The Norwegian Refugee Council for two consecutive years (2019 & 2020) has characterized the ongoing Anglophone Crisis in Cameroun as the world’s most neglected conflict. A multi-faceted crisis arising from the inability of the Anglophone and Francophone entities to co-exist as the autonomous federated states originally agreed upon in 1961, when the UN-Trusteeship territory of Southern Cameroons was granted independence by “… either joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria or La Republique du Cameroun”.

Following a plebiscite in 1961 to determine whether to join Nigeria or Cameroun, the people of Southern Cameroons voted to join French Cameroun in a relationship comprising two federated-states.  The English-speaking Southern Cameroons comprises 20% of the total population of the country. A similar arrangement between Senegal and Gambia (The Senegambia Confederation 1981-89) was scrapped based on the fundamentally different institutional traditions of the Gambia (Anglophone) and Senegal (Francophone) even though the two countries with regard to native language, religion & ethnicity, have more in common than Cameroun. Whereas Southern Cameroons entered into “a gentleman’s agreement” with la République du Cameroun, the strong relations that exist between France and its former African colonies hung over the Francophone majority, thus “nipping in the bud” any opportunity for Anglophone autonomy in the originally agreed federation before it even had an opportunity to sprout.

The current multi-faceted crisis has evolved from the initial intention of the 80% Francophone administration of Presidents Amadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya to “assimilate” the 20% Anglophone population over the 60+ years of co-existence. Anglophones, who are exceedingly passionate about their language, anglo-saxon education system, traditions, and institutions, such as the Common Law, have fought to maintain them over the years, to the point of shedding blood. Areas of dispute and deep-seated Anglophone grievances include: Politics (constitutional failure on the form of the state); Administrative Affairs (dominated almost entirely by Francophones); Economy (significant under-investment budgets for Anglophone areas compared to the rest of the country); Culture (imposition of French language on Anglophones including using non-English speaking francophone teachers in English schools); among a litany list of others. In 1972, President Amadou Ahidjo single-handedly changed the constitution, including the name of the country to “United Republic of Cameroon” and created a more strongly centralized government. The people of Southern Cameroons felt marginalized and stripped of all their autonomy.

In 1984, President Paul Biya completed the “assimilation” his predecessor started by reverting to the original name of the 80% Francophone majority country, further revised the constitution to institute a lifetime presidency, and enforced even stronger centralization and greater marginalization of Anglophones. Corruption increased in the country, crippling the economy and any complaints from Anglophones were ruthlessly dealt with. For example, the use of military tribunals and harsh prison sentences was enhanced, especially among the Anglophone minority.

In October 2016 English-speaking lawyers, students and teachers began peaceful demonstrations to protest under-representation, cultural marginalization, and the systematic “assimilation” and erosion of the Common Law and Anglophone educational system by the Francophone-dominated government. When their requests were violently repressed by the security forces, other trade unions and civil society organizations in the Anglophone regions came together and demanded a return to the federal system of Government as ordained by the UN-Trusteeship terms for the Unification of the British Southern Cameroons and the French Cameroun in 1961. Anglophones determined that having patiently watched their autonomy stripped away, they would maintain their Anglo-saxon culture under any means, even death. Like the Senegambia case in the 1980s, they were ready to end the Francophone domination and if possible, have a country of their own.

From October 2016 to October 2017, Biya’s military (the infamous BIR – Battallion d’Intervention Rapide) repeatedly used live ammunition, killing peaceful protesters, something that never happens in Francophone Cameroun. Horrendous photos and videos of the killing spree were widely circulated on social media. The people decided to defend themselves from the brutal army cracked down which occasionally included the deployment of helicopter gunships. Rather than engage the people in a political dialogue on the root causes of the crisis as prescribed by the United Nations, Paul Biya preferred to openly declare war on the Anglophone people on November 30, 2017 at the Yaoundé Nsimalen airport upon his return from the Franco-African summit in Abidjan. The regime was confident that the Anglophone rag-tag self-defense forces would be eliminated in a few weeks, and thus allotted no more than three months to the war effort, with French support. As images of students tortured and raped, villages burned down with old mothers unable to flee, circulated on social media, the regime met the full force of the people’s passion. The government intensified the military response and intermittently shut down the internet in the Anglophone regions for 94 days, to hide its atrocities. Villages emptied out as soldiers looted and burned down homes, raped women and girls, and indiscriminately shot at civilians, especially young men and boys. Significant among several foreign clergymen gunned down by the military is Rev. Charles Wesco, an American citizen.

In January 2018, the political leaders of the Anglophone struggle were abducted from Abuja, Nigeria and extradited to Yaoundé, Cameroun. Their detention in the notorious SED and subsequently in the Kondengui jail, followed by arbitrary trials, life sentences and hefty fines further fueled the struggle. The Anglophone Diaspora mobilized support for the war effort against a regime strongly determined to win militarily. The government initially issued statements that there was no Anglophone crisis but eventually bowed to pressure for mediation by staging a “grand national dialogue” (in Yaoundé from 30 September to 4 October 2019) during which a “special status” was accorded Anglophones, as Biya explained during the November 2019 Mo Ibrahim Peace Forum in Paris, after failing for years to assimilate them into the dominant French culture. Even with such pretentious overtures, the killings and atrocities have intensified and a horrendous humanitarian crisis of this most neglected conflict is now quite evident:

    • Over 100,000 Southern Cameroonians have fled to neighboring Nigeria, with numbers rising steadily as more villages are set ablaze.

    • Over 1,000,000 internally displaced (IDPs) Southern Cameroonians have sought refuge in bushes and in urban areas within the country.

    • Over 4,000 Southern Cameroonians have been arbitrarily arrested and incarcerated, particularly young men.

    • Over 20,000 Southern Cameroonian civilians have been killed by the military.

    • Over 500 villages in Southern Cameroons have been burned down by the army.

    • Schools and universities have been closed for over four years.

    • Southern Cameroons has been heavily militarized since the protests began in October 2016 with the underpaid military engaging in criminal activities and terrorizing civilians in towns and villages.

    • There are more than 5,000 seriously wounded civilians from the conflict.

    • Numerous young girls and mothers have been raped and impregnated by the military.

    • Images of summary executions and mass burials are shared daily on social media.

It is difficult to determine the exact figures of the atrocities since the government refuses to give account and denies access to humanitarian and human rights organizations. There is evidence of security forces increasingly perpetrating extrajudicial killings and burning entire villages. On the 14^th of February 2020, for example, at least 22 civilians, including 14 children, were massacred by government forces in Ngarbuh in the north-west region. As recently as the 10^th of January 2021, 9 other civilians including women and children were massacred in Mautu, Muyuka in the south-west region of Cameroun. The security situation in the Anglophone region has continued to deteriorate while the atrocities increase, notably are the following incidents:

• 1-Menka – 25 May 2017 over 30 killed

• 2-Bali –  30 May 2018

• 3-Ngarbuh- 14 February 2020

• 4- Kumba- 24 October 2020

• 5- Mautu Massacre – January 13,2021

The outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic has worsened an already deplorable situation for the affected people. Despite the government’s military aggression towards civilians, Cameroun was elected in October 2018 to the Human Rights Council for the 2019-2021 term. Following a visit to Cameroun on May 6^th, 2019 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the government to hold accountable members of the security forces who commit serious human rights abuses. On May 13^th, 2019, the UN Security Council (UNSC) held its first Arria Formula meeting on the humanitarian and human rights situation in Cameroun. On February 17^th, 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killings in Ngarbuh and called upon the government to hold accountable those responsible. The UN’s Special Representatives on Children and Armed Conflict, Sexual Violence in Conflict, and Violence Against Children, as well as the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, issued a joint statement on February 21^st on the deplorable human rights abuses committed against civilians in the Anglophone regions of Cameroun. On June 22nd, five Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, along with two former heads of state, other eminent persons, and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, visited Cameroun and called upon all parties to the Anglophone crisis to declare a humanitarian ceasefire amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This call has fallen on deaf ears.

The following is recommended:

•Free all Southern Cameroons Political Prisoners being held by the Biya regime.

•Allow free unfettered access to Humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance to IDPs and for Human Rights organizations to conduct a “fact finding” mission.

•Include the ongoing Anglophone crisis on the agenda of the UNSC and propose a Peacekeeping Force for the region to ensure an end to the bloodshed and the atrocities of the BIR on the Anglophone population.

•Identify a Sponsor for the Negotiations between the Government and Southern Cameroonians for a sustainable Peace Agreement.

By The Global TAKUMBENG

The political class in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) watched last week with delight at how a French coup, installed37-year old Mahamat Idriss Deby as Chad’s new president. The coup unfolded without any significant internal or external objection. Besides a half-hearted statement issued by the African Union, asking for a return to civilian rule, the coup was treated by international actors as a simple matter in a region of many adventures. Thanks to neo-colonial France, the young and naïve Mahatma Deby has officially started his own 30-40 years reign of terror and misrule.

In neighbouring Cameroun, 88-year-old Paul Biya has misruled the country with an iron fist since November 6, 1982, after taking over from Ahmadou Ahidjo. Following numerous health scares over the last seven years, France has been working tirelessly in the background to find a suitable replacement that would keep its neo-colonial grip on the country and the CEMAC region going.  Therefore, the coup in Chad offers hope to those in France and Cameroon who were concerned that Franck Biya succeeding his father, Paul Biya, would be tricky.

For 38 years, Paul Biya has divided and misruled his country to such an extent that France is concerned that a change of leadership to anyone out of the current crime syndicate would not serve France’s interest. France and Paul Biya have not groomed anyone within his ruling CPDM party for power and have had sleepless nights over the last seven years about the way forward. But the success of last week’s experience in Chad has calmed their nerves.

Cameroon Intelligence Report has been informed that Franck Biya is already receiving presidential protocol lessons and getting intelligence briefings from senior officials in the military, the gendarmerie, the secret service and the police. Many prominent media gurus and political scientists from France have been recruited to make the planned political succession as effortless as possible. Cameroon’s key institutions, such as the security services and military, including critical ministries and state agencies are all headed by President Biya’s trusted tribal cronies. Our source said Franck Biya has been holding private meetings with his father’s coterie of barons as they plan.

The thought of Franck Biya succeeding his father would be laughable in many countries where decency and high standards are part of the state political fabric. Franck Biya has never held a job and certainly is not a university graduate. He comes in with neither competence nor experience, but for France, this does not matter. What matters is his ability to do as Paris orders. The numerous conflicts in Cameroun have failed to draw in condemnation from major global powers. This intentional silence and inactivity have been due to France’s extensive work in the dark arts of international political lobbying.

Hearing Macron talk to African countries about what is good for them is like having a lion lecture an antelope on protecting themselves. Since Europe realised that colonialism and theft had to end in the fifties, no other nation has been more aggrieved at ending neo-colonial theft and exploitation than France. The country’s entire economic system is built around the command, control and stealing of the natural resources of its former colonies. Portugal, Spain, Great Britain have all maintained a degree of political distance from their former preys, but France has doggedly refused to do the same.

Son-succeeding-father is a foreign policy objective of France in the CEMAC region designed to prolong their neo-colonial activities.  At 77, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville, who has accumulated 36 years in office, has his son Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso as he preferred successor. President Ali Bongo of Gabon, who has been incapacitated since suffering a stroke in 2018, has appointed his 29-year-old son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, as the General Coordinator of Presidential Affairs. Current president Ali Bongo succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled Gabon for 42 years.  Equatorial Guinea already has a President-in-waiting, the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has led the country since staging a coup in 1979.

France has made a habit of throwing petrol bombs around Africa to serve its interest. It is grossly wrong to think that it will never face a day of reckoning for its meddling in African political affairs. In the brutal arena of International Relations, it is naïve to expect nation-states to be pleasant. But Africans are not asking for a friendly France; they ask for France to leave African politics to Africans.

Weak institutions in the CEMAC region are sturdy pillars of enriching the French Treasury. Nothing illustrates this better than the ongoing attempt to get a lineup of sons replacing their dads. Africa is paying the price for political passivity and France’s ruthlessness.

Integrity is an unknown noun in the French diplomatic community when it comes to dealing with Africa. France is a vacuum of integrity, and it is sowing the seeds of future turmoil in Africa with impunity. France has a lifelong contempt for the norms of decent behaviour in political leadership. What will not alter if Africans remain mute is the character of France. Apologists posit that sons succeeding their fathers offer continuation and political stability. The question is the continuation and strength of what and for whom?

France’s greatest weakness is in consistently underestimating the youths of Africa and the intelligence of Africans. Like the protests in Senegal, Mali and Chad, we need more of them and real political action in the continent to bring this evil to an end.

By Isong  Asu with Intelligence Files

Cameroon Concord News Group

London Bureau Chief

You would think a law-maker’s role is more than just making laws. In civilized societies, a genuine law-maker is supposed to be a role model.

But Emilia Lifaka who had been a law-maker for years was not a role model with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed millions around the world.

Ms. Lifaka has successfully imported the South African and UK variants of the virus to Cameroon’s Southwest region through recklessness and irresponsibility.

The (dis)honorable member of the house had left Yaounde with clear symptoms of the insidious virus for the Southwest.

While in Yaounde, she had developed a fever, fatigue and body aches, but she decided to return to Buea to organize a huge birthday party, with many guests coming from many African countries.

In an era where COVID-19 makes the rules and actually plays God, Lifaka should have known that when certain symptoms show up, the victim should immediately sick medical attention and should head to the COVID-19 testing center to confirm or disconfirm any fears.

But she instead headed to Buea and concluded that her headaches and fatigue were just symptoms of a normal health situation that would go away with ordinary medication.

After a few days of rest, she proceeded with her plans to organize her birthday party which was mostly attended by women of size who had indeed made reckless eating and drinking the purpose of their being.

Since humans have learned how to check some of the COVID-19 symptoms, the virus has also learned how to mutate and disguise once it takes hold of the victim’s respiratory track.

The Lifaka birthday party was well attended. For many people, it was a status symbol and many guests at the party had been heard boasting that they were the select few and those who really mattered.

A few days after the continental super-spreader event, Emilia Lifaka Monjowa took ill again. Once more, she put her health issue down to fatigue because of the alcohol abuse that took place at the party.

Her party was not supposed to have held. She herself was a colony of diseases and the virus has a special bone to pick with people of size, especially those who are morbidly obese like her.

Deceived by her false notion of fatigue, Lifaka thought a good rest and a sound sleep could help her recover easily. She was blissfully unaware that the virus had taken control of her lungs and it was seeking to trigger a heart attack.

It was until she started suffering from shortness of breathe and acute aches that Emilia Lifaka felt it was necessary for her to go to the regional hospital in Buea.

Her trip to the hospital was unfortunately a one-way ticket to the Buea regional hospital mortuary.

The spirits of the Coronavirus are known to take a man’s life after midnight, and that was when MP Emilia Lifaka Monjowa died.

A few supporters of hers decided that her body be brought to her palace so that mourners could show up and cry, but that plan fell flat on its face.

She might have pulled a crowd while alive, but she failed to understand that the crowd came whenever she had an event because of hunger and the need to feel important. On this occasion, nobody went to her home despite calls by her supporters.

The cat was out of the bag. Emilia Lifaka had died of COVID-19 and nobody really wanted to follow her to a world where not much is known. She might have been a speaker here on earth, but nobody knows if she will be one in the world beyond.

She was only useful while alive. The crowd in Buea simply told her few supporters that she only mattered when she was alive.

Her recklessness must be condemned. It has left many in thoughts. Those who came out of the region and country have continued spreading the dangerous variants she brought to the Southwest region.

She failed to listen. Above all, she failed to understand that she was part of that vulnerable group that really needed to be careful. At 62, she knew if caught in a battle with the virus, she actually stood no chance. She was morbidly diabetic, chronically obese and she had a long history of heart and respiratory problems. It was preposterous of her to throw caution to the wind and to organize such a super-spreader.

While it is painful to lose her, it must be remembered that she made wrong choices and decisions. Because of that the epitaph on her tombstone will read as follows: HERE LIES A LAW-MAKER WHO THREW CAUTION TO THE WIND AND ENDED UP IN AN EARLY GRAVE. May her soul rest in peace!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

When the Coronavirus started spreading across the globe, nobody ever thought it would become a political weapon of mass destruction.

In Cameroon, the insidious virus was seen as something that could disrupt people’s life and faithful to their naivety, most Cameroonians thought the virus was just a fleeting problem that was limited to Western countries because of the biting cold that makes life miserable in those countries.

As the weeks and months went by, it became clear that the virus was all over the world and that it had come to stay.

As the virus swept through Europe and North America, ridding the world of old people who were still hanging on to life, as well as obese and immuno-compromised people, it became clear that it could help to cleanse Cameroon of the lazy, sick and senile politicians in Cameroon who are more of a liability to the country.

The country’s opposition parties, which are replete with young and healthy youths, have always been thinking of how to rid the country of the ruling party which is a refuge for corrupt, greedy and immuno-compromised politicians who see their party and the state as their ATM which they can use to hang on to life at the expense of the taxpayer.

For close to forty years, the CPDM has monopolized political power and has been effective and efficient at rigging elections. The country’s president, Paul Biya, has lost every election and sometimes even in his own village.

The country’s Parliament is replete with a bunch of illiterates who know nothing about law-making, but are sitting in parliament today because of their affiliation to the ruling crime syndicate that has worked very hard to institutionalize corruption.

The country’s economy has been run aground by the ruling criminal enterprise and this is hurting Cameroonians so bad to the extent where most young Cameroonians are permanently looking outward.

They want to leave their country due to their anger and frustration against the CPDM criminal enterprise led by Mr. Paul Biya. Their country holds out no hope for them. The country is simply ruled by their “living ancestors” who should not be anywhere close to the corridors of power,  but are in no rush to yield the saddle to young people.

While it has been challenging to kick out these crooks out of power via the ballot boxes, the country’s political opposition is now engaged in serious prayers, calling on the Coronavirus to cleanse the Augean Stable manufactured by Mr. Biya and his group of ‘political rats.’

News that the virus is merciless when it attacks ailing old people has been good music to the ears of the youthful political opposition.

The ruling CPDM is not only packed with old people, it is replete with old and immuno-compromised ‘living ancestors’ who want to empty State coffers before they leave this world.

The virus has been very slow at cleansing the political arena, but it has finally gotten into higher gear. In a rear and deadly alliance with other diseases, it has started sweeping the political stage as CPDM stalwarts are already dropping like flies.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Bamenda, a youthful Social Democratic Front (SDF) party official clearly expressed his joy that the CPDM, considered as a colony of diseases, was being torn down by an invisible enemy.

He pointed to the death of Member of Parliament, Emilia Lifaka  Monjowa, who last week organized a COVID-19 super-spreader event which has sent her to a local mortuary in Buea.

The SDF stalwart said Ms. Lifaka was aware that the virus could mangle her, especially as her body was a conference center for diseases such diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disorders  and chronic obesity.

He pointed out that her death has left many who attended that super-spreader event in fear, especially as most of them were women of size and were rich in distended butts and stomachs which have been serving as storages of food and drinks.

He stressed that there was panic in Yaounde, especially at the national assembly where many Members of Parliament are hosting diabetes and high blood pressure.

He reiterated that stress was killing CPDM parliamentarians as most of them know they do not deserve their positions. Many of them had to bribe their way to the Parliament. The financial hardship of the past has weaken most of them and many are yet to pay off the debt they contracted just to secure a place in the current Parliament.

News of the death of their party members has left many worried. They have been losing sleep and they know the virus will not be going away anytime soon.

For the men, their diabetes was already a huge problem in their bedrooms, but the arrival of the Coronavirus has caused their erectile dysfunction to be full-blown.

Below is a list of those CPDM members who could not stand the presence of the virus and their demise is a constant reminder to those who harbor those deadly diseases that facilitate things for the virus. Those who are a little healthy now have sex with their side-chicks with masks over their faces.

Pictures of a CPDM stalwart having sex with a mask on have landed in our London office and this story will make a good read and will be the subject of the next editorial.

Edmond Félix Etoundi was the Chief Executive Officer of Finexs S.A., one of the largest intercity transport companies in Cameroon. He leaves behind a rich CPDM heritage that reveals a fantastic Biya regime success story of a self-made man.

Garga Alim Hayatou, Secretary of State to the Minister of Public Health responsible for the fight against Epidemics and Pandemics and Lamido of Garoua was brought down by the coronavirus.

Monkam Pascal, an industrialist, a businessman. He had a special attachment to the Biya regime and the Cameroon’s corrupt institutions.

Martin Aristide Okouda, the former Minister of Public Works, died on Friday 9 April 2021 in France. Aged 70

Chief Mukete, former traditional ruler of the Bafaws

Gervais Mendo Ze, Former cabinet minister and general manager of the Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) died after he was released from the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison.

Princess Rabiatou Mamboune Njoya, sister of the Sultan of Bamoun, Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya, died on 9 April 2021,

Gargoum Adoum Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Alim Boukaro Business tycoon

Essomba Pierre, Secretary General at the Ministry of Territorial Administration

Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka, Vice President National Assembly

Beatrice Elom, Vice President of Transparency International-Cameroon.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai  

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