The panic that is within the ranks of the ruling crime syndicate is testament to the fact that the government is under enormous pressure.

When the political opposition called for a nation-wide demonstration on September 22, 2020, to root out the country’s sit-tight, ailing and incompetent president, Paul Biya, from power, surrogates of the old and bed-ridden president swang into action to ensure the opposition’s call was not heeded by a public which is really tired of the incompetence and corruption that have become the ruling cabal’s hallmarks.

The country’s entire Amada was deployed in Douala and Yaoundé to intimidate opposition supporters who are getting bolder by the day.

But this strategy did not deter Cameroonians who are gradually figuring out that real political change in their country will never come through the ballot boxes which are usually loaded  with fake ballots by the country’s ruling party that has been in power for more than half a century with nothing to show for.

New elections are coming up in December 2020 and these regional elections are only designed to prove to the international community that the Yaoundé government is decentralizing as per its 1996 constitution that has never been respected.

The outcome of the election is already known. The tactics will be the same. A few votes will be granted to hungry political leaders like Cabral Libii and others just to legitimize the election.

The ruling CPDM is going to win big, and of course, through the foul means it has always used to win every single election for 38 years.

Intimidation and all corrupt practices will be on hand to ensure Mr. Biya’s party stays in power against the will of the Cameroonian people.

The election will be a total waste of time as the results are already known. Even if all political parties make common cause, the ruling party will steal the victory like it did in the 2018 presidential election.

The leading opposition figure, Professor Maurice Kamto, was robbed of his victory and to silence him, the military was deployed and he was illegally incarcerated for over six months.

A tactic that seems to have been lifted from a Soviet script. In Cameroon, those who vote are indeed not those who count the votes. This clearly implies that the ruling CPDM will always resort to its old antics to perpetuate itself in power.

Cameroonians should, by now, know that elections do not count and that the ruling CPDM will never yield an inch of its power if those who run that party are not arrested and hauled to jail in a people power revolution.

Southern Cameroonians have clearly understood that the Yaounde regime can never be trusted and the economic and political catastrophes generated by the Southern Cameroons crisis have weakened the government and demonstrated that greater pressure on the kleptocrats and gerontocrats who have hijacked power is the best path to walk.

And this path is spreading pain and insomnia among government officials who are completely overwhelmed by the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Initially, the government and its parasitic surrogates had declared that there was no Southern Cameroons crisis.

Opportunists like the country’s territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, a notorious ex-convict, and CPDM ideologue, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, who is scared of imprisonment because of some dirt he left at the ministry of the environment, gave the impression that all was well and that the demonstrations by the Southern Cameroonian population against marginalization in 2017 were simply a figment of the imagination of those who wanted to sow chaos in the country.

But today, the same Atanga Nji is losing sleep over an issue he said never existed. The Francophone leadership seems to have outsourced the stress to him and this invisible enemy is gradually consuming him.

He has been aging prematurely and a source close to one of his numerous girlfriends in Yaounde has indicated that the barefaced territorial administration boss is suffering from chronic erectile dysfunction due to stress.

His recent hasty trip to Kumba to demonstrate the government’s sympathy towards families whose children had been killed in a macabre slaughtering of students by undercover military men was a clear demonstration of the enormous stress that the government was taking because of the Southern Cameroons crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Atanga Nji’s stress was all over him to the point where he was mixing up administrative units even as he is the territorial administration boss. Kumba is in Meme Division in the Southwest region, but Atanga Nji, a secondary school dropout, kept on saying that Kumba was in Fako Division despite the numerous corrections from his collaborators.

The confused territorial administration boss even wanted to use the Bible to bamboozle the crowd but was promptly stopped by a lady who claimed she was under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

The lady’s intervention was more proof that the population is no longer scared of government officials and that the people will continue to challenge the government to reveal the truth about the killings in Kumba.

The Yaounde government is used to mowing down its own people. It also has a track record in hiding the truth. A few months ago, army soldiers slaughtered some 23 people in Ngarbuh, a little town in the country’s Northwest region.

Initially, the government clearly denied having conducted any operations in that locality but when pressed by the international community that had evidence, the dishonest government reluctantly admitted to the massacres.

But Ngarbuh was not the first and everybody knew it would not be the last. Muyuka, Muyenge, Santa, Kwakwa and other Southern Cameroonian towns have been victims of the government’s diabolic and Marchiavellic schemes.

The pattern is the same. Denial first and acceptance second. The same strategy has also been used in the country’s Far North region where a woman and her baby were shot point blank by Cameroon army soldiers. Thanks to the BBC’s superior technology, the lying Yaoundé government was caught red-handed.

The truth about Kumba will soon be out. The government knows who is behind the killings. It is revealing less than it knows.

But if Cameroonians have to rob themselves of their irresponsible government, then they must step up the pressure. They must create multiple pressure points both at home and abroad to ensure the criminal syndicate really belongs to the past.

It is time to flush the corrupt and incompetent government out and this will only be achieved through pressure and unity of purpose.

Southern Cameroonians must make common cause with their counterparts in East Cameroon if they must achieve anything.

Going solo may not yield the right dividends. The Biya government has a way of reincarnating. If it must be flushed out, then the different factions involved in the Southern Cameroons crisis must make common cause with the objective of stepping up pressure on a crumbling corrupt and ineffective government.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

On Saturday, October 24, 2020, unknown gunmen stormed the Mother Francisca Academy, Fiango, Kumba around midday. These men perpetrated murder on innocent children in their classrooms. The children died for wanting to acquire knowledge. This act has unsurprisingly been condemned in the strongest terms by nearly all national and international organizations including the United Nations and the European Union. Human Rights Watch and the Cameroonian government through its minister of communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, have joined their voices of those who have condemned the atrocity.

However, and curiously so, the Cameroon government in her condemnation statement, seem to have conducted a speedy investigation as it accused the Southern Cameroons separatists of being the perpetrators of the heinous crime. In the government communique, they apportioned all the blame to the “Amba Boys” and this with no evidence whatsoever to buttress their allegation. Many still remember vividly how the same government accused armed groups of committing the 14 February 2020 Massacre in Ngarburh before an investigation revealed otherwise weeks later.

If we agree with the regime that separatist committed this crime, is it not clear that the regime has also failed in its responsibility to protect its civilians? The Cameroon government is by this act of early accusations without evidence trying to evade once again the fact that it has failed to protect its citizens. It is worth recalling that government officials in the two Anglophone regions campaigned recently and reassured parents and teachers that school resumption was safe.

The Responsibility To Protect R2P is the political commitment to stop all forms of violence and persecutions. It seeks to bridge the gap between member states’ pre-existing obligations under International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights law, and the reality faced by populations at risk of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

Koffi Annan, in his September1999 annual report to the United Nations General Assembly said “member states must find a common ground in upholding the principles of the Charter and acting in defense of common humanity”. Mr. Annan repeated this challenge in his 2000 Millennium report when he insisted that “If Humanitarian Intervention is indeed, an unacceptable assault on sovereignty, how should we respond to Rwanda, to gross systemic violations of human rights that offend every precept of our common humanity”

Going by the above, the Cameroon government can therefore not invoke the notion of sovereignty to evade a possible and imminent International Humanitarian intervention in the country to stop the current war. This writer believes that if the Cameroon government is failing in its responsibility to protect, the United Nations should not fail in ordering a Humanitarian Intervention to stop the atrocities in the Southern Cameroons.

The Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols lay down the rules on how soldiers and civilians should be treated during armed conflicts like the case in hand. These conventions were adopted in 1949and still apply in today’s armed conflicts.

International Humanitarian Law(IHL) advocates the protection of victims of armed conflicts and this includes civilians and combatants who have been injured or captured. All parties concerned in such conflicts whether states or organised non-states actors are therefore bound by the IHL in matters of this nature.

If after a proper and credible investigation, it is established that the Southern Cameroons separatists committed the massacre in Kumba, this will deal a deadly blow to their reputation. The legitimacy of their struggle for independence would suffer a major setback. On the other hand, if the investigations come out with evidence to suggest that there has been a repeat of the 14 February 2020 Ngarburh massacre, the state of Cameroon in my opinion, would have again to violated its constitution, International Humanitarian Law, the Geneva Convention and the Responsibility to Protect. Sanctions must therefore be called on the country for such violations.

While we condemn these crimes, no matter who committed them, it is important to note that the time is now for the United Nations to order an International Humanitarian Intervention in Cameroon to stop further bloodshed.

By Nelson A.  Agbor

The author is a Research Student in Int. Human Rights Law @ The University of Plymouth, UK.

MASSACRE OF SIX CHILDREN AT MOTHER FRANCISCA BILLINGUAL ACADEMY, KUMBA

Yesterday, 24 October 2020, an act of despicable barbarism was perpetrated upon our people in Kumba, Meme County, Southern Cameroons. Eyewitnesses attest that at about 11:30am, armed men entered the Mother Francisca International Billingual Academy, Fiango Kumba and opened fire on students. Six students were killed, and many are being treated for life-threatening injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families at this time of sorrow.

After an initial moment of pause, reflection and information-gathering, Ambazonia Intelligence Services have now confirmed that this act was committed by French Cameroun forces. The shell-casings found at the crime scene and some recovered from the bodies of the deceased children are bullets from sophisticated weapons possessed by the French Cameroun military.

Ambazonia Intelligence Services briefed the Interim Government last night that yesterday’s atrocity was designed to spread fear within the civilian population. The regime is desperate to give our legitimate fight for freedom and independence a bad name. The car used for the operation is owned by the French Cameroun military. Yesterday’s massacre was executed with military precision.

The regime in Yaoundé has been creating armed militia disguised as Ambazonian Self-Defense Forces but the people of Ambazonia will not fall for these sloppy gimmicks. The Interim Government of Ambazonia is determined that the truth about these massacres be made public. All the perpetrators of these acts must be brought to justice.

Ngarbuh, Kwakwa, Muyenge, Ikata, Muyuka, and now Kumba are unresolved massacres. Yesterday’s act has triggered international outrage.  The world must understand that outrage alone will not address the root cause of the conflict in Ambazonia. The regime in Yaoundé possesses no shame and has issued a facts-vague statement accusing Ambazonian Self-Defense Forces for the atrocity.

Mindful of the continuous acts of violence perpetrated upon the people of Southern Cameroons, the Interim Government of Ambazonia is calling on the UN Security Council to press the regime in Yaoundé to commit to:

•             A UN humanitarian intervention in the Southern Cameroons.

•             An international fact-finding mission to investigate the crimes perpetrated in the Southern Cameroons.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia believes that only by engaging in the above actions would the facts of these massacres and atrocities be established and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Thank You,

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

Once upon a time, there was indeed an Ambazonia struggle! To be sure, the people of Southern Cameroons and the Ambazonia Interim Government read from the same script. The rushed succession plan following the Abuja incident changed the whole concept and pattern of the Southern Cameroons war of independence. One cannot but wish for a different narrative, a different kind of story.

Every well-meaning Southern Cameroons citizen that is not worried about where the Ambazonian revolution is now and where we are headed must be living in Maryland, USA or in French Cameroun. Southern Cameroonians including President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe believed, and rightly so, that the corrupt leadership of the disgraced Dr Sako Ikome and Chris Anu was clueless and didn’t have the capacity to take Southern Cameroonians to the next level, and, therefore, instituted change.

But ever since President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe made public the Southern Cameroons dream Interim Government administration headed by Vice President Dabney Yerima, Sako Ikome and Chris Anu have blatantly refused to allow the Southern Cameroons Interim Government to put its acts together.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group can now reveal that the Southern Cameroons resistance is in a free fall. The Federal Republic of Ambazonia seems to be on a standstill and, in recent times, the Biya French Cameroun regime that has slaughtered thousands of Southern Cameroons citizens including women and children is gaining an upper hand in the Ambazonia homeland.

Those who are complaining about the killing of prominent Amba fighters are no longer only President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and Vice President Dabney Yerima but also the corrupt Southern Cameroons so-called front line leaders that are haunted by their sordid and avaricious past to whom the Sako-Chris Anu period had become the ultimate nemesis.

The real tragedy of the Southern Cameroons situation is that its diaspora and thousands in Ground Zero are not convinced that the struggle is making progress. We of the Concord Group are sad about what has become of the war to liberate the people of Southern Cameroons, and more so of what has become of Ambaland.

It is evidently clear that the silence maintained by men like Hon. Joseph Wirba is deliberate! If those still rallying behind the Maryland mafia group think that Southern Cameroons had made progress, the assassination of General Ayeke and the disappearance of the Field Marshal in the Lebialem County can now help them to see today how much the resistance had gone down the hill! Not only on the negative politics being played by the diaspora including members of the cabinet appointed to assist Vice President Yerima but things like armed robbery and kidnapping, robbery and thieving that were such a taboo in a typical Southern Cameroons society are now the hallmarks of the Ambazonia revolution. While fighters who are pro Sako and Chris Anu in Ground Zero are getting away with murder, the disgraced US based Ambazonia front liners are getting away with massive embezzlement of My Trip To Buea funds!! With these things, you just wonder where we are heading.”

It has been extremely difficult for this writer to understand why the few still passing for a Sako IG, with their overt religiosity, find it difficult to walk their religious talk. The Southern Cameroons thieves of Maryland are all virtually baptized Christians. And since most Southern Cameroonians are Christians, most of the thieves are Christians too!!

Is it that President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Ambazonia Interim Government have not put in their best? If so, is their best so bad or so poor that Southern Cameroonians haven’t made any significant difference? The leader’s recent call for unity from his cell in the Kondengui High Security Prison and the Maryland reaction that followed with the endorsement of Deacon Tassang, gave we of this publication a dissenting sense of defeatism.

We believe and fervently too that the Southern Cameroons diaspora have failed their fellow citizens in Ground Zero and this failure is slowly but surely generating a kind of frustration among the jailed leaders which is gradually translating to regrets.

Of course, like many living in the bushes and in refugee camps in Ghana and Nigeria, Southern Cameroonians can always console themselves with the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But Let Vice President Yerima continue to do all that he can, while Prof Carlson Anyangwe remains steadfast in diplomacy, hoping that another generation may stand on their shoulder and stand higher and do better for the suffering and oppressed people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. But it goes without saying that President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has done his bit.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Culture is the individualities and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, shared habits, music, and arts. The challenges for various structures of cultural institutions in Africa over the last centuries have been abundant but with a solid foundation of truth and justice, the institution of Ekpe has made hundreds of Manyu generations in the Cameroons rightfully honoured. Not even the Christian missionaries of the last seven score years could penetrate and distort the foundation of this cultural giant.

Over the last centuries, Epke has come to define and distinguish Manyu culture. With solid societal norms which go beyond the realms of this editorial, this institution has become an envy of many the world over. But the falsification of cultural institutions from within and external elements has been one of the most under-reported cultural crimes within the Manyu and Cameroonian community.

Ekpe has heavily influenced community peace, truth, and justice since the Manyu man started living in communities over 5500 years ago. With the growing influence of money over the last five decades, hundreds of Manyu men have expressed interest in buying their way into membership and leadership of this sacred institution. This is a trend that the elders and custodians are thankfully putting a stop to.

The title of Sessekou was on the verge of becoming so commercialized that the proud traditions were in danger of becoming trivialized. A cultural title is something which one should inherit from his ancestors and not bargain after earning a few dollars in the West.

The 25 July 2020 video publication on the YouTube platform upon which the elders and Ekpe Chiefs of Ntenako village found Johnnes  Arreymbi of London guilty of the cultural wrongdoing and also for posing as a Sessekou for too long in the UK is a stark reminder of the valleys many would descend for phoney self-aggrandizement. The video from the great people of Ntenako in their most raw, explicit, and unrestrained was unequivocal. Johnnes  Arreymbi has been passing for a Sessekou in the diaspora for over ten years and has been treated within the Cameroonian community with the veneration that the title attracts.

With the embarrassment of having been uncovered as a cultural imposter, a predictable but baseless and feeble social media fight-back was launched. Arreymbi’s fight-back to safe face can be seen by even the blindest amongst the blind. His tactics risk causing deep and lasting damage to the reputation of his village, clan and Ekpe. Trust in cultural institutions is an essential foundation and a basic human trait. Any cultural institution that is partial in its deliberations and decisions is viewed as lacking in credibility and such a reputation will be difficult to shake off.

The notion that the Elders and Ekpe Chiefs of Ntenako village on three occasions could not remember when they performed a celebrated public event of Sessekou Enthronement is not plausible. Any attempt by anyone in Manyu or London to perpetuate this gigantic lie would be met with vociferous consequences by the custodians and sympathizers of the Manyu culture.

This brings us to London, 17 October 2020. Cameroon Concord News Group has been reliably informed that a certain Sampson Tanyi, who arrived in the United Kingdom when Kwame Nkrumah was the chairman of the OAU and still has no intention of retiring to Manyu has voluntarily ventured into uncharted territory. This publication understands that the said Sampson Tanyi who has been described by many within Manyu circles as a prominent and successful failure is attempting to do the unthinkable by challenging the due process that led to the uncovering of this serious cultural crime.

Manyu cultural barons and custodians at home and in the diaspora are watching the current comedy led by this Self-appointed Quarter-head with wonderment and interest. One thing must be made clear to the cultural clowns and impostors in London: anyone who attempts to challenge the decision of the Epke custodians in Ntenako and Manyu on this matter would be embarking on a journey of many dangers as the consequences would be unimaginable.

We of the Concord Group publication are watching the cultural humourists and charlatans in the United Kingdom closely. All collaborators of the Sampson Tanyi in this pseudo-cultural endeavour would face the full force of Ekpe and Manyu.

The impulse to cheat is evident in many humans and wherever there are influence and money; villains and charlatans are never far away. Africans love titles but most Manyu men are predominantly obsessed with being Sessekous for honour and veneration and this fixation is driving many to obtain it by hook or crook. Ekpe as a cultural institution should not be misused and phoneys should not be shielded.

Ekpe represents a critical piece of Manyu identity as it forms the foundation of its social order. It reminds us of our past, shapes who we are today and will make the future of our descendants richer. The variety and vastness of the Manyu semi Bantu kingdom can sometimes make communication and stability demanding but Ekpe has reigned supreme in breaking these barriers and ensuring consistency, justice, and continuity.

What started as an investigation into an Ekpe title impersonation has now uncovered unanswered and pressing questions about academic titles. But for this editorial, Cameroon Concord News Group will stick to culture and Ekpe.

If Ekpe and the custodians of the Manyu culture dream of a world where no mortal will scorn or impersonate the coveted title of Sessekou, the time to put a stop is now. Sampson Tanyi and the charlatans of his Ekpe-meeting-by-zoom should take special note. Ekpe must employ this opportunity to underpin the values and beliefs that the Manyu community cherishes. The alternative to putting a stop to cultural corruption and impersonation is taking these values for granted.  If any culture is diluted and taken for granted, our way of life will become foreign to us and our descendants. And Manyu intends to pursue that path not.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-chief

Cameroon government army soldiers and members of the National Gendarmerie and other security agencies raided the office of the Cameroon Concord News Group in Buea seizing computers. No reason has so far been given concerning the military operation, but we of the Concord Group believe it is related with our coverage of the Southern Cameroons crisis.

The backbone of any free society is an unbiased, professional, and responsible media. Attacks on the media and press in Cameroon carrying out their daily duties are sadly now a regular occurrence. The regime in Yaoundé is aping the world’s worst with astonishing efficiency and regularity. The evidence of recent months indicates that these attacks are now reaching epidemic proportions.  These must be discontinued.

Last night’s, forcible entry by French Cameroun gendarmes into the Cameroon Concord News Group regional office in Buea is unacceptable and reprehensible. These persistent attacks on our property, staff, the Anglophone press and media in Cameroon are sad, regrettable and a backward step. The prudent course of action for the Cameroon government is to desist from these campaigns of attacks and intimidation. Paul Atanga Nji must know that for Cameroon to enjoy any modicum of respectability on the international stage, freedom of the press and media must be respected within its territory.

These acts of vandalism and intimidation by Cameroon government thugs disguised as law enforcement officers is the third of such intimidation tactics on our property and staff within six months. Yaoundé must be aware that resentment over its treatment of the English media and press fuels the secession struggle in the Southern Cameroons. The excuse for invading our premises in Buea is weak, false, and unacceptable.

Samuel Wazizi and Kingsley Njoka belong to a long line of media and press victims, many of whom will never be reported in the news. The regime in Yaoundé evaluation of the resolve of the media and press in the Southern Cameroons is exceedingly inaccurate.

Cameroon Concord News Group demands the authorities in Cameroon make public any offenses committed by its media personnel or desist from these constant harassments and intimidation. We cannot and would never ignore our responsibility to the Cameroonian public and the world. Our duty as a media organization is to report the news and stimulate debate and no amount of intimidation would deviate us from our duty.

No civilized society can thrive without a free press and media and Cameroon Concord News Group is here to stay.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-in-chief

On the 14th of October 2020, an airplane carrying onboard over 100 asylum seekers from the United States landed in the Douala International Airport in Cameroon into the waiting hands of the Cameroonian authorities stationed at the airport. Their fate is now a mystery.

Leaving one’s home country as a migrant to settle in and start living in another country has always been a challenging venture. It becomes not only challenging but difficult, daunting, and risky when you must flee from your country without prior notice due to persecution or war. Danger or menace to one’s life or that of your family members is a major reason for fleeing these days. One, therefore, flees from danger from their home country to become a refugee by seeking asylum.

The word ‘Asylum’ is a Latin form of the Greek word ‘asylon’ which in English means ‘freedom from…’ It is true that in International Law, states are not bound by any obligation to grant asylum to a refugee. However, nations are bound by the principle of non- refoulement as defined in article 33 of the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees which prohibits the expulsion or return of refugees to areas they have fled from.

The case in hand is, therefore, a flagrant violation of the above-named convention. The United States should know better. It is rewarding that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Germany, and many EU nations, still hold close to their hearts the protection of human rights and freedoms especially those of refugees and asylum seekers.

It has been before now, common knowledge that the United States, Britain, and France as allies, are among the best in the world when it comes to the protection of human rights and freedoms as well as the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. This writer is confident that if this were in the United Kingdom, the outcome would have been different at least not until all due processes followed and with strict respect for the rule of law.

With the recent deportation of vulnerable asylum seekers by the United States government to Cameroon, the United States has moved one step away from this prestigious circle of rights defenders. It is no news anywhere in the world that what is going on in the former British Southern Cameroons in particular, and Cameroon in general does not only constitute human rights abuses but genocide in gestation.

This writer has reason to believe that by this singular act, the US has shown the world that it partners the dictatorial regime in Yaoundé. What other reason can be given to justify sending asylum seekers back to a country they have fled from in the middle of a war?

It is equally worth noting that this group of mostly Former British Southern Cameroons asylum seekers was deliberately transferred months ago by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the T. Don Hutto Residential Centre in Taylor, Texas. A detention facility that has been noted and stands out for its several allegations of human rights abuses and other degrading treatments of refugees and asylum seekers.

Based on recent figures from the UN High Commissioner for refugees, there has been a 56% increase in the number of people seeking political asylum from the Cameroons. And that number has increased since November 2016 due to the ongoing war in Former British Southern Cameroons.

It remains really strange and inexplicable how with all the statistics and evidence available on the ongoing crisis in Cameroon, and despite letters from some congressmen and women asking for the process to be delayed for more evidence, the Texas officials succeeded in deporting helpless asylum seekers to Cameroon, a country where the abuse of human rights has become a norm and a daily occurrence. 

This process of deportation has smeared the dreadful image of the United States’ already injured human rights image. The country has missed an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that it does not side with the regime Yaoundé regime.

Nelson Agbor is an International Human Rights Law Scholar. He holds a Master of Laws (LLM), from Hertfordshire Law School, UK. He is currently a Doctoral Research Student, International Human Rights Law at Plymouth University, UK.

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations today announced the launch of its newly formed strategic committee of trusted advisors. This Advisory Board includes well renowned leaders whose focus will be to shape and guide the strategy of the Coalition, working closely with the Steering Committee.

 The new Board includes Former Liberian President H.E Amos Sawyer, Former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Ambassador Herman J. Cohen; Former Resident Representative for Sierra Leone & Liberia of the African Development Bank Dr. Margaret Kilo; Former U.S. Ambassador to Liberia and Uganda Ambassador Deborah Malac; Senior Associate and Regional Director National Democratic Institute Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh; and Founders of Pave The Way Foundation Gary and Meredith Krupp.

 “We are very honored to have such a distinguished team join us in actively seeking an end to the escalating armed conflict in the Southern Cameroons that addresses the root causes of the conflict” said Dr. Denis Foretia, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations. “We will continue to do all we can to stop the humanitarian disaster unfolding in the country.”

For the last 100 years, food has been used as both a weapon of war and in some cases the driving force behind it. Hunger, in particular, has been at the heart of many of the revolutions of the past. Just over a decade ago the Arab Spring was launched because of the rising price of food. It is therefore understood by many that food, and fear of hunger, can overthrow regimes, shift political power, and even change the course of a nation. But how does food insecurity and the potential unrest it drives impact America? The west African nation of Cameroon is a perfect example of how food insecurity can undermine a stable regime and change the balance of power in an entire region critical to US foreign policy objectives.

Led by 87-year-old President Biya since 1981, Cameroon is seen in Africa as a stalwart of stability in an unstable neighborhood. But all is not rosy in Cameroon today. As has happened across the world, rising food costs and resulting food scarcity often drive human conflict. In fact, conflict in Cameroon threatens the entire sub-region because of food insecurity. With an ongoing insurgency in the Anglophone regions, Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa in the Far North, and non-state rebel intrusions from Central African Republic, Cameroon faces significant deficits in its ability to protect and feed its population. As the largest donor across all sectors in the sub-region – health, military assistance, and food – the United States logically would be expected to lead any response efforts to an unfolding breakdown of the humanitarian situation. It is important that Americans understand how interconnected stability in Cameroon is to the sub-region and ultimately to U.S. taxpayers.

Surrounded by conflict-laden countries, Cameroon hosts over 430,000 refugees. The bulk of assistance is from the United States through the United Nations World Food Program, which provides millions of U.S. dollars of shelter and food to these refugees. In addition, Cameroon is a key trading hub to exporters around the globe. Cameroon plays a role as the regional “food highway”. Many of Cameroon’s neighbors are dependent on its open borders, open ports, and open roads for their trade. Its landlocked neighbors receive much needed food and fuel imports through Cameroon’s main port, Douala.

Cameroon security challenges inside its borders threaten the stability of the government. The first is an ongoing insurgency in the nation’s two Anglophone regions since 2018. This struggle has internally displaced over 679,000 of the three million people living there and those left, over one million people, are believed to be in a severe food crisis. In the insurgency in Northwest and Southwest Regions, Anglophone separatists attack some of the most critical industries in Cameroon, killing workers and burning cocoa, coffee, banana, and plantain fields. By targeting the agricultural productivity of the country, separatists effectively choke off production in these regions. This eliminates large swaths of employment and creates severe food shortages driving food insecurity, and hunger further fueling the conflict.

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Far North region has faced ongoing conflict from extremist groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa since 2014. Raids by the terrorists are common on Lake Chad and along the Nigerian border. These raids target cattle, food, fuel, and kidnaps-for-ransom. The violence has internally displaced over 297,000 Cameroonians and combined with severe weather has caused severe food shortages in that region. The country also hosts over 114,300 Nigerian refugees, victims of conflict forced across the border fleeing violence. Cameroon’s response is a military strategy that had been successful through 2018. However, on the heels of Cameroon’s 2018 presidential elections, Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa increasingly targeted Cameroonian security forces and pushed further into the country. The conflict activity has also reached Cameroon’s border with Central African Republic where incursions by non-state rebel groups target already vulnerable UN refugee camps which host over 274,000 refugees. As Cameroon searches for the force balance that allows it to address security challenges, insecurity reigns in the troubled areas in the Lake Chad basin, along the eastern border with CAR, and in the Anglophone Regions.

So, what is at stake for Cameroon’s neighbors and why should Americans care?  Equatorial Guinea’s second and fourth largest imports in 2017 were from Cameroon. Without regulated trade and cross border staples fluidity from Cameroon, the majority of Equatorial Guineans would face severe levels of food insecurity. Cameroon is the Central African Republic’s main trading partner. It accounts for 58 percent of all of its exports and 41 percent of imports in 2018 alone. Because CAR is landlocked, nearly all exports and imports are over land through Cameroon. Any impact to the CAR-Cameroon border could destroy CAR’s economy. Many of Cameroon’s neighbors are already in dire straits. Almost half of the CAR’s population is food insecure. In Chad, 43 percent of children under five are stunted. And in Equatorial Guinea, where data are hard to obtain, over 26 percent of children under five are stunted. The United States is the number one responder to food security shortfalls in the sub-region. Through the USAID Food for Peace, Cameroon received over 70 million USD, CAR over 118 million USD, and Chad over 187 million USD. Disruption to food flows through Cameroon to these countries caused by a complete breakdown of political stability would have catastrophic effects to these countries and require an immediate response by western governments and non-governmental organizations. 

Between the security challenges stretching Cameroon’s armed forces, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s stability is precarious—and therefore, so too is the entire West and Central African region’s food security. As we know from history, food insecurity and instability can enter a dangerous feedback loop. Conflicts, and their consequences, never stay confined within a nation’s borders. What Americans should understand is that an unstable Cameroon doesn’t just hurt Cameroon, as tragic as that is alone. Cameroon is the doorway into Central Africa. Knock down that door, and the hunger crisis that awaits the world would be large in scope and terrible in outcome. As the largest foreign assistance provider in the sub-region, the United States would be on the hook to lead response efforts, footing the bulk of any bill.

Culled from agri-pulse.com

Interim Government of Ambazonia on the statement issued by the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda 69^th General Assembly.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia welcomes the recent statement of the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda at the end of its 69^th General Assembly in Buea, Southern Cameroons.  The statement issued on 25 September 2020 expressed considerable concerns about the ongoing genocide in our country.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia appreciates the call of the Catholic Bishops for a;

• Ceasefire in the war in the Southern Cameroons as requested by the UN Secretary General on 23 March 2020 and reiterated by Pope Francis on 29 March 2020.
• Release of all Southern Cameroons Prisoners of Conscience detained in various prisons and detention facilities as a result of the ongoing war.
• Continuation of negotiations between the government of La Republic du Cameroun and the leadership of the Southern Cameroons currently detained unlawfully in Yaoundé.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia notes that the Conference called for a complete school resumption in the Southern Cameroons.  We believe that the rights to life and education are fundamental and our position on school resumption has not changed. As a government, we have publicly observed that only parents can determine if the conditions are conducive for Southern Cameroons children to return to school. The Southern Cameroons Interim Government wants children to study in a calm and peaceful environment and therefore advises parents that where it is unsafe to resume, they should let their children study at home. The Interim Government will continue to support community schools all over Ambazonia.

We call on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution mandating a UN International Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the alleged abuses during the Ambazonia–French Cameroun Conflict. A UN mandated International Fact-Finding Mission has the authority to challenge the culture of impunity that the Cameroun regime currently operates within, and such accountability is a prerequisite for achieving a just peace. We believe that a UN-mandated international Fact-Finding Mission will have the immediate effect of quelling violence, saving lives, and halting the destruction of our peoples’ lives and livelihood.

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Ambazonia