a thorough investigation of the allegations and it has not found any evidence of such malfeasance.

The Cameroon Concord News Group is not just a platform that reports negative things. It also brings out the hidden good news when it finds it and Elung Paul Che’s honesty is worth reporting.

Before being appointed in 2015 as the Minister Delegate to the Ministry of Finance, Elung Paul Che had held numerous positions and interviews with those who worked with him revealed that he always demonstrated a rare form of honesty that kept many wondering, especially as corruption spreads across the country like wildlife.

Not many Cameroonians will see money and be indifferent to it. But Paul Elung Che shocked many people in the Southwest region when he was the Assistant paymaster in the Southwest treasury in Buea. He exhibited the same discipline and rigor when he was the paymaster general for the Northwest region in Bamenda and the Southwest region.

Many Cameroonians are honest people, especially when money is not involved. Bring money where Cameroonians are working and their discipline takes French leave of them. But Elung Paul is different and has always demonstrated that state property is not his property and that it must be properly managed and this has earned him great admiration and promotions.

After having served without blemish as the paymaster general in both the northwest and southwest regions, he was promoted as the Acting Director of the Treasury in Yaoundé, and later as the Director of Treasury.

Hard work pays off and Elung Paul knows this only too well. After having distinguished himself at the state treasury, he was appointed Director General of the Treasury, Finance and Cooperation in the Ministry of Finance; a post he held till 2009.

Four years later, he was appointed as the Director General of the Hydrocarbons Prices Stabilization Fund (CSPH) in 2013. From CSPH, he became a Minister in 2015, while still serving as the Director General of CSPH.

With such a brilliant career and experience, it is worth mentioning that Mr. Elung Paul Che could be one of those young, competent and hardworking ruling party members who still inspire hope.

It is, indeed, rare to find such civil servants in the country’s current civil service. The Cameroon Concord News Group investigation has proven that Elung Paul Che has never been linked with any corruption scandal.

The investigation has also proven that he has many enemies in the system because of his carefulness and honesty. He is being fought by many regime insiders who accuse him of seeking to be a “clean fish in a dirty ocean”.

A source in the Ministry of Finance hinted the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Yaoundé that many people in the finance ministry fought him so hard when it was rumored that President Biya wanted to appoint him as the Minister of Finance; battles which have left him psychologically bruised. However, he remains unbowed and determined to make his contribution to the country’s development without disappointing his friends and family.

The source added that his detractors did all they could to ensure that he did not become the country’s finance minister, adding that “a good player will never lack a team and Elung Paul was appointed to other duties.”

Many people at the finance ministry accuse him of being too strict and too ‘clean’ for their liking. Yet, regardless of how murky the Cameroon waters may be, those who place themselves above the corruption that has become the country’s cancer, will always be noticed and it was because of his clean records that many Cameroonians, especially the francophones the Cameroon Concord News Group talked to, thought that in addition to his dynamism, he could one day be a good Prime Minister for the country.

By Joachim Arrey in Canada and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in the United Kingdom

The leader of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has called on Southern Cameroonians to be strong, determined, courageous and steadfast. The jailed Ambazonian leader in an interview with a French Cameroun newspaper Emergence also noted that freedom and the independence of Southern Cameroons is priceless.

“The road may be dreary but the end is in sight. For the sake of future generations, we rose up in 2016 and made our stand. There is no turning back now. We must defend our emancipation with determination, commitment and courage. With God being our helper, we will emerge victorious and join the community of prosperous nations” President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe added. Below is the full conversation

Emergence: How are you feeling after all this time spent in prison.

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:   In the context of this crisis, all Southern Cameroonians / Ambazonians have been denied justice by La Republique du Cameroun. Our imprisonment is in violation of International and local laws. Given the fact that La Republique du Cameroun is the judge in its own case and in her own court, we know we can’t get justice from its less than independent court system. As refugees and Asylum-seekers resident in Nigeria, we are not supposed to be here. Feelings are expressions by the body, as a translation of the physical, psychological, mental and social wellbeing. However, we have been here now for 3 years and counting. We are physically, psychologically, mentally strong and positive as we pay the price for the freedom of our homeland – Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia. But we are socially troubled because we are in an environment that is suffering socially from decadence, moral bankruptcy, academic backwardness, developmental deficiency, poor economy, and socio-political stagnation. This, however, gingers us to work harder for the emancipation of our people, the people of Ambazonia, so that the eyes of others will open.

This sacrifice will make sense in future when people will stand in awe looking at the rapid political, economic and social transformation of Ambazonia. It is our desire, planning and strategy that within as little as 3 years, post-restoration of our independence, the building-blocks and impeccable foundation of our institutions will be evident. Daily, we are driven by the ambition to go and implement these developmental changes to become like America, Israel or Japan in a relatively shorter time. We know freedom comes with a price and we are ready to pay for it. Development is a mix of many in a continuum. We will deliver our best and our children will continue.

Emergence: Negotiations had been engaged between you and the power in Yaoundé. Since then nothing is said of them anymore. Where are we on that?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:  We must be very careful when we use the word “negotiation”. You use it loosely and inaccurately. However last year, following the UN SG’s call for a global Ceasefire in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, in April and July 2020 Mr Biya’s government consulted us on the possibility of a Ceasefire. We highlighted and gave them four Confidence-building Measures to facilitate a Ceasefire. These are:

⮚             Release of all prisoners and detainees in all the prisons and detention camps in both Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun imprisoned or detained in relation to this conflict;

⮚             Withdrawal of all La Republique forces of occupation from our streets in the Southern Cameroons;

⮚             Allow a safe travel of all Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora to return home without fear of death, arrest, harassment;

⮚             Commit to an Independent Internationally Mediated Negotiations in a neutral venue agreed to by both parties.

Since then however, we have not heard from them. It is our thinking that Mr Biya wanted to use that faulty strategy to buy time, hoping to get victory otherwise over our Ambazonian resistance.

You know as much as everyone that this is a farfetched dream. This war cannot be won militarily and this issue cannot be wished away. Ultimately, its root-causes must be addressed. As a peace loving people, we have always been and are open to talks. Given the hurt and pain in our people, the Confidence-building measures have to be enforced. Our people are saying it loud and clear that this be truly resolved now, for we are prepared to resist this black-on-black colonization forever!!!

Emergence: Today the international community is also taking note of abuses of the secessionists. To you is that a reversal?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Point of correction! There are no Secessionists in the conflict between the people of Southern Cameroons and the system of La République du Cameroun. Let it be clear again that we are not “Secessionists”. Secessionists are people who want to break a part of one country.

Ours is a history of two nations; one got its independence on the 1st of January 1960 and the other on the 1st of October 1961 – 21 months later. These two have never been one, for there is no “Act of Union” between them. The Constitutive Act of the African Union charter is abundantly clear on this issue. Each country’s boundaries were frozen as at the date of its independence. When La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) got its independence on 1st January 1960, the Southern Cameroons was not part of it – on the 1st of January Buea was not part of La République du Cameroun, neither was Bamenda a part of it. By law we have never been part of it.

Unfortunately, it has become clear that we were simply invaded and occupied on the night of the 30th of September 1961. Thereafter, a foreign Constitution and governance was imposed on us!!! We are restoring our nationhood and not seceding from our nation of Southern Cameroons. How can we be seceding from La République du Cameroun to which we’ve never belonged?

Emergence: Since 2016, there has been an end to schooling in the NoSo, murders, arsons, economic failure. Are you satisfied with this record? Aren’t you tired of the blood that flows continuously while your demands are not even recognized by the state?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: We don’t like this hurting reference to us as “NoSo”, it is one of those dehumanizing colonial name tags labelled on our people.

For the records, LRC military has been committing genocide in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia since Mr Biya declared war on our people on the 30th November 2017. The atrocities the LRC military is causing are alarming. The “No School” Principle is a logical response to the mayhem caused by this declared and enforced war. How can we encourage people to go to school when a war is raging? Who would take responsibility for any life cut short in a cross-fire? What is the urgency of going to school when teachers and pupils/students are being arrested, tortured and killed by Cameroun Government forces!!! Come and do a head count of all the Ambazonians incarcerated, displaced and killed and see for yourself the reality!!! When the time is right, we shall make up for lost time. It will all be worth it when we put in place the World class system of education we are designing for our people to replace the existing neocolonial contraption designed to keep us psychologically, politically, economically and developmentally subjugated to an unprogressive and decadent system!!

Diabolically there’s a lot of torture, maiming, rapes and forced disappearances of our people … so far this war has caused:- 32,500+ civilians killed, the burning of over 500 villages, the displacement of over 1.4 million people and more than 3,000 people including children and pregnant women are in various prisons, detention and torture centres in our Homeland and LRC. Notwithstanding the pain they are inflicting on us as a people, nothing will deter us from the quest for a free and independent Ambazonia. When the time comes for us to roll out our educational plan, you will understand. When we shall pickup, Ambazonia will be a hub for education, technology and trade amongst other things. You will testify what your eyes will see and your ears will hear. Our education shall make Life decent.

Emergence: The new American administration has promised to be more involved in the Anglophone crisis. What are your expectations from this new administration?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: We congratulate President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their victory during the November 2020 elections. We envy the people of America for having built strong Institutions. They have proven to the world that strong Institutions are the bedrock of democracy. Without cultivating lion men, we shall emulate America in building our democracy. We appreciate President Biden’s Administration for taking note of our plight and the gross Human Rights abuses/genocide being meted on our people. Self determination is a Fundamental Right that can’t be denied a people.

The people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia have spoken. We want a free and independent Ambazonia – checkout the Tumi survey of 2019 in which 69% of our people people said they want out, the CDN 2020 survey in which 86% of our people opted out of this unfortunate cohabitation. We appreciate the American Congress and Senate for the bilateral Senate Resolution 684 that was passed on the 1st of January 2021, interestingly sixty-one years to the day after the LRC independence. We pray that President Biden’s administration should match words with actions by unilaterally evoking the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the Never Again Promise! We also expect the USA to harness support for a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Mandated Independent International Fact-finding Mission to the Southern Cameroons as a necessary first step to addressing the root causes of the conflict. We need to establish responsibility for the atrocities in our land and sanction them accordingly.

Emergence: The secessionist camp is also profoundly divided. Does this not weaken your cause?

If by “Secessionists” you are still referring to Ambazonians, then my elucidation earlier should make you now understand and know that we are “Restorationists” and not secessionists as you and others want us to be seen. If you have any treaty or convention which sanctioned Southern Cameroons as part of La Republique du Cameroun kindly brandish it. Until then, we have not been and will never be part of La Republique du Cameroun.

Now to answer your question, all Ambazonians have a common goal which is to restore the Statehood of the Southern Cameroons. We may have differences in opinion or approach in this our journey to Buea; so were Moses, Miriam and Aaron in Israel’s March to their Promised land. However, we are united in purpose, determined, focused and steadfast in our goal. This unity of purpose is unbreakable and incontestable. Don’t be deceived to focus on the division within us. Difference of opinion is the pivot of democratic culture within our people since 1953, with attendant checks and balances. When the time comes the people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia will have one delegation made up of Representatives chosen by the people. These delegates will reflect the goal and aspirations of all the various shades of opinions of the good people of Ambazonia.

In Ambazonia, we will not eliminate the voices of opponents. We know that constructive criticism makes for better nation building.

Emergence: Do you not think that the best option would have been to denounce violence and to engage yourselves to continue your fight through nonviolent methods as it was the case with SCNC?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: The people of Southern Cameroons / Ambazonia are uniquely peace loving People. By our birth, nature and culture, we are a non violent people. Our patience with LRC for 60 years is a testimony of our incredible tolerance, understanding and patience. The coward of the country bore it for 20 years and it all bottled-up inside him. Continous provocation and injustice leads to eventual resistance. Those who reject peaceful resolution of issues make violent redress unavoidable. For your records, we are not and have not been violent at any time in our history as a people. When we are dissatisfied, we culturally and civilly will carry peace plants to demonstrate our protest, as was the case in 2016 and 2017. Instead of listening to our grievances, the LRC system declared war on us on the 30th November 2017. The army was let out to unleash arson and genocide with war weapons and helicopter gunships on us! Mr Biya’s declaration of war was well directed and it is being executed as we speak. In October 2020 after the Kumba Massacres, we heard his Minister of Territorial Administration, Mr Paul Atanga Nji say it clearly that “the government has monopoly of violence” and they have remained consistently violent despite worldwide calls for ceasefire and a Mediated Dialogue. LRC Military have commit numerous massacres; Ngarbuh, Muyuka, Ekona, Pinyin, Mautu, Ekondo-titi and Mbonge of recent, to mention but a few.

We are a peace loving people and are barely acting in Self Defense against an occupier committing genocide on our territory. The SCNC is still active. It has existed and expressed an opinion which was the wisdom of its time. Their mantra of “the force of argument; Not the argument of force” has always been met by violence and killings!!! The record of abuses on our people speaks for themselves. Evidently LRC’s mission was to exterminate the Ambazonians and claim their territory. The day Mr Biya declares a Ceasefire; he would have decided to stop this genocidal campaign in Ambazonia. If he orders his army to stop the war, the war will end!! However, if he continues, our people shall defend ourselves and our territory to the last man standing …this is as sure as “day following night”!!!

Emergence: What do you think is the role of France in this crisis since she is being accused of supporting the regime in Yaoundé in this war.

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:  Testimonies of French involvement in the Rwandan Genocide abound and more are still being revealed. These have forced France to open her archives to the public. Let’s wait and see. In time, the evil of the country that is abode to the Notre Dame Cathedral will be revealed. A few days back, a Chinese official indicted France for its role in Genocides across the globe. Review the history of all French colonies and their current relationship. It is all marked with regrets, grief and melancholy. We know France and Britain were active in the misfortune that befell our people in 1961. Are they accomplices to the genocide and ethnic cleansing being meted on us today? Time will tell! There are undoubtedly some invisible hands behind our plight. An April 2020 Oxford University Faculty of Law Research paper, indicts France, Britain, China, Canada, the World Bank and IMF as direct accomplices to this genocide for economic reasons. French colonised nations seem to be amongst the most backward and dependent in Africa. Ambazonia shall have diplomatic relations with France based on mutual regard, like with all other nations guided by respect for each other’s dignity and requisite international norms! Ambazonia shall not do vendetta!!!

Emergence: It is known that the Cardinal was very involved in the resolution of the crisis in NW/SW Regions. What memories do you have of him?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Cardinal Christian Tumi is a brother who served the Catholic Church and his Community with total devotion and Commitment. Like him, many of our people are serving the same Church in various capacities all over the world; go to Tchad, Nigeria, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, France, USA, Rome itself and you will be amazed at the dedication and sacrifices of these men and women of God. Yet his demise sent shock waves across the world because of the ignominy and humiliation with which his mortal remains was treated. This is similar to what happened to the remains of another brother, Hon Mbah Ndam who was Member of LRC Parliament and Vice President of the CEMAC Parliament!! If these high-profile brothers are treated in this cavalier fashion, what fate is reserved for the rest of our people? The measure of a country is also seen in how the life and remains of its citizens are handled. We have not forgotten the shabby treatment they gave our forefathers like Augustine Ngom Jua, Pa Nanga, Dr EML Endeley, Hon Fonka Shang, Luke Ananga and even S T Muna and Dr J N Foncha posthumously!!! The LRC system has consistently exposed her pettiness to the weak, poor and dying. Look at the pitiful sight of Prof Gervais Mendo Ze in hospital. How the mighty fall and are forgotten! Cardinal Tumi was and is a noble Ambazonian, Spiritually sound, well cultured, learned, and successful and an erudite priest who died in simplicity. He spent most of his final years attempting, to the best of his will and conscience, to help bring an end to this crisis. He served people, some of whom are comparable to the Chief Priests in the Passion of Christ Jesus!! We love him but God loves him most and needs him now. May his soul rest in peace. Ambazonians and people of the world miss him. Maybe his role in this would have been more evident. We wish he lived long enough to see the end of this crisis! Like Christ, he died on “Good” Friday. What message does this tell us? We believe that he is now with God our Father. Adieu Cardinal Tumi.

Emergence: Any last words? :

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: All conflicts end where there were supposed to begin – on the Dialogue Table. It will be the same with this one. It is rather unfortunate that immediately we were brought from Abuja with all of us still bleeding in our arms from handcuff wounds, we called for dialogue and an immediate end to the war Cameroun had declared, and nobody listened. During our unenviable, sometimes nocturnal, encounters with the investigators and interrogators since the infamous SED, we have maintained our stance for a dialogue as the only way out of this impasse!!! Mr Biya has the power to stop this baseless, senseless Genocidal war. There is no military victory in sight for LRC. We are divinely bound to be neighbours. There is no need to continue to nurture bitterness, the memory of which shall condition our relationship tomorrow.

To the International Community, the Responsibility to Protect and the Never Again promise should not only be lip service. We need action now to avoid the worst. As a first step to resolve the conflict based on its root causes, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should Mandate an Independent International Fact Finding Mission to the Southern Cameroons as a matter of urgency. The world should rise against LRC as it did when Iraq invaded Kuwait!!!

To my fellow people of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, where ever they are; in the bushes in the homeland, in refugee camps, IDP/EDP camps, or diaspora, our condolences go to all those who have lost loved ones. We encourage everyone to be strong, remain determined, courageous and steadfast. Our freedom and the independence of our homeland is priceless. The road may be dreary but the end is in sight. For the sake of future generations, we rose up in 2016 and made our stand. There is no turning back now. We must defend our emancipation with determination, commitment and courage. With God being our helper, we will emerge victorious and join the community of prosperous nations. Amen.

Thank you

You are Wiyghan in Lamso.

You are Welighayn in Mbesa.

You are Visitor in English.

You are Visiteur in French.

Not the empty-handed visitor

Who bores his host family.

Not the visiting spectator

Who sucks like a parasite.

You’re the full-handed visitor

Who brings God’s Good News.

You’re the active participant

Who cooks love and peace

For peace-starved citizens.

You’re the cultural boulanger

Who bakes Christianity & tradition

For the festival of hybridity

You’re the universal sibling

Who shares a brotherhood

And sisterhood in every human

You’re the memorable visitor

Who can never ever leave

Because we’ve screenshot you

In the cameras of our hearts.

Yes, we have your hard photos

Which can rust & decay with time

Yes, we have your digital photos

Which can crash with the Internet

So, while you were busy toiling

For God and for Cameroon,

We secretly filmed you in our hearts

Where you can never ever escape!

Safe journey, Cardinal Tumi! Long live Cardinal Tumi!

What a LOSS for Cameroon and humanity!

Bon voyage, le Cardinal Tumi ! Vive le Cardinal Tumi!

By Nsah Mala

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) initially pledged to use its US$1 trillion lending capacity to help countries cope with the most serious health and economic crisis in recent history. It has approved only 10 per cent of this amount, in part due to technical restrictions as well as many countries’ mounting debt. Recent developments in the G20 and G7 are likely to help boost countries’ reserves, and the G7 has specifically pledged to “work with the IMF to make progress on enhancing transparency and accountability.”

Moreover, the US$100 billion the IMF has spent thus far has disproportionately targeted just a few countries. According to Transparency International’s analysis, 80 per cent went to 10 countries, including Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria, as of 23 July 2020, at which point the majority of these loan agreements had already been approved.

Transparency International and Human Rights Watch have assessed the effectiveness of the IMF’s approach during the pandemic by analysing how well – Cameroon carried through on the measures included in the loan agreement. Between January and March 2021, Transparency International and Human Rights Watch analysed documents published by the Biya Francophone regime, as well as loan agreements and other documents published by the IMF.

An in-depth analysis of Cameroon found mixed results in meeting the IMF’s transparency commitments. There remained inconsistencies in the types of measures to which the corrupt regime in Yaoundé committed its implementation, and the role of the IMF in ensuring compliance. The transparency commitments in the emergency loans spurred the Biya government to produce information about its spending and contracts that it would have otherwise not published. However, the amount, accessibility, and quality of the disclosed information varied widely and was inadequate for meaningful oversight for La Republique du Cameroun.

What Transparency International and Human Rights Watch found

Our review identified several factors that weakened the effective implementation of commitments:

Transparency commitments lack adequate specificity. As a result, the types of information the Biya regime disclosed, the time period covered, and the level of detail varied widely- typical of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate!

Relevant information is hidden, hard to find and inaccessible. To be accurate, finding published information was difficult. For example, the CPDM fraudsters published a list of companies that were awarded government contracts and some beneficial ownership information, but the only link to the document accessible online is on page 47 of an IMF report, not on any government site.

Beneficial ownership information is inadequate. In almost all cases, there was not sufficient identifying information about beneficial owners to ensure that people were not illicitly profiting from government contracts in Yaoundé. Moreover, the consortium of crime syndicates in Yaoundé did not specify how they would provide the information they committed to disclose.

The specific measures the IMF required were completely absent.  Cameroon only followed through on its initial commitment because the IMF made approval of a second loan request dependent on Yaoundé doing so.

The IMF’s call to the Biya administration during the pandemic to ‘spend as much as you can but keep the receipts’ showed concern for corruption risks. But this approach will only be effective in addressing rights issues if it ensures that those ‘receipts’ are publicly accessible, comprehensive and credible.

As part of the May loan, the Cameroonian government pledged to use the funds transparently, and committed to issuing semi-annual reports on COVID-19 spending; commission an independent audit; and publish “documents related to results of public procurement and [beneficial ownership information] of companies awarded contracts.”

Of Covid-19 IMF Funding and Biya CPDM Corruption

From the beginning, virtually no public information was provided regarding the government’s COVID-19 spending. Healthcare centres made urgent appeals for support from an emergency health fund into which they have been paying 10 percent of their revenues since 1993, according to medical staff whom Human Rights Watch interviewed from various regions in April and May, but they said they had received no support. The government does not publish any information about the fund and did not respond to a Human Rights Watch letter regarding it. The president established a second solidarity fund and appealed to private companies and citizens to contribute, but that fund was also not transparent.

In interviews with Human Rights Watch, medical staff reported shortages in basic hospital goods, including thermometers, disinfectants, and medicines, as well as ventilators and oxygen, and protective gear for doctors and nurses, such as masks, gloves, and glasses. One doctor said his hospital only received 12 masks, 20 boxes of gloves and four full body gowns for its 50 employees until his district’s 10 medical facilities finally received a combined total of 10 million CFA (US$17,000) in August.

People who lost jobs or wages due to the pandemic told Human Rights Watch that they received little or nothing to stave off hunger. One woman, who works as a secretary at a hotel in Douala and now earns one-third her usual salary reported in December that she was having trouble paying for her children’s food, school fees, and other costs, stating, “The state hasn’t helped us.” Another woman, an events manager at a hotel whose salary was cut, said she had to ask her brother to take care of her two children because she could no longer afford to do so. Both women worked at hotels that the government had requisitioned between March and May to house people who may have been exposed to COVID-19.

Based on over a dozen interviews Human Rights Watch conducted, the hotels received only very partial or no compensation for their costs, adding financial strain at a time when the industry was already struggling with pandemic-related restrictions leading to layoffs and steep wage cuts. The government has not published any information regarding its contracts with or reimbursements to such hotels.

After public pressure, the Health Ministry, citing the “urgency of transparency”, published a two-page statement on July 29 about how it spent about 22 billion FCA (US$40 million), which it said was its total expenditure to respond to COVID-19 in the preceding five months. It included only vague categories that provide no real possibility for the public to verify. In its letter, the IMF said that the Ministry of Finance is preparing a report on its COVID-19 spending, which it expects the government will share “in the near term.”

Before the IMF approved a second emergency loan, it required the government to change its rules to enable it to publish beneficial ownership information of companies awarded contracts, and to publish “the backlog of all COVID-19-related contracts awarded since May 4, including the beneficial ownership.” In a positive step, in October the government issued a circular requiring companies to include beneficial ownership information in their contract bids and mandating adding the information to a national register once a contract is awarded.

In practice, however, the government never uploaded this information into a central database. Instead, it produced a list of the names of companies awarded contracts, beneficial owners, and the contract amount, but there are no links to that document on any government website. The only link appears to be on page 47 of an IMF loan agreement. In addition, for nearly all companies, only one beneficial owner is listed, making it highly unlikely that the information is complete.

The government has not published the contracts themselves, and the IMF revised – it says “clarified” – the terms of the November loan agreement to no longer require the government to do so. With regard to the commitment to conduct an independent audit, the state agency, Contrôle supérieur de l’État du Cameroun (CONSUPE), has reportedly begun an audit and the finance minister has called for tenders for an independent audit.

Culled from Transparency.org with additional editing from Camcordnews

1. Enrich yourself, your family and your allies. Don’t listen to those who tell you that amassing a personal fortune is the old-fashioned way. Just as you need a monopoly on violence, you need a monopoly on wealth creation. You and your family must live in the style commensurate with a sovereign national leader: the mansion and private jet are de rigueur if you are to be taken seriously as the power in the land. You need to sustain an expansive patronage network, and you need the cash to ensure your allies are well rewarded and your enemies are … well neutralised.

2. Build a complex and ruthless security system with competing spy agencies over which you have total control. Your system has two goals: to ensure that your subjects know that any attempt to organise against you would be met with stern measures, including extreme violence; and to keep you fully informed of what allies and rivals are doing at all times. Only a multiplicity of agencies – some spying on each other, but all reporting to you directly – will provide the actionable intelligence essential to your survival.

3. Adopt an overarching ideology that combines a sense of hope and nationalism, such as ‘African developmentalism’. This gives your regime the legitimacy it needs. You are a populist leader – never a dictator. The late lamented Mobutu Sese Seko stole and repackaged the ideas of anti-imperialist Patrice Lumumba, which enabled him to posture as a doughty nationalist. You must freely distribute – in the style of Mao and Stalin – millions of books of your deeply held beliefs. Organise mass rallies where people chant your slogans. Ensure that you bring musicians and singers. Remember: ideology plus bread and circuses.

4. Your role as commander­-in-chief of the armed forces is your most important job. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, said Mao. Organise military parades regularly and allow public holidays for the purpose. Attendance by civil servants should be compulsory. Make sure you wear a full dress uniform bedecked with medals. Boost military spending massively and display your latest tanks and missiles at the parades. Ensure your generals fear and respect you. Reward loyalty with extreme generosity and repay any sign of treachery with extreme violence.

5. Buy the business elite and bribe their foreign friends. Win over top business people with contracts and concessions as long as they pay off your family and allies. You need friends of convenience in the business world to create a class that has a vested interest in your regime. Offer them monopolies in key sectors and make them pay you a percentage of their earnings. Did you say Cosa Nostra? Big foreign companies are even easier. Promise them legal protection and discretion, and they will aid and abet any business malfeasance as long as its lucrative.

6. Get smart about information. Invest heavily in fake news and propaganda against your enemies, and ensure the national story is your story. The internet can be your friend if you are canny. Pay your supporters to defend you and trash your enemies online. Play down accusations of censorship and paternalism. Instead be selective and just block specific publications and programmes that could threaten you. Filter the internet and pay hackers to attack opposition websites. Bribe journalists. If they won’t accept, find friendly businesses to take over the media companies. And if you really have to, occasionally shut down the internet.

7. Co-option is better than repression. Most opponents have a price, so find out what it is and make them an offer. Pick off your opponents one by one. Send in your bad cops, then be the good cop with an offer of a job – maybe to set up a committee to consider the reforms they are demanding. Show them how much more comfortable life can be inside the tent. Your goal is to divide their organisations and attack their credibility. There is nothing more demoralising for an opposition movement than to see one of its key leaders consorting with the president-for-life.

8. Blame the outsiders. Unite your people against the hidden hand of the enemies who threaten your dear country. When the power goes off or the harvest fails, go on state television and announce a search for the foreign saboteurs. If problems continue, nationalise a few foreign companies or seize their assets and hand them to your local allies, all patriots to the core. Organise a few show trials of selected saboteurs. Step up immigration controls.

9. Lie about the economy. Make sweeping announcements of change and promise everyone a brighter future. In the short-term, explain that we will all have to make sacrifices for the common good. Baffle people with lies, damned lies and statistics. Commission state television documentaries on the phenomenal increase in farm and industrial production. Blame at least some of the shortages on the diversion of resources towards our redoubtable national defence industry. Accuse the whining complainants of lacking patriotism.

10. Incumbency and patience are everything. You have the power. Stay on the throne and wait out your opponents. With the accumulation of power over a long period comes a sense of inviolability. This disturbs those around you, especially the ones foolish enough to harbour thoughts of succeeding you. Once in a while, sit them down and explain the realities of power. You have seen off all the most determined opponents for the betterment of your country … and of course for the defeat of its sworn enemies.

Culled from The Africa Report

From 16 January to 7 February, Cameroon hosted the African Nations Championship. Some games were played in the town of Limbe in the South-West region, which is in the grip of an armed conflict between government forces and secessionist militias.

The absence of secessionist violence during the championship may have given the impression that the Anglophone crisis had been resolved – but that isn’t true.

After four years of conflict, the figures are telling: refugees rose from 20 485 in January 2018 to 63 235 in January 2021. In November 2020, the number of internally displaced people stood at 705 000 compared to 679 000 a year earlier. This is paradoxical as secessionist armed groups have struggled to exert military control over the North-West and South-West regions, even if their social hold is real.

Cameroon and neighbouring countries

Defense and security forces have managed to contain secessionist groups’ territorial footprint, particularly in urban centres. National forces are using people’s fear of the separatists’ criminal activities against these groups.

Despite these favourable developments, the growing number of refugees and displaced people indicates a volatile security situation in the regions. Moreover, Cameroon’s partners are increasing the pressure on the government to find a political solution. Local political actors and activists seeking to embarrass the government have echoed these calls.

Cameroon’s approach to the crisis has always encompassed both political and military dimensions.

At stake here is the quality of the political agreement on offer and the impact of solutions favoured by the Cameroonian government to date. Although the military has achieved results, abuses against alleged separatists by security forces have tarnished Cameroon’s reputation internationally. The government’s prioritisation of military responses has probably swollen the ranks of secessionists to the detriment of those actors advocating for a federal state as the solution.

Any political solution must prioritise the active minorities who are preventing the return of stability

Up to 2016, most English-speaking citizens favoured a Cameroonian nation, regardless of the political regime. Today it’s clear that prioritising military action won’t resuscitate the fragile sense of national belonging of many English-speaking Cameroonians. Instead, the military response has likely crystallised the ‘imagined English-speaking community,’ which will undermine any recent gains in the future.

Cameroon’s efforts at finding a political solution haven’t been fruitful. Separatist fever persists despite various efforts such as commissions to promote bilingualism and multiculturalism, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, the establishment of a special status for English-speaking regions, and sentencing separatist leaders.

Both the method and scope of these measures are to blame. Rather than holding talks with the insurgents, the government came up with the steps unilaterally. The national dialogue organised in October 2019 also suffered from a lack of prior consultation. Any political agreement will need the support of a majority of stakeholders to be sustainable.

A lasting solution to the Anglophone crisis requires a change in Cameroonian political practice, which is based on the myth that the government and civil service are infallibile. Government officials see themselves as above the people, who they consider as subjects to be ‘administered’ rather than citizens who can manage their own affairs.

Few secessions have resulted from military victories, but rather a shift in external political dynamics

In terms of scope, the political handling of the Anglophone crisis has mostly followed the ‘administrative’ path that characterises Yaoundé’s political culture. Indeed, the symbolic provisions of the English-speaking regions’ special status were considered inadequate because they benefited only the administrative elites concerned.

The conflict in the North-West and South-West isn’t driven by these elites but by poor and relatively educated young men. These youth are determined to fight with rudimentary weapons against well-armed and trained defense forces. They also clash with elites who they accuse of having little concern for their fate. Any viable political solution must prioritise these active minorities who prevent the return of stability in the former Southern Cameroons.

Military successes shouldn’t lead Cameroon into complacency. South Sudan’s experience indicates that few secessions in Africa have resulted from military victories but rather a shift in external political dynamics. Cameroon faces a situation in which military gains are nullified by mounting pressures for political negotiations from outside the country.

To date, Cameroon’s fight against separatist forces has benefited from the leniency and even cooperation of the Nigerian government leadership. There is no guarantee that this situation will endure, particularly as the new United States administration could take a tougher stance on human rights.

Recent military gains are likely to be nullified by external pressure for political negotiations

To revive national cohesion, Cameroon’s government needs a political solution that encourages active minorities to lay down their arms and turn away from secession. For this to happen, the administrative half-measures put in place must end, and the problem treated with more than lip-service and slogans. Rejecting a return to federalism in the name of territorial integrity is one such slogan often used by civil servants and government representatives.

More than ever, dialogue with all sectors of the English-speaking minority and even the option of federalism must be on the table. Cameroon must avoid sacrificing national cohesion for the obsession with formal territorial integrity. Instead, the country needs innovative ways to forge unity and celebrate its cultural diversity. Cameroonians themselves must reinvent this new form of living together.

Culled from IssAfrica.org

The Southern Cameroonian rebellion which has been robbing the Yaounde government of its sleep is gradually stallling not because Southern Cameroonians are tired of fighting those who have polluted their lives for more than half a century, but because some of those who are supposed to point the population in the right direction have simply lost their way.

Of course, the revolution has received major setbacks, especially with the arrest of the Southern Cameroonian president, Julius Ayuk Tabe, whose leadership had galvanized the entire population of Southern Cameroons both at home and abroad during his short time at the helm of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

During his time, Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe spent his own money to carry out certain missions, though Southern Cameroonians were pouring money into the Interim Government accounts as their way of supporting those on Ground Zero who were taking the brunt of the Yaounde regime’s anger.

Southern Cameroonians in Australia, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa, Germany, France, Belgium, the USA, the UK and Canada gave huge sums of money to enable the Interim Government to function properly and to sell the Southern Cameroonian’s sorry plight to the international community.

Mr. Julius Ayuk Tabe’s effective charm offensive designed to bring the conflict in Southern Cameroons to the fore was never in doubt. His trips abroad informed the world that Cameroon’s English-speaking minority was being marginalized to extinction.

He took risks and the Southern Cameroonian population saw him and still sees him as the poster boy of a revolution that will not be going away anytime soon though some issues have cast doubts on the quality of some of those who pass off as leaders of the revolution.

Once Mr. Ayuk Tabe was arrested, a new interim administration was given the mantel of leadership. Southern Cameroonians were looking forward to seeing the same quality of leadership that Mr. Ayuk Tabe had demonstrated, but they were very disappointed because the interim government, led by Sako Ikome and Chris Anu, was a gross mistake that has become a long nightmare that will not be going away anytime soon.

Millions of Southern Cameroonians are still not believing lots of things and many hold that a miracle could still occur and that Dr. Sako Ikome and his cohort could still engineer something that could leave the Yaounde government in a state of fear.

But Dr. Sako and his friend, Chris Anu, lack what it takes to strike fear in a government that has already been brought to its knees by courageous Southern Cameroonian fighters.

The inefficiency of the Sako interim government and the embezzlement of the people’s resources engineered by Chris Anu have simply stemmed the flow of money into their coffers and this has impacted their ability to operate freely, although they have successfully embezzled some USD 1.250 million from the people’s coffers.

In terms of morality, President Julius Ayuk Tabe had raised the bar way too high for morally bankrupt and attention seeking criminals to operate without the people seeing through them.

While the people of Southern Cameroons cannot throw this capital gang of criminals in jail, they can punish them financially and they have simply stopped putting their money in unsafe hands and this is hurting the Sako Ikome limping interim government.

But instead of addressing the real issues that have caused the people to lose confidence in Sako Ikome and his team, Chris Anu has resorted to chasing shadows instead of the object.

He has successfully recruited Barrister John Fru Nsoh, a miscreant who missed the dangerous police nets of the  Yaounde government and now erroneously holds that President Julius Ayuk Tabe is the source of his problems, including his incurable erectile dysfunction and diabetes.

Both John Fru Nsoh and Chris Anu have transformed Mr. Ayuk Tabe into their favorite punching bag. They seem to hold him responsible for their interminable financial issues in the United States.

The people of Southern Cameroons are not going to give Chris Anu their money and it is not their reckless and purposeless punching of a man who placed the people’s interest above his that will change the minds of Southern Cameroonians.

The people of Southern Cameroons have never admired rogues and it should be known that their disdain for the Yaounde government derives from the corruption and embezzlement that are indeed the hallmarks of a government led by a dying 88-year-old president.

They cannot be frowning at such indiscipline just to smile at a bunch of lazy and helpless pastors – Chris Anu and Sako Ikome – who before the crisis could not even afford a used car but are now driving top-of-the-line vehicles.

While they are enjoying their loot, John Fru Nsoh, a man who should be back in Cameroon to put his legal knowledge at the service of the insurgency, is hoping that the two Hell-bound pastors will one day extend their hand of charity to him.

He has been holding briefs for them and to demonstrate that he is loyal, he has been publicly insulting Sisiku Ayuk Tabe albeit in a strain of English that leaves much to be desired.

Many Southern Cameroonians are really surprised why Chris Anu and his unemployed barrister have decided to make Mr. Ayuk Tabe their target instead of a government that is hellbent on maintaining them in the stress of exile.

For the people of Southern Cameroons, the Yaounde government is their enemy and seeing Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh taking aim at a man who does not even call their names is at best worrisome.

Southern Cameroonians cannot and will never be distracted by this duo that has missed its way. Chris Anu and Sako Ikome might have dealt the revolution a blow, by embezzling the money that was earmarked for arms, but the people of Southern Cameroons remain steadfast to their dream of having an independent country and they prefer to put their money in the right hands.

They clearly hold that it is better to send the money to the fighters on the ground who are giving the country’s army soldiers a run for their money.

Targeting President Julius Ayuk Tabe is not only morally wrong, it is outright insane, especially as Southern Cameroonians still see Yaounde as the source of their problem.

Why would any sane Southern Cameroonian ever single out a dying Achidi Achu as his target when it is clear that the Yaounde government is that target any and every Southern Cameroonians should be fighting against? This will be stupidity in its superlative degree. Southern Cameroonians should not be confused here. Why spend a lot of energy on a man who has been jailed in a sick and old body in his native Santa why there are Yaounde army soldiers all over Southern Cameroons and they are maiming and killing Southern Cameroonians with impunity?

The focus for now should be the fighting on the ground and not President Julius Ayuk Tabe who will never betray the aspirations of the people of Southern Cameroons.

President Julius Ayuk Tabe is in jail and the enemy is not even mulling the possibility of releasing him and his collaborators. So why the obsession about a man who is still faithful to his principles and to the people of Southern Cameroons? What crime has he committed that makes Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh to be insulting him on a daily basis?

This is the time for all Southern Cameroonians of good will to come together in order to mount enormous pressure on a government that is grossly insensitive to the plight of the Southern Cameroonian.

Instead of spreading hate and division, can Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh understand that they are in exile not because of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, but because of a government that has already killed more than 5,000 Southern Cameroonians in a conflict that could have been simply avoided?

What value are Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh adding to the rebellion by punching President Ayuk Tabe even when he is down? Will their continuous divisive strategy and actions ever lead to an independent Southern Cameroons?

It is time for Southern Cameroonians to take a long and hard look at those who pass off as their leaders. Genuine leaders unite. They wash their dirty linen at home and not in public. They know how to place the general interest above personal interest and they are usually driven by the desire to achieve results. Do Chris Anu and John Fru Nsoh really fit this mould? It is up to the Southern Cameroonian to make this decision, but time is of the essence. A reasonable people do not chase shadows. They chase the objects.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests – was a phrase coined by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. This adage, controversial as it may sound, is consistent with the foreign policies of most nations.

On 9 March 2021, the UK government announced a trade deal with Cameroon. The statement on the UK government website reads: “The trade deal, which will support jobs and build future prosperity, was signed by International Trade Minister, Ranil Jayawardena, and Cameroon’s High Commissioner to the UK, H.E. Albert Fotabong Njoteh in London. The deal provides certainty for British and Cameroonian businesses, ensuring they can continue to trade as freely as they do now without any additional barriers or tariffs.”

Cameroon is a country of 25 million people and has been ruled with an iron-fist by 88-year-old strongman, Paul Biya, since 1982. From 1919 to 1961, Britain ruled part of Cameroon known as British Southern Cameroons, first as a League of Nations mandate and later as a United Nations (UN) Trusts Territory. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and about 8 million of its citizens identify English as their first international language due to the country’s colonial past.

Since 2016, the country has been mired in a fierce civil war between the regime in Yaoundé and pro-independence groups from the two English-speaking regions of the country.

 Last year, the Norwegian Refugee Council, which follows the crisis closely, termed the war the most neglected displacement crisis on the planet. With more than half a million people internally displaced, 740,000 children have been out of school for the last four years, over 120,000 refugees in Nigeria, the end of the conflict is not near.

The conflict has claimed over 4,000 lives but there is a deafening silence about the crisis in the arena of international politics.

Reports of human rights abuses have been well documented. According to Rights Africa, in 2019 the overall tally of human rights violations was 1,380 up from 1,134 the previous year.

Last year, Amnesty International published a report with graphic images of systematic abuses by Cameroon’s army titled Cameroon’s secret torture chambers.

Last week, a Human Rights Watch report said “An attack by Cameroonian soldiers on March 1, 2020, has come to light in which soldiers raped at least 20 women, including four with disabilities, arrested 35 men, and killed one man. The attack on the village of Ebam in the South-West region was one of the worst by Cameroon’s army in recent years.”

In 2019, the Trump administration cut millions of dollars in security and military aid to Cameroon following concerns over the regime’s human rights record.

On 1 January 2021, the US Senate passed a resolution that condemned the abuses committed by state security forces and armed groups in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon.

Human Rights groups and the United Nations have proof of villages being burned down, women and children executed, and war crimes committed by the army but the UK government has not issued a single statement condemning these appalling actions.

 How can the United Kingdom be indifferent to these human rights abuses and state-sponsored killings?

With its exit from the EU, there has been much talk of Global Britain. Is Global Britain designed to be blind to such flagrant violations of human rights?

For the people in the territory of the former British Southern Cameroons, this announcement must be a huge disappointment and a clear message that this former colonial master values £200 million worth of annual business than thousands of lives.

In September 2013, the UK became the first country to set out guidance to companies on integrating human rights into their operations.

The then Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said “doing business with respect for human rights matters. It is good for people, for prosperity, and for the UK. We believe firmly that the promotion of business and respect for human rights should go hand in hand.”

Yesterday’s announcement has taken the UK backward from that noble commitment.

Global Britain must take the lead in condemning human rights abuses around the world not shrinking away from it or be indifferent to it.

The statement from the UK government claimed the trade deal secured opportunities for both British and Cameroonian businesses.  The poor and abused people in Southern Cameroons and the families of the people executed by Mr.Biya’s regime will disagree.

They will see this as the government of Cameroon given a carte-blanche by the UK to commit more and more atrocities. The politics of Africa is that of leaders who heap misery upon their people with very little economic progress and no intention of relinquishing power.

The rich continent of Africa is a playground for regimes that have no respect for international norms or the human rights of their citizens.  The UK must take the lead in demanding change in these nations as a pre-requisite for access to the lucrative UK market.

By Isong Asu, London bureau chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

The Paris-based Jeune Afrique has made a reputation of speaking for Southern Cameroons-La Republique du Cameroun peace. The French language media house has recently published several damaging human rights reports and corruption scandals against the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

French Cameroun civil servants passing for political elites who have never served in the army are accusing Jeune Afrique of destabilizing their so-called one and indivisible Cameroon.

However, sitting Thursday in the Kondengui High Security Prison in Yaoundé with the leader of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia,President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Jeune Afrique will again take several machine gun bullets in the stomach from government officials of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

The Southern Cameroons chief executive told Jeune Afrique in this soul-searching conversation that Mr Biya’s government will stop at nothing in trying to deceive the world.

Jeune Afrique: How do you feel after 3 years and 2 months of incarceration?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:  Imprisonment is not a good thing no matter the conditions. Freedom is always better. My team and I feel bad that as Refugees and Asylum-seekers in Nigeria, since 5th January 2018, when we were abducted in Nera Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, we now find ourselves imprisoned and sentenced for life in Cameroun. This, in complete violation of all international and national laws and conventions! Despite the Abuja High Court Judgement of the 1^st of March 2019 that ruled that we be returned to Nigeria, discharged, acquitted, and compensated. However, our quest for a free and independent Ambazonia supersedes our persons. So, if this is the price, we must pay for Ambazonia to be independent and free, we would all do so willingly.   

Jeune Afrique: On the 20^th of August 2019, the Military Tribunal Yaoundé condemned you and 9 members of your Team to Life Imprisonment. Did you appeal against the judgement? If you did, what became of the Appeal?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: In a sham trial on August 20, 2019,I and the 9 members of my team were given a Life Imprisonment sentence by the Tribunal Militaire Yaoundé in what has remained the most inequitable, unfair, and ridiculous Judgement ever given by a court of law. The court started hearing in Capital Offenses proceedings and completed same to judgement without giving the Accused persons opportunity to have legal assistance or even to be heard and delivered judgment in front of us without as much as even touching or reading any of the pieces of evidence that were admitted into court without any respect for procedures and laws. The court illegally used public speech support system with loudspeakers of more than 100000 watts and the witnesses who testified were all standing at the door of the court following up the proceedings! One of the Accused persons collapsed in court and the Court went ahead with him lying helpless on a bench in court throughout the trial. The trial marked the height of injustice by a court of law on a people. There were so many illegalities that only our lawyers can talk to you about.

We filed an Appeal to the Appeal Court of Centre Region, Yaoundé. On September 19, 2020, the Appeal Court, in like manner went ahead with proceedings in French language before us without any translators, denied our lawyers and us any opportunity to talk and delivered judgement within less than 20 minutes of hearing, confirming the Decision of the Yaoundé Military Tribunal.

The peoples of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia since invasion and occupation on the 30^th of September 1961 by La République du Cameroun, LRC, have never had Justice in Cameroun. This has been our painful experience till date.

We have filed a notice of appeal to the supreme court as their laws require, but till date we have had no feedback. This of course is not surprising as we do not expect to have justice on an international issue from a domestic and corrupt system like that of Cameroun.  

Jeune Afrique: The government has often maintained that due to the many stakeholders involved in the conflict and that these various stakeholders do not cherish peace and dialogue, that there is no one to talk to. Do you subscribe to this assessment?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe:   Mr Biya’s government will stop at nothing in trying to deceive the world. Such statements by the government of LRC are meant to buy time while exploring military options, with the hope that her military will come out victorious, which is a fallacy. Ambazonians will resist to the last man standing. The people of the Southern Cameroons, (also known as Ambazonia) are a peace-loving people. They want peace at all cost. Remember, that in 1958 Southern Cameroons had a democratic election and a peaceful transfer of power during their period of self-rule under British trusteeship. The people still have and cherish these values.  However, there can be no peace without justice. If Mr Biya claims he does not know whom to talk to, then why were we abducted from Nigeria in January 2018? Every house has its own problems including LRC. Yes, just like in all other conflicts, there are several stakeholders in this conflict. On our side we know ourselves and have a common goal. This makes it difficult for the LRC government to corrupt one of these factions and have their way, as it is their stock in trade. It is not for them to decide whom to talk to. The people of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia are ready for talks. They know their leaders and will constitute their team themselves for this purpose. No one will hand pick for them. The Ambazonian team will be all-inclusive. Let Mr. Biya do what is needed by: i) Withdrawing all his forces from our streets; ii) Freeing all prisoners; iii) Granting general amnesty to those in the Diaspora; and iv) Committing to an international mediated negotiation, in a neutral venue; and Ambazonians will be there. Anything short of these, Mr Biya will be talking to himself.

Jeune Afrique: In light of the UNSC Resolution 2565 calling for a cease fire, will you be willing to denounce violence, call for a ceasefire and continue your revolution in a nonviolent way?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: UNSC Resolution 2565 calling for a ceasefire is a welcome development that could stop the genocide Mr Biya’s government is committing in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. We remember there was a similar one last year, but Mr Biya shunned it. Let it be on record that the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia are not violently opposing Mr Biya. They are acting only in self-defence. Proof of this is that there has not been any encroachment into the French Cameroun Territory to attack anyone. The war that is ravaging us was declared by Mr Biya on the 30^th of November 2017. The onus is on him to declare a ceasefire of the war he declared. Our Restoration Forces came on board to defend our vulnerable population a long time after Mr Biya’s declared war on us and was pursuing an ethnic cleansing and genocide agenda on the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. Once Mr Biya declares a ceasefire and commits to the four points highlighted above, we can assure you, the killings will stop.

Jeune Afrique: The government of La République du Cameroun thinks that the Secessionists have been totally defeated, is that true?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: For the records, we are not secessionist but restorationists. A secessionist from LRC is anyone who want to change/reduce the nation whose independence was obtained on the 1^st of January 1960. On that date Buea was not part of LRC, neither was Bamenda. The Southern Cameroons got its independence on the 1^st of October 1961, 20 months after LRC’s. Anyone who thinks to the contrary has the burden of brandishing the union treaty between the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun. We are merely appealing to the international Community, particularly the UN to restore legality and truth in our relationship with La République du Cameroun, as per UN Resolutions, 1514(XV); 1608 and Article 76(b) of the UN Charter.

With regards to LRC government’s claim that we have been totally defeated, this is not the first time we are hearing that from them. They should match their words with reality. Remember their denial of Ngarbuh Massacre and many others. The war has been raging unabated for 4 years now. Under his instructions and watch Mr Biya’s forces have embarked on committing genocide in the Southern Cameroons/ Ambazonia. The world silently watches as this goes on, in complete disregard of the R2P commitment and the Never Again Promise after the 1993/94 Genocide in Rwanda. We are bothered if the war continues for a long time because of the lives of our people killed every day by Cameroun military forces,but until Mr Biya and his colonial forces leave our territory, for us, it is “TOTAL INDEPENDENCE OR RESISTANCE FOREVER.

Jeune Afrique: In January 2019, your lawyer said that you are ready to negotiate directly with the Cameroun Président, Paul Biya, on the condition that the Negotiations take place out of Cameroun. According to our sources, you have started negotiations with some High Authorities of Cameroun, … Can you confirm this?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: While we have always been willing and ready for talks, we have not held any negotiations with La République du Cameroun. It is not in our interest to talk to Mr Biya directly. We are interested in La Republique du Cameroun coming to the table as an equal partner with Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. However, we have had some consultative overtures with some of their envoys and we clearly expressed 4 cardinal confidence-building measures, that can lead to any negotiations with them. These measures included:

1. Withdrawing all his forces from our streets.
2. Freeing ALL persons arrested and detained or imprisoned on account of the conflict.
3. Granting general amnesty to all Ambazonians in the Diaspora; and
4. Committing to an international mediated negotiation, in a neutral venue.

Once these measures are implemented, we will consult with the other Ambazonian leaders and prepare for the negotiations with LRC.

Jeune Afrique: Why have the negotiations not ended/succeeded?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Negotiations have not started because the government of LRC is yet to address the 4 confidence-building measures put forward to them. Once these measures are implemented, we are sure the negotiations will start and progress, in good faith.

Jeune Afrique: US Senate passed RES. 684 calling for a genuine and inclusive dialogue, but the Cameroun government claims that they already had the Grand National Dialogue (GND).  Do you agree with the recommendations of GND and if not why?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: The so called Grand National Dialogue by LRC was a meeting of Mr Biya’s contemporaries and committee of friends that endorsed the agenda of the ruling party. It was a charade and a monologue. To us, the GND was a non-event, a waste of time and resources. Mr Biya was talking to himself. Almost two years after the GND there is basically nothing to showcase.

We are opened to talks but that must be only when the confidence building measures have been implemented and we must talk as equal partners as was previewed in UN Resolution 1608.

Jeune Afrique: You have consistently called for a UN Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to Southern Cameroons. Can you explain why this is necessary and what it will achieve?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Our call has been consistent for a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Mandated Fact-Finding Mission to the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. For 4 years and counting Mr Biya, his military and their private militias have been committing genocide in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. As we speak reports are claiming more than 32,500+ civilians have been killed; over a million children are out of school; 550+ villages have been razed down, 3,000+ are presently in detention centres and prisons; hundreds of our women and girls have been raped; thousands of our loved ones are missing. The Norwegian Refugees Commission (NRC) has stated two years in a roll that this is the world’s most under-reported crisis – obviously because Mr Biya and his team block access to the international world and are shielding and trying to clean up the crimes they are committing in the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia. Remember they or their militias most often commit heinous crimes and accuse our Restoration Forces. A UN mandated Fact-Finding Mission is a very vital, important, and absolutely necessary tool to investigate and unravel the gravity of the atrocities being committed there.

A UNSC mandated Fact-Finding Mission will be independent, reliable, unbiased, and professional in information search, analysis, and dissemination. Their conclusions are genuine and could enable the UN to make valid judgement, take right decisions and implement them.  Information generated by the IFFM will determine the depth, degree, and severity of the war-crimes as well as action during the conflict on the peace-loving peoples of Ambazonia against perpetuators of such crimes and Human Right Abuses.

Jeune Afrique: Let’s come back to your life in prison; Are you treated fairly well? How do you spend your days? What do you read?

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: Like all other Ambazonians incarcerated in various Prisons in la République du Cameroun, we are under serious psychological trauma and at times subjected to very inhuman conditions. When we are sick and admitted in hospital, we are chained to hospital beds like it happened to Barrister Shufai Blaise Berinyuy and especially Brother Thomas Tangem who died handcuffed to a hospital bed. We take care of our feeding and medications, etc. In a nutshell, our conditions in prison are deplorable.

We pass our days reading the various books that we are able to secure, given that the Prison Authorities denied us access to books the ICRC Yaounde had promised to give us. In addition to regular exercise to keep us healthy and fit, we also play games like Monopoly, Chess, Scrabble and Drafts.

Jeune Afrique:  Any last word?

President Sisisku Ayuk Tabe: Yes, I would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to all our people who have loss and are continuing to lose loved ones in this senseless war declared on us by Mr. Biya. I want to thank all Ambazonians for remaining steadfast and holding the fort. As Ambazonians, each one of us has a one-way ticket to Buea. We will either get the independence that is rightly ours or we would resist our oppressors forever. The pain or death our oppressors subject us to, are momentary compared to the freedom we are seeking for Ambazonia. None is more difficult to defeat than he/she who is ready to give everything including his/her life for a cause. In our quest to restore our Statehood, we should focus our gaze on the prize ahead. Each and every one should accurately measure his/her words and actions to ensure that we add no unnecessary pain on our people and that they take us one step closer to Buea. In a free Ambazonia, we will build world-class institutions that will make Ambazonia an icon of peace, democracy and stability, not only in the Gulf of Guinea but in Africa.

To the international Community, international law and conventions tell us self-determination is a fundamental right. The people of the Southern Cameroons have made their choice for an independent nation. We cannot be denied that right that is given to others freely. Remember the Never Again promise after Rwanda 1993/94 Genocide. Remember the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). With more than 32,500+ killed and the level of other atrocities meted on us, one more death is one too many. Act now to end the Genocide. Deploy a UNSC mandated Fact-Finding Mission to the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia as a first step to addressing the root-causes of the conflict, which hinges on the botched decolonization process of 1961. Thank you.