GENESIS

Julius AyukTabe was born in Ewelle village to a mother from Kembong and a father from Ewelle on the 2 May 1965. Both villages are in the Eyumojock Local Government Area, Manyu County in Southern Cameroons. He started primary education in his village and later at the border village of Ekok. He was the only pupil to pass his Common Entrance examination in List A in 1978 which led to his admission to the prestigious Government High School Mamfe where he spent seven years and obtained his GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level certificates. He was appointed Senior Prefect of GHS Mamfe- an institution with more than 1,700 students in the 1984/1985 academic year. The adage ‘the child is the father of the man’ was used to describe him whilst in primary and secondary school as his leadership skills were noticeable.

SCHOLARSHIP TO STUDY IN GREAT BRITAIN

As the Senior Prefect, he was expelled from GHS Mamfe on the 25^th of January 1985-a decision that compelled him to prepare for his GCE A-Level from home. After passing his GCE A Level examination with exceptional grades in 1985, he was one of two students in GHS Mamfe to be offered a scholarship on academic performance. He studied Computer Science and Mathematics at Keele University in the United Kingdom. He graduated with honours in 1988 and proceeded to the University of Sheffield where he took a Master’s degree in Control Engineering in 12 months. His lecturers and the administrative staff at the University of Sheffield were impressed with his IQ & performance and recommended that he enroll for a PhD program immediately.

After writing his PhD proposal, British Aerospace offered to fund part of his PhD program on Flight Control after he worked on his project for them for six months, on “Fault tolerance of flight control”. Whilst waiting for the Cameroon government to confirm its commitment to fund part of the program, he was invited by the then Board Chairman of Cameroon airlines, Minister Augustin Frédéric Kodock, whose board was impressed with his PhD proposal and his determination to undertake  research in a subject that will benefit Cameroon Airlines. Shortly after returning to London to start his PhD program, he found that the government of Cameroun had discontinued its PhD scholarship in engineering courses.

Undeterred by this minor disappointment, Julius Ayuk Tabe returned to Cameroun in 1990 and was among the pioneer badge of PhD students at the Yaoundé Polytechnic in 1991. His authoritative and attractive academic achievements in the United Kingdom meant that he didn’t have to take long to enter the job market.

SONEL CAMEROON

He was employed as a Systems Analyst and a software developer at the National Electricity Corporation (SONEL) at its Douala office in 1991. While in his forte, he joined a team that designed a major part of the customer billing application which was deployed throughout Cameroon. He said “when I joined SONEL, the cashier systems were almost completely manual. Computers were only used in cashier operations in Douala, Yaoundé, Garoua and Victoria. In my first years at the corporation, a team of young engineers and I developed computer applications throughout the nation.”

As the years passed at SONEL, he moved from application developer to the customer service and distribution arm of the business. He moved to Yaoundé where he was the head of the Sales and Marketing Division. He was later promoted to Delegate of the Adamawa province and transferred to Ngaoundere.

THE GCE BOARD CONNECTION

It was during his time at SONEL Douala that Julius Ayuk Tabe performed one of the most under-reported charitable duties ever undertaken by a Southern Cameroonian. It’s worth recalling that the creation of the GCE Board by the French Cameroun government in 1993 was part of this familiar battle of oppression. The people of Southern Cameroons demonstrated for days in front of the Ministry of Education in Yaoundé before the institution was reluctantly created by Dr Mbella Mbappe’s ministerial decree and the French Cameroun regime. It was thus understood that there would be no adequate allocated finances and material resources to the GCE Board. For the GCE Board to succeed, Mr Ayuk Tabe volunteered his services.

Without a laptop or personal computer, but propelled by a genuine affection for computer software design and goodwill, he single-handedly produced a twenty page document and proceeded to design and develop the computer software that automated the processes of the GCE Examination, from registration to the production of results. Phenomenal! Working tirelessly with Mr Matthew Akoko and Mr Azong Wara, the Pioneer Deputy Registrar and Pioneer Registrar of GCE Board respectively, he accomplished this astounding task of delivering the revolutionary software on time at no business cost to the newly created organisation.

Impressed by Mr. Ayuk Tabe’s contribution to the advancement of the GCE Board, Mr Andrew Azong Wara, the institution’s head, said that “when the story of the GCE Board is written, it won’t be complete without mention of Ayuk Tabe after the work he did in writing all the computer programmes that helped us kick-start our project”. It’s worth mentioning that at a seminar in Cambridge, UK, computer programmes used to facilitate the GCE, GCSE exams were marketed to the fine of £80,000. The Cameroon GCE Board declined the package as Julius Ayuk Tabe had delivered software of equal effectiveness. A team of IT engineers were sent from the UK to appreciate the software he had developed and needless to say they were impressed.

HEAD-HUNTERS AND CISCO SYSTEMS

With his talents, global head-hunters were never far away. It is said that when you start, you look for work, as you approach virtuoso, work looks for you. In 2006, an opportunity came that matched his talents and ambition. This was the top job at Cisco Systems which obliged him to move to Lagos-Nigeria. At his new job, he led the Cisco Networking Academy as its manager for West and Central Africa. Julius Ayuk Tabe said “leading the programme in 23 countries in the African sub-region was one of the richest professional experiences of my life”.

The highly innovative Julius Ayuk Tabe worked for CISCO Systems for five years (2006-2011), during which he developed programmes for hundreds of institutions and helped to give valuable, employable and certifiable skills to thousands of youths. This brought a lot of joy to him and he could not hide this feeling when he said “my joy today comes when I go into an event and meet people who come to me with pride to say that my advice and mentorship led them to CISCO and a new rewarding career. In fact, some of these young boys and girls are already becoming the leading network experts in the companies for which they work. One who studied and got his certification from the Buduburam refugee camp in Ghana became a pioneer network staff at the Liberian Presidency working for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.”

RETURN TO THE FORTRESS OF LEARNING

In his mind, Julius Ayuk Tabe knew that as a distinguished scholar, the most suitable environment to share his knowledge was in academia. His next move was to accept an offer from Dr Margee Ensign, the then President of the American University of Nigeria to work as the pioneer Chief Information Officer for Africa’s Premier Development University in Yola in 2011. Under his watch, his office was charged with the design, deployment and maintenance of the University’s computer network application systems and training in information and communication technology among other roles. As a member of the University’s senior management, he helped the drive to 24/7 internet usage and a complete wireless campus to improve the use of e-resources which make up 99.9% of its study material.

His leadership skills meant that he rose quickly to the position of Assistant Vice President and Chief Information officer in a role that meant he led four departments; Information Technology, Auxiliary Services, Information Systems and the University Library. His office of support team was made up of Americans, Spaniards, South Africans and Nigerians, with himself representing the Southern Cameroons. He remarked that they were a joy to work with and a sense of personal fulfilment to lead such a talented team of people.

FATHER FIGURE TO ALL

Many French Camerounians& Southern Cameroonians study at the American University of Nigeria. The search for father-figure by freshmen in a University far from home is not uncommon. That is a role he excelled in. His residence in Yola remained open to students and visitors from home, with his house described by some of the students as a refectory. Whenever there was an event to be hosted in Yola, Mr AyukTabe’s house was the sublime location and entertainment centre.

THE FAMILY MAN AND PHILANTHROPIST

Returning from the United Kingdom in 1990, most people would shop for their families but he didn’t do that. Having lost a friend back home, while he was studying in the UK, upon his return, Julius bought memorabilia and a trophy to organise a football tournament for the late Arreymbo.  Arreymbo’s memorial trophy was played in Ewelle in the summer holidays of 1991 with CFAF 1,000,000 as prize money.

In 1999 when John Ngu Foncha, a Southern Cameroonian of colossal standing died, Mr Julius AyukTabe in his capacity as President of Anglophones in SONEL Douala lobbied for a company bus to take Southern Cameroonians working in SONEL Douala to attend the great man’s funeral in Bamenda

In 2007, Mr Julius Ayuk Tabe and his wife set up the ATAB (Ayuk-Tabe-Agbor-Bakia) Foundation which was to empower and support people in entrepreneurship, health and education. They recruited two graduates from the University of Buea and trained them in Nigeria for months through NGOs in Port Harcourt, Enugu and Lagos. Upon completion of their courses, their employees went to villages in Eyumojock LGA to train people on self-reliant initiatives and disease prevention. The ATAB Foundation gave scholarships to schools, provided books and uniforms to pupil and students. Potable water and filter bottles were also provided. During holidays, football tournaments were organised and sponsored by the foundation.

In 2012, while the Chief Information Officer of the American University of Nigeria, Mr Ayuk Tabe and Dr Mathias Fonkam enrolled ten Southern Cameroonians and assisted them in achieving full scholarships to study at the American University of Nigeria for four years at the annual cost of US$20,000. As a befitting testimony, one of these students who graduated in 2016 visited him in January 2020 at theKondengui Main Prison to inform him that he had been offered a job in Germany.

In 2017, Sisiku Julius AyukTabe paid tickets for refugees who travelled to the USA from Nigeria. For most of 2017, records and personal testimonies corroborate that he spent an average of US$2000 monthly for the Ambazonian struggle, supporting our displaced people. Whilst detained incommunicado at SED Yaoundé, for the first thirteen months, a sum of $100 a month was still deducted from his bank account as his contribution to the Ambazonia struggle.

On the 29th of September 2017, French Cameroun military attacked Sisiku Ayuk Tabe’s plantations and farms in Eyumojock LGA, destroying over 60 hectares of farm land, fish farm and livestock. All twenty-eight workers were chased away and the farms and plantations have grown wild ever since. After this attack, his farms and fellow villages suffered considerable damage to person and property. He instructed a team to evaluate and ascertain the cost of the damage. When the cost of CFAF 3,800,000 was reported, he sent CFAF 1,900,000 as 50% support to the affected people.

Mr Julius AyukTabe is happily married to Mrs Lilian Agbor Bakia with whom he has made all these professional moves from Douala through Yaoundé to Ngoundere, Lagos and Yola. Their loving union has lasted since 1992. They are blessed with four wonderful children all of whom are University Graduates.

THE CORONATION: MANYU ROYALTY

In 2015, following his distinguished academic and professional achievements as well as his philanthropic work, his family, village and the custodians of Manyu culture invited him and bestowed upon him the utmost title and responsibility awarded to a son of their County – the title of Sisiku. This enormous responsibility and veneration is only bestowed upon the honourable and visionaries.

AMBAZONIA CALL OF DUTY

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was elected the Chairman of the Ambazonia Governing Council during the third conclave which ended in Nigeria on 10 July 2017. Due to his leadership skills and commitment to the Southern Cameroons cause, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe was subsequently elected as the President of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Following his “Takumbeng call”, on  22 September 2017, there were worldwide and widespread demonstrations in Southern Cameroons led by women, with peace plants and patriotic chants for the release of their  people detained due to the crisis and the freedom of Southern Cameroons. These peaceful demonstrations were met with ferocious brutality by the French Cameroon military. On that day, Sisiku and many leaders of the struggle accompanied the “Takumbengs” in a mammoth demonstration in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

AMBAZONIA INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION

On the 1 October 2017, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe led the people of Southern Cameroons to reclaim their freedom by declaring independence and naming the country Federal Republic of Ambazonia.  His position as Chairman of the Governing Council and eventually as President of the Interim Government of Ambazonia took him to many parts of the world. His tours drew attention to the plight of the suffering masses of Southern Cameroonians. His charisma triggered a sense of identity among Southern Cameroonians who saw a dedicated and selfless leader.

President Ayuk Tabe was abducted from Abuja, Nigeria, with eleven members of his leadership team on Friday 5 January 2018 from a hotel (Nera) recreational park. Ten of them were eventually extradited to French Cameroon in total disregard of international law.. They were kept incommunicado for eleven months and eventually in a kangaroo court session lasting over 20 hours, they were tried and sentenced and are now serving life sentences. Though abducted for restoring the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, he has remained unfazed and committed to the total independence of Southern Cameroons. Despite being held incommunicado for close to a year, both in Nigeria and in French Cameroon, the leaders emerged strong against all seemingly insurmountable obstacles and odds. 

President AyukTabe has evinced an irrevocable determination to defend the goals of the Southern Cameroons revolution. He has demonstrated to the people of Southern Cameroons and the international community that he understands the universal tenets of peace, justice and freedom.

President AyukTabe, for your resolve and personal sacrifice in defence of the people of Southern Cameroons, you deserve our respect, prayers and profiling.

Written and narrated for CAMCORDNEWS by Asu Isong

Searching the pages of history and examining personal experiences, one appreciates the significance of great leadership to a family, organisation and a country. Had Winston Churchill not been the leader of the United Kingdom during the Second World War, there is a valid argument that the world would be different today. The same applies to Nkwame Nkrumah, Patrice Limumba, Nelson Mandela and the many giants of Pan-Africanism  who fought all over Africa to break the shackles of colonialism thus attaining freedom and independence for millions of us. Of the many definitions of leadership, the following is of particular significance today; ‘leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and accomplished.’

Cameroon Concord News Group believes that it speaks for the Ambazonian nation in stating that a lack of leadership after the abduction of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe in Abuja, Nigeria on the 5th of January 2018 is the fundamental reason for our lack of progress in our pursuit of independence and freedom. French Cameroun’s decapitation strike on our revolution achieved its aim. The appointment of Comrade Dabney Yerima as Vice President in May 2019 has steadied the shivering revolutionary boat. Prior to his appointment, wretched leadership was a grave reality in our struggle for justice, peace and independence. Unfortunately, much to the astonishment of this media outlet, over the last few months, pockets of this absurdity are now reappearing. We are incredulous at the bulk of people in this struggle for self-determination who seek power for self-aggrandizement.

After Ikome Sako failed woefully as acting leader of the Southern Cameroons struggle, Cameroon Concord News Group deemed it of paramount importance that anyone who seeks leadership at LGA, County or National level should be vetted and auditioned vigorously. Rev Sako and many in his mob were dubious and possessed less than a honorable past. They slipped through the net with little or no vetting. Correspondingly, many like them shouldn’t be allowed to do so in future. As we all volunteer our time, energy and money, the red lights should start flashing when comrades become vicious and dishonorable in their quests for control.

Cameroon Concord News Group has examined potential and current leaders at various sections of this struggle and whilst some exude confidence and the skill set to take Ambazonians to their intended destination, quite a significant proportion possess not the elementary skills required for leadership. This trend is disquieting and must be addressed immediately to snuff out stagnation. The insistence on titles and positions sounds trivial but it’s now a major concern and a dangerous trend that must be discouraged and stopped. We of the Concord Group have concluded that the French Cameroun system of titles for pomposity has infested the Southern Cameroons psychic. We must call this out at every opportunity for we intend to build a nation on sound human values. 

Cameroon Concord News Group is cautioning Ambazonians to allocate no time and tolerance to comedians and administrative utopians to whom only tittles are of significance! Ambazonia is at war! Special and challenging times call for brilliant leaders. And in this exceptional Ambazonian revolution, we need decent men and women with integrity and decorum to be the leaders at all levels. We need leaders who are trustworthy and accountable. We need leaders who are motivated to work for Ambazonia and its people not ego soothing fanatics. We need reliable leaders who inspire trust and confidence not leaders who engage in backstabbing.

Individuals with sound judgment wouldn’t entrust their political futures and a revolution to anyone thoughtless, calculating and lacking in self-control. The generosity and tolerance of the good people of Ambazonia should never be taken for granted. Comrades should never be deluded that they have supernatural rights and abilities so leadership must gravitate to them. Leadership is trust from the governed and must be earned!

The political illiteracy of the nice people of Southern Cameroons is no longer an opinion, it’s a fact. The evidence is obvious from the multitude of untruths consumed from social media platforms.

Cameroon Concord News Group stresses on the deployment of caution in appointing and electing leaders at any level of this struggle for we can’t afford unfortunate leadership anymore. Good leadership matters in this revolution as it makes a difference between being alive or not.

Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Some disturbing videos on how Africans are being treated in China because of fears of the Coronavirus have been making the rounds on social media. Some of the actions are outright racist and could be revolting.

However, while those videos clearly demonstrate that Chinese are suspicious of Africans being responsible for the resurgence of the virus, it is still necessary for Africans to respect local laws.

They should accept that they must be tested against the virus as a way of checking this insidious enemy. Those mitigation measures will not only ensure that they are safe, but will also ensure that others don’t get infected.

As we all know, there are some carriers who will remain asymptomatic all through their lives and such persons are the super spreaders who may inadvertently kill many people who are immune compromised.

However, no African should just accept any kind of humiliation because of efforts to roll back the virus. There are internationally recognized protocols for the checking of this virus that has overwhelmed the planet.  All countries are bound by treaties to respect those protocols without creating any racial or gender issues. 

Africans have passed that stage where they have to feel inferior because of somebody’s skin color. If Chinese do not change their ways, then Africans should also start chasing them out of this beautiful continent. Africans should not always behave as if they do not have a homeland. If it does not work out there, come back home. Just change your mentality and you will make it big in Africa.

Maybe Africans do not know this. Africa may have issues of governance, but it has it all here. Let nobody decisive Africans that they can only become somebody if only they leave Africa. Times have change and that mentality must belong to the past.

Progress, no matter where you are, comes only through discipline, hard work, futuristic thinking and determination. Africans should not let anybody make them think that they cannot make it in Africa.

Just sitting in someone else’s country and be eating and putting on weight is no sign of financial success. The good thing with Africa is that you do not need huge seed capital to start a small business. All you need is an iron will, foresight and a genuinely business mentality.

There are more Chinese in Africa than there are Africans in China. If the Chinese do not stop the dehumanization they are subjecting Africans to, let them know that the youthful and energy-filled African population will chase them out of Africa.

No Chinese comes to Africa to help anybody. It is about business and Africans can do most of the things Chinese are doing. Africans need them just as they need Africans and let them not think that they are doing anybody a favor on this continent.

They better wake up and smell the coffee or they will trigger a bomb that will cost them their business and citizens. It is worthwhile commending efforts by the African Union to ensure that Chinese put an end to their molestation of Africans.

However, the population will not be waiting forever for diplomacy which is always slow to fix things. The people of Africa are angry and the Chinese must be prompt to end their harassment of Africans, failure of which a huge storm may come the way of their citizens in Africa.

The anger and frustration of Chinese misconduct can be felt in Africa. The Chinese must avoid any bloodshed. The ball is in their court.

Africans are hospitable, but they won’t let others to look down on them. Times have changed. The new generation of Africans may not accept what their parents have accepted for decades. It is time to use better ways to check the spread of the virus in China. A display of racism will not address the issue. It will only pit Chinese against Africans. This should be avoided.

By Dr Arrey Joachim

Cameroon Concord News Group

Paul Biya’s war on the peaceful people of Southern Cameroons is atrocious and constitutes crime against humanity. Cameroon Concord News Group believes his day in the International Criminal Court will surely arrive and that would be sooner than his ruling CPDM gang expects. On the 12th of February 2020, statistics from the renowned Human Rights Watch revealed that more than 3,000 civilians have been killed with over 679,000 internally displaced.

A Cameroon Concord News Group record indicates that over 321 villages have been burned down by French Cameroun forces and there are more than 800 political prisoners languishing in French Cameroun jails. We of this publication believe that the deliberate silence from the international community is the greatest dereliction of moral duty ever exhibited. Consequently, recent calls by the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat for all Africans to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, which claimed over one million lives was seen as a joke within diplomatic circles.

Moussa Faki Mahamat made the plea on Tuesday after the Rwandan government announced last week that the commemoration would take place on April 7 but with limited events and participants due to the global coronavirus outbreak. Correspondingly, the good and courageous people of Southern Cameroons- Ambazonia should keep fighting for their inheritance and freedom for success will surely be theirs in the near future.

Cameroon Concord News Group considers the current Ambazonia governing structure in the Manyu county including a Senate, Congress and a “state government” cumbersome, excessive and ill-advised. The Manyu county leaders have indeed been biting more than they can chew.  It takes intelligent people to realize that they made premature decisions but it takes wisdom and humility to reverse them. The time for the people of Manyu to display wisdom and humility has come. To make Manyu ungovernable as well as facilitate the liberation of Ambazonia, the county structure should be simplified with the leader being a County head and assisted by coordinators in Defense, Communication and Health. This abridged structure will be efficient and accountable.

We believe that Sessekou Dr. Peter Ako, the current leader of the Manyu County, has the energy, pedigree and commands the respect within and without the county to continue leading any future streamlined structure during this liberation struggle and all Manyu people of goodwill should support this noble initiative and his leadership. No Manyu citizen should be allowed to derail this revolution in this operationally significant county. Any attempt from individuals within and outside the current structure to repel this positive change would be ruthlessly crushed and severely dealt with!

Sessekou Dr Peter Ako deserves some criticisms over certain decisions last year but overall, his leadership has multiplied and consolidated Manyu County gains and is moving in the right direction at a grim time. What is at stake in Manyu and by extrapolation in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is four years of sweat, blood and immense sacrifice. Logic must prevail over emotions and egos. Once we get to Buea, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government would create senates and congresses. Success in this struggle requires great ingenuity, organization and cooperation, as well as a strong base in favour of calm and strong leadership including accountability.

A social media emotional rebuttal of this proposal to get Manyu back on track is expected but that would none of Cameroon Concord News Group business.  The simple fact is that over the last few weeks, Manyu has stalled in defense operations but this important county can’t afford to start shrinking. True believers who are proud to wear that Ambazonia label must embrace this opportunity and initiative.

Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report  warns any Manyu citizen attempting to experiment bogus and cumbersome administrative and legislative exercises that produces no positive results in the middle of this struggle to stop or face severe consequences. The implementation of democracy and the rule of law can’t and should never be used as an excuse to satisfy the ego. Southern Cameroons is at war!

Paul Biya has already proven his willingness to kill our people in Ambazonia with impunity by giving his marauding and lawless forces carte blanche to implement his criminal orders. Manyu can’t help and abate him with needless wrangling over ill-advice changes in the leadership in the next few months. Any persons who threaten to derail this impending structure at this crucial period will be branded an enemy to the Ambazonian nation and will be treated as such!!  To clasp to the drivel of power sharing within LGAs and the sovereignty of an ineffective and ill-advised county senate and congress is a triumph of emotions over logic.

Over the last nine months, some within the Manyu community particularly in the diaspora have blamed the current structures for a lack of progress on the ground, so, the time for change is now.

Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

The West through the American ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin moved decisively and cautioned the 87 year old Paul Biya of the dangers posed by the coronavirus to people of Biya’s age and advised the regime in Yaoundé to adopt a tough and more rigid response to the pandemic. Biya was rushed immediately to Mvomeka’a and since then nothing has been heard about the French Cameroun head of state.

Biya’s minister, Gregoire Owona and senior members of parliament reportedly mixed with the National Assembly Speaker, Cavaye Djibril who a well-placed source has revealed contracted the coronavirus in a hospital in France. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that many of the ruling CPDM MPs who met Hon. Cavaye Djibril have isolated themselves raising questions about President Biya’s bill of health after a session with Minister Gregoire Owona who had met House Speaker Cavaye Djibril on camera after his reelection.

Parliamentarians and members of the so-called House of Senate have been meeting in Yaoundé but it is President Biya from his self isolating fortress in Mvomeka’a who announced the government’s solidarity fund to combat the spread of the virus. The CPDM plan that was made public by Prime Minister Dion Ngute did not take into consideration Cameroonians forced out of work and their means of livelihood because of the virus.

The Cameroon government plan does not also include ways to escalate social distancing strategies for tackling the virus. Thousands are busy going about their daily activities and in rural areas; large-scale gatherings are still the order of the day making the coronavirus pandemic to look like a joke and above all, a Sino-US-Europe affair.

As the total number of confirmed cases in Cameroon rose to 509, the CPDM regime with no aggressive plan and a failed public-health system has carried its begging bowl to the World Health Organization. Biya and his CPDM crime syndicate are holding on to nothing-not even the social distancing measure which has been very successful in European countries such as Ireland and Germany. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group can now reveal that the Biya-CPDM strategy is no longer to contain the spread of the coronavirus but to propagate its spread in Cameroon and collect millions of US dollars from the World Health Organization and other Cameroonian donors.

So far, the Minister of Communication who himself is not in President Biya’s inner circle has carefully regulated the flow of information on Biya’s health to the Cameroonian public. People all over the country are now focused on what might come next if Biya dies than the deadly coronavirus. The situation in Cameroon has been made more intractable with news of the arrival of French soldiers into the country from Gabon.

Cameroon Intelligence Report is yet to confirm this latest French deployment to Cameroon but what we do know is that the Prime Minister and Head of Government is still pursuing a Francophone policy in Southern Cameroons and has recently appointed Minister Paul Tasong and Njong Donatus as National Coordinator and deputy national coordinator of the presidential plan for the reconstruction and development of the North West and South West regions.

Cameroon government officials have avoided any situation that highlights President Biya’s health and the coronavirus and they have continued to be low key about the dangers of Biya’s passing to eternity. Biya cannot fly abroad and does not plan to be tested by any Cameroonian medical practitioner. He is very frail and there are reports that those who claim to be custodians of power in Yaoundé are taking measures ahead of the game to ensure a smooth transition and continuity with the status quo.

Now, however, some Cameroon political commentators are calling on the regime barons to shift course — from begging and borrowing to sustain the regime and contain the coronavirus to sitting down with the Ambazonian leader, President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe in a transparent forum and discuss the future of both British and French Cameroun. A stitch in time saves nine

But there has been palpable alarm in Etoudi ever since Biya started his self isolating process in Mvomeka’a. The coronavirus is already having a significant impact on the Cameroonian economy, which is now without support from the oil and gas sector.  For 37 years as Head of State, Biya has done nothing to keep Cameroon and its people healthy and financially secure.

Consequently, the coronavirus is slowly but surely signaling the end of Mr. Biya-a monstrous liability of a head of state and a political disaster that has been around for decades.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The coronavirus remains on course to inflict uncountable health and economic damage the world over. It’s a resistible force of nature that is keeping most of the world up at night. Numerous elements have come together to help the virus spread unchallenged and it has claimed over 47,521 lives around the globe.

Immediately science and technology accumulated enough data about the virus, broad recommendations were set out to slow its spread while research laboratories went to work for a cure or vaccine. The determination of COVID-19 is being matched by that of world leaders and scientists.

Social distancing is the foremost measure imposed and encouraged by political leaders and experts all over the planet. So far, statistics suggest that the curve is flattening in many parts of the world. To curb the spread of the pandemic, the population has a role to play which is simply following government and medical directives. It is here that the current absurdity of religious fanaticism in Africa comes into play.

Cameroon Concord News Group believes that many pastors and religious clergies in Africa are putting the lives of their followers at risk in seeking to start the age-old God versus science squabble game in the middle of a global crisis. Insisting on holding church services at this time in defiance of scientific and government guidance is reckless and very dangerous.

Science and religion are two sides of the same deep human impulse to comprehend our universe. Embracing both helps mankind in understanding our place in it and to marvel at the wonder of life and the infinite universe we are surrounded by. Let’s keep them that way, and not let one usurp the role of the other.

The actions of some of our religious leaders during this coronavirus pandemic in leading vulnerable and gullible people into early graves are completely unacceptable. The denial of science amongst Christian and Muslims fundamentalists now haunts countries in the Sub-Saharan region.

In professing to be wise, by their actions and denials of the ferociousness of the coronavirus, our Imams and men of God, are becoming fools because this global killer knows no race, age, social status, religious beliefs nor borders. The number of avoidable fatalities in Africa is rising at catastrophic rapidity as people continue to ignore social distancing guidance and mindful of Africa’s poor record keeping history, the full extent of the damage will never be known.

Today, it is difficult in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Chad and Equatorial Guinea to differentiate people with COVID-19 and a common flu as many have mild symptoms like tiredness, fever and dry cough.  Consequently, a person may be carrying and transmitting the virus without any knowledge. The virus is particularly aggressive among the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions resulting in a higher death rate amongst this group. Armed with these facts, Cameroon Concord News Group believes that any responsible religious leader would instruct his followers to adhere to social distancing for their own good.

Churches and Mosques in nations that started Islam and Christianity have all shut down in line with government policy. But those in Sub-Saharan Africa are still operating claiming that their leaders have the backing of the Holy Spirit and Prophet Mohammed. This is going on in areas with little or no healthcare system and ventilators.

The evidence is prodigious that Christians and Muslims fundamentalist leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa have considerable power in society with millions of followers that can never be challenged especially during a pandemic.

Cameroon Concord News Group including thousands of our readers is caught in a state of disbelief! What kind of religious beliefs could propel church leaders in the 21st century to challenge scientific evidence when thousands are dying? 

This hostility to science will deplete thousands in Africa over the next few weeks. Correspondingly, we of this publication salute the Ugandan government decision to arrest three Roman Catholic priests last Sunday for celebrating Mass publicly, in alleged defiance of government orders banning religious gatherings during the pandemic.

Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Cameroon’s coronavirus problem is much greater than the Biya regime is acknowledging. The true number of cases is far greater than the tally from the Minister of Public Health. Senior CPDM officials are sick not only with the coronavirus but are HIV positive.  More signs of uncontrolled infection in the cities of Douala, Yaoundé and Bafoussam have emerged and there are fears things are getting out of control.

Medics in the rural areas particularly in war ravaged Southern Cameroons have been incessantly flashing out signals to the World Health Organization that Southern Cameroons may run out of cemetery space if something is not done and done in a hurry.  Last week, the Ministry of Public Health announced that some of the COVID-19 patients were recovering but Cameroon Intelligence Report sources in Douala and Yaoundé have all hinted that the deaths have started coming so fast.

A senior opposition figure in Yaoundé who hails from the Far North Region contacted by this reporter recently asks, reluctantly, whether both French and British Southern Cameroonians should in fact be relieved, because apparently even when a nation faces unrelenting misery—accelerated by the politics and policies of its government—it doesn’t necessarily break down as fast as Paul Biya’s Cameroon.

Biya and his ruling CPDM crime syndicate have turned Cameroon into a criminal wasteland, with French Cameroun political gangs in tricked-out. A nurse at the Yaoundé General hospital who spoke to our undercover reporter revealed that some senior army officials have secretly collected ventilators from the hospital citing orders from the presidency of the republic. And like the policy against the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram and Ambazonia Restoration Forces, the Biya Francophone regime is erecting roadblocks to prevent people fleeing the rural areas from bringing the coronavirus with them to Yaoundé. These efforts at containment will of course fail and coronavirus will definitely find its way to Mvomeka’a where the 87 year old President Biya is self-isolating!

Apart from Biya’s failed leadership, the CPDM government is another palaver. Many Cameroonians would celebrate its passing, and even its die-hard supporters are now seeing signs that the coronavirus is catalysing changes that Biya and his Francophone Beti-Ewondo acolytes resisted long ago.

Given how many people are dying now in Yaoundé and Douala and with Biya helpless and quarantined at his Mvomeka’a palace, it would be grotesque to think of coronavirus as a lucky break for Cameroonians in support of regime change. With COVID-19, the deep bench of the so-called CPDM Political Bureau and the House of Senate will be depleted.

National Assembly Speaker, Cavaye Djibril has blatantly refused to announce that he had contracted the coronavirus. He is 80 years old and a chief Biya acolyte to whom he speaks regularly and in person.

However, the center of all speculation is President Paul Biya himself. The dictator doesn’t appear in public often, even in the best of times, and you’d have to be fairly lucky to spot him in Yaoundé—except on a few occasions where his appearance is so customary that an absence would make Cameroonian allies and enemies, wonder if an illness must have felled him.

The world is already in the middle of the coronavirus season and Biya is yet to make a televise statement to the Cameroonian people. State radio and television recently reported that the Head of State has created a special fund to combat the virus. But rumours about Biya do not die so easily in Cameroon. Why can’t President Biya just give his speech from his sitting room at the Mvomeka’a palace? Is this not the ideal opportunity to discuss how the funds provided will be disbursed to fight the spread of COVID-19? Is this not also a good opportunity for Mr. Biya to speak of the process of renewal that Cameroon will have to undertake to Emergence 2035?

After his last meeting with the US ambassador to Cameroon, speculation has been rampant. Surely, say the rumours, Biya is dead—or he is self-isolating!  These rumours aside, the perception of distance has made Mr. Biya, already a distant figure without charisma or warmth, seem superannuated and out of touch. We understand Biya is in a febrile delirium in Mvomeka’a but if he does not show up seven days after this editorial, Cameroon Concord News Group shall put up an obituary announcement on him.

What is keeping the ruling CPDM gang in power now is the simple fact that the whole Cameroonian nation French and British Southern Cameroons are suffering together and it is evidently clear that Biya deliberately weakened all state institutions and tribal zed the army making them unhealthy enough to rival his leadership, even in this diminished state. Today, police commissioners, army captains are dying of COVID-19, just as poor civilians too!

Coronavirus has exposed and confirmed the incompetence and malignance of the Biya regime, at the same time it has crippled the forces for change headed by Prof. Maurice Kamto.  Popular protests in the streets of Douala and Yaounde simply cannot happen as long as the manpower for those protests remains sequestered at home, and as long as morale is utterly depleted by the task of burying one’s loved ones. Regime change in Yaoundé might have to wait. At least the coronavirus pandemic will eventually end, and with its end, change is one more thing to look forward to.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The world is facing a colossal crisis. Its biggest crisis in living memory and the future is bleak. The health and economic consequences are seismic. More than 41,494 people have died so far and these numbers are growing daily and alarmingly according to figures released by Johns Hopkins University. The experts say the peak of this pandemic is two weeks away.

Frightening!! Fear and apprehension have taken the place of calmness and confidence. Ghost towns, self-isolation and quarantine are now a norm in the world. Vibrant communities have been reduced to graveyards with little or no movement or people as all non-essential activities have ceased. The tension and anxiety in the air can be touched. Life isn’t the same and it will never be the same. Yesterday, Cameroon Concord News Group reported that over the last week, three members of the Southern Cameroons community in the UK have died due to the coronavirus. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. Now, the penny has dropped that this is not a foreign illness; this is within our communities and families.

So far, the major economies have announced over $4.5 trillion in stimulus packages. These are astonishing and unprecedented figures. The approach from these governments is one of doing all they can to overcome this crisis. Millions of people have lost their jobs and millions more face uncertain futures. In the midst of this bleakness and uncertainty, Cameroon Concord News Group believes that there is hope for the future. If it’s bleak and uncertain now, so was it during many generations of the past. The great Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us with these words “people wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.” These unsettling times should give us hope for the future. No great advancements have come from settled generations.

History reminds us that the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide, about one-third of the world’s population at the time, and killed an estimated 50 million. Looking at such figures, we must count ourselves fortunate to be living in the 21st century with unbelievable advances in medicine and technology. Cameroon Concord News Group trusts that as deadly as the coronavirus is, we shall emerge victorious from this pandemic just as our ancestors did with primeval medical standards over a century ago. The journey is uncomfortable and dreary but we shall conquer.

Cameroon Concord News Group recommends that its readers who are going through challenging and uncertain futures utilise these next few months for meditation and reflection. We believe that it’s only through calmness of body; mind and spirit could one tap into his inner powers. This too shall pass. To come out on the other side as winners, we need to cultivate courage within ourselves. Discipline courage is the resolution to be thoughtful and focused in the face of adversity.  Discipline courage gives us great clarity on our dreams and requires fortitude. It’s not easy but we must develop this discipline if we are to emerge from this pandemic strong. We need discipline courage to analyse our lives and make the changes necessary for self-growth after the storm.

The history of the human race is a record of human challenges and victories. Our generation is no different. Europe and the United States have somehow emerged as the hub of this pandemic. For some of us living within these borders, the aftermath will undoubtedly challenge our foundations. Cameroon Concord News Group opines that we cultivate compassion and solidarity as companions of discipline courage. We of this media outlet believe fervently that with these qualities, victory will be ours and success will be yours in the years after this pandemic.

Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Donald Trump indicated that keeping the US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic to 100,000 would be a very good job. Prof. Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England stated that if the UK kept its death toll below 20,000, the country would have done very well. From these frightening figures, Cameroon Concord News Group presupposes that these men of authority possess confidential data and facts not available to us all. There are over 784,314 confirmed cases worldwide with 37,638 deaths. Spain and Italy now account for more than 51% of the global fatalities according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Lockdowns in many European and US towns and cities is startling but understandable as experts insist that social distancing is imperative to curbing this global killer. Cameroon Concord News Group is struggling to make sense of this new world order. Like many pandemics of previous generations and centuries, the poor, elderly and the vulnerable always bear the brunt. Covid-19 pandemic is no different. The UK government announced a £330 billion stimulus package to protect its economy, Germany followed with a stimulus package worth over 1.1 trillion euros whilst the US announced a 2 trillion dollar package for its economy. These figures and economic policies designed to protect the economies and citizens of these countries are astounding and imposing but one has to consider how the worlds vulnerable in sub-Saharan Africa would cope during this unprecedented world economic and health emergency.

In many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, testing for the coronavirus is non-existent and the public health information is pitiable. Ravaged by government corruption, unemployment, poor public services and deprived healthcare structures, these vulnerable people are the forgotten potential victims of this pandemic. In many Sub-Saharan African countries, the people live from hand to mouth and the thought of a lockdown without government hand-outs is terrifying. Poverty and a lack of government action will be as lethal as the coronavirus to some of these people. Complacency from the governments and public health officials is the word and a risky strategy.

As the peak of this global health crisis approaches, Cameroon Concord News Group’s concern for the forgotten people of sub-Saharan Africa is candid and established. The World Bank and the IMF have announced financial packages worth $24 billion. This is a step in the right direction but these figures pale in contrast to the rest of the world. If the history of financial packages to Africa is anything to go by, it is pretty obvious that a microscopic fraction of this aid would get to the people who need it most. The vulnerable people of this region are about to face a global killer with anaemic fiscal backing. This media outlet is concerned that the true scale of this disaster in these communities might never be known. When figures of 100,000 deaths in the US and 20,000 in the UK are brandished as successful, we of this publication fear for the poor and vulnerable in Africa.

From the gargantuan stimulus packages designed to ring-fence western economies from the financial consequences of this pandemic, the evidence is overwhelming that there are enough economic resources on this planet for all its occupants to enjoy healthy, progressive and peaceful lives. Cameroon Concord News Group believes that what is lacking is the political will to accomplish that purpose. One thing remains certain, the time has come for sub-Saharan African leaders to realise that the health, education, infrastructure and corruption challenges in their countries will be resolved by them only. Western governments have made political and economic decisions for their people, Sub-Saharan African leaders must learn and emulate. Cameroon Concord News Group believes that this must be one of the lessons to take from this pandemic.

Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief