On February 14, 2020, Cameroonian soldiers and armed ethnic Fulani raided Ngarbuh, a village in Cameroon’s North-West province, killing at least 21 civilians, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, and burning and looting homes. It was a brutal day that shocked even those who had long become numb to increasing violence in the region.

The attack was a reprisal against the local community, which was suspected of harboring separatist fighters. The massacre followed a pattern of military abuse against civilians in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions, where for over the last eight years security forces have clashed with armed separatists—themselves responsible for attacks on civilians—who are fighting for independence for the country’s minority English-speaking population.

The government initially denied its security forces were responsible for the massacre, describing allegations against them as fake and launching a smear campaign against rights groups and media who exposed the killings. In March 2020, only after national and international pressure, authorities established a commission of inquiry, which found that the military attempted to cover up their actions and identified three security force members as responsible for the killings. In June 2020, the government announced that the three had been arrested and charged with murder.

In December 2020, a trial opened before a military court in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé, marking an important step towards accountability for the massacre. However, the trial has dragged on and been marred by irregularities. Hearings have been postponed multiple times, victims’ families have minimal participation in the proceedings, and the court has refused to admit key evidence, including death certificates. Senior officers have not been arrested or charged.

During the last real hearing on the massacre on November 16, 2023, witnesses did speak, and some investigative reports were presented. But since then, the trial has been postponed three times, casting doubt on the ability of the military judicial system to deliver accountability for military abuse. It is scheduled to restart this week.

This trial provides a rare opportunity for justice not only for Ngarbuh’s victims, but for all those who have suffered from military abuse during the crisis in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions. With yet another hearing on the horizon, now is the time for judicial authorities to avoid further delays and commit to deliver justice.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

Elections even under the one-party state in the days of President Ahmadou Ahidjo stood as the cornerstone of government establishment and security, grounded in the foundational principle of freedom. However, immediately Mr. Paul Biya took office in 1982, Cameroon’s electoral landscape suddenly became a distressing narrative and today; the nation is grappling with the erosion of democratic principles.

Cameroon’s electoral landscape is presently marked by an alarming descent into undemocratic practices, reflecting the diminishing scope of power within the ruling gang in Yaoundé.

The last presidential elections reportedly won by the MRC candidate Professor Maurice Kamto brought an unprecedented chill, casting a nightmarish shadow over the Cameroonian nation.

Biya and his consortium of crime syndicate stole Maurice Kamto’s victory.  Today, the inherent conflict between the political structures in the Francophone dominated Republic of Cameroon and the fundamental right to choose is amplifying existing political and tribal divisions and above all, it is transforming elections into both a mockery and a tragic spectacle.

Since 1992, manipulation of the ballot box remains a persistent issue and with this, certain CPDM hardliners are actively seeking the replacement of the 91-year-old Paul Biya with his son-Franck Biya. Widespread protests and societal struggles are also pushing the Francophone regime to tighten its grip on power and surprising even against those within the system.

Legitimacy which is the foundation of governmental power all over the globe is now facing a crisis as the Yaoundé government’s choices in portraying it keeps backfiring. The massacre of thousands of innocent Southern Cameroonians and the humiliation suffered by renowned Beti Bulu political elites in the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison has permanently affixed a cursed emblem of destroyers of humanity to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime, tarnishing its global image. Yaounde’s attempt to establish legitimacy through strategic maneuvers in staged elections, rushing the malaria vaccines and deceptive military deployments in the Central African Republic is now raising further concerns.

The recent recruitment of hundreds of Beti, Bulu and Ewondo students into the public service via ENAM, IRIC and the National Police Corp disappointed many, including Anglophone, Hausa and Fulani moderates deep within the ruling CPDM party. The whole public service recruitment process raises questions about the inclusivity and representativeness of the so-called regional balance, especially considering the diverse political spectrum within the already divided Cameroon.

For over 41 years, Cameroon has been struggling for democracy amidst a complex electoral landscape. The erosion of democratic principles, internal strife, and manipulation of the ballot box, legitimacy crisis, and questions of inclusivity paint a vivid picture of the challenges faced by the nation.

As the disappointments echo among some Biya loyalists who are moderates, the enthusiasm of the public to participate in the electoral process is dampened, reflecting a growing disillusionment.

In Yaounde the nation’s capital, the essence of democracy seems to be slipping away, replaced by factional strife deep within the ruling party and suppression of dissent.

As the world watches, Cameroon is standing at a critical juncture, where its citizens are slowly but surely calling on the military to take action. The future of the Cameroonian nation is indeed marked by uncertainties and complexities that demand careful navigation.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Paul Biya, the founder of La Republique du Cameroun from the defunct United Republic of Cameroon has set many cruel precedents in Yaoundé. Many of his fake rigour and moralization teachings are still being carried out today and according to one prominent Cameroonian academic, staying faithful to Paul Biya’s ruling party have been the litmus test for all political activity in Cameroon in the last 41 years.

Therefore, as Biya is painfully approaching a disgraceful end after stifling the United Republic of Cameroon, we of both the Cameroon Concord News and the Cameroon Intelligence Report have come to the conclusion that 41 years of death, destruction, and corruption are his legacy.

Paul Biya was born in Mvomeka’a some few kilometers from Yaoundé the nation’s capital and was known as a religious man before November 6, 1982 when he took office. This was at the time when most Cameroonians had a deep respect for Roman Catholic clerics and Roman Catholic institutions.

After the 1986 April 6 coup that was carried out by the Hausas of the Nord who are predominantly Muslims, Biya and millions of other Cameroonians viewed this as an attack on Christianity and on a Christian leader. After the coup, hundreds of Hausa army soldiers were killed.

But the evilest precedent set by Biya was the destruction of the United Republic of Cameroon and the chasing away of Dr John Ngu Foncha and S.T. Muna from Yaoundé. This was to place the country under the guardianship of the Francophone political elite and the Francophone military commanders. And of course, Paul Biya installed himself as the all-powerful Monarch of Cameroon.

When he took power from Ahmadou Ahidjo, Biya expressed support for human rights and patriotism.

“I was born a Cameroonian, I live a Cameroonian and I shall die a Cameroonian,” he said.

Biya won the support of the masses both in French and Southern Cameroons who were disenchanted with the Ahmadou Ahidjo regime by promising them a popularly elected government that would represent the people of English and French Cameroun.

He won the support of Anglophones in the North West region and opined that outside Yaoundé, Bamenda was his second home. He created his ruling CPDM party in Bamenda, staged his Agro-Pastoral Show again in Bamenda and was rewarded with the title of Fon of Fons. These were all calculated political schemes aimed at fanning the flames of the North West/South West Divide and skillfully stealing the leadership of the nation from the founding fathers of the KNDP. Joseph Owona who is presently in Hell was his operations manager.

So, once in power, he showed his true colors as the Fon of Fons. He took a firm line against Anglophone dissent, warning Southern Cameroonians of his theocracy of a forthcoming crackdown.

Biya rose to power on an anti-French platform that was put in place by President Ahidjo but used the 1986 coup to chase away all anti French sentiments deep within the government. Many believe the real reasons behind the 1986 coup was to strengthen Paul Biya’s hand in power to suppress the voices of Anglophone dissent as he and his Francophone political elites geared to start a systematic policy of marginalization and suppression.

The first victim of the coup was Prime Minister Bello Bouba Maigari. He resigned his position as prime minister in protest to the killing of hundreds of Hausa service men and as an acknowledgement that he no longer had the trust of the head of state.

Economically, the total disregard for the livelihood conditions of Cameroonians is one of Paul Biya’s many destructive legacies, and after 41 years, he has left more than 80% of Cameroonians in poverty.

After the so-called wind of change and the emergence of Ni John Fru Ndi, dissident groups were allowed to freely voice their opinion for some few years. After that, Biya indicated that he had zero tolerance for anyone who opposed his despotic rule.

In 1990, he targeted the city of Bamenda as the epicenter of opposition to his rule and carried out what was known as a “State of Emergence”. Under his orders, the regime initially placed the SDF Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi and his top aides under house arrest and banned public rallies in Anglophone Cameroon. Today, political meetings are still under the tight control of the regime.

Biya and his gang speak democracy but whoever adds democracy to La Republique du Cameroun’s political vocabulary is an enemy. To Biya, all those advocating for a Sovereign National Conference are citizens who are trying to bring corruption and destruction to the nation and should be oppressed.

Biya has broken the pens of all the patriotic news papers, closed down all the patriotic magazines and press and put their editors in jail. No one outside his Beti-Bulu tribal extraction is allowed to even state their existence. For 41 years, Cameroon under Biya is indeed a one party state.  

With support from successive French governments in Paris, Biya is not afraid of anything! At 91, he is going forward in his path and not bothered whether Cameroonians call him a dictator or say that he opposes freedom. And that is exactly what he is doing.

Feeling threatened by Anglophone dissent against his absolute rule, Biya has executed several of his jailed political opponents including supporters of the Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces.

Francophone military leaders who are making the decisions on the war in Southern Cameroons do not hesitate, nor show any doubt or be concerned with details. They always try to be most ferocious against the people of English speaking Cameroon. And with this, in less than seven years, around 20,000 English speaking Southern Cameroonians have been killed. A sea of prominent progressive Francophone political prisoners and opponents of the regime are still hanged in Yaoundé and Douala prisons.

Shortly after assuming power, Biya began investing in the Sub Saharan region using corrupt made in Yaoundé business tycoons such James Onobiono, Amougou Belinga and Engo Desire who headed the National Social Insurance Fund. Biya wanted to expand his control into Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville due to it’s largely Beti, Bulu and Fang population.

To this day, Biya spends billions of FCFA on his policy of meddling in neighboring countries and in French politics as well. This CEMAC policy brings nothing but death, destruction, and poverty to the Cameroonian people.

Biya is now calling the war in Southern Cameroons a blessing from his ancestors for the mere fact that nearly all French speaking Cameroonians have rallied behind him on lame and ridiculous reason that he is preserving the territorial integrity of the nation.

The 7 year war has devastated more than 105 Southern Cameroons villages, demolished several Southern Cameroons towns with 1.5 million displaced people.

The Captain Guerandi affair openly and officially revealed that Biya and his agents have showed his utter disregard for all international laws.

Biya will die soonest and many ordinary Cameroonians both in La Republique du Cameroun and Southern Cameroons will rejoiced upon his death.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Yaoundé, the nation’s capital is currently hosting a 91-year-old figurehead known as the “head of state,” Paul Biya. Biya commands a reputation of unrelenting tyranny, orchestrating several internal suppressions and also fostering instability throughout Southern Cameroons. His regime’s genocidal campaign in Southern Cameroons has sown discord and has earned Biya global recognition as a heartless dictator.

Cameroon is reeling under a ruthless crackdown on dissent, political assassinations are reinforcing the image of a despotic ruler and allegations of the regime’s secret service killing of journalists is underscoring Biya’s oppressive tactics, painting him as an adversary to the Cameroonian people.

The Biya Francophone inhumane acts including his recent appointment of the late Professor Joseph Owona’s son as rector of the University of Yaoundé are perceived as strategies to maintain power for his ruling Beti-Bulu tribes while plunging the nation into a dark and shameful era. Despite this oppressive climate, various segments of the Cameroonian society including the Holy Roman Catholic Church persist in their pursuit of freedom and justice. Their resistance, though challenged, serves as a testament to their unwavering commitment to a fairer society.

Several damning reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International offers a chilling glimpse into Biya’s brutal tactics, particularly in targeting and torturing Southern Cameroons detainees. These revelations highlight the depth of the Yaoundé regime’s atrocities and demand urgent international attention and accountability for these gross human rights violations.

Revelations about staggering corruption, exemplified by the looting of billions of CFA Franc by top military barons, shed light on the pervasive corruption entrenched within the government. This corruption, compounded by repression, crime, and ongoing looting, reflects the dire need for a regime change in Yaoundé and immediate introduction of democratic and rights-based governance.

Liberation can only come through a shift to a new United Republic of Cameroon—one that respects human rights and democratic principles. The only plausible solution appears to be the overthrow of this Biya regime, get Cameroonians out of darkness and misery, and usher in an era of freedom and progress.

The oppressive grip of the Biya Franceophone Beti Bulu regime has cast a shadow over Cameroon, perpetuating a narrative of tyranny, corruption, and human rights abuses. Despite the regime’s iron-fisted tactics, the resilience and unwavering commitment of segments of Cameroonian society to justice and freedom stand as a beacon of hope in the face of adversity.

The recent journalist Martinez Zogo affair underscores the urgent need for systemic change—one free from the shackles of oppression and corruption.

The journey toward liberation may be arduous, but the determination of the Cameroonian populace to strive for a just and free society remains unyielding. The world’s attention must remain focused on the plight of both French and English speaking Cameroonians and their quest for fundamental rights, ensuring that their voices resonate on the global stage and demanding accountability for the egregious violations committed under Biya’s rule.

By Isong Asu

Cameroon Concord News Group

London Bureau Chief

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in Yaoundé is in its 41-year plus in power amid a sea of broken political, economic and social promises.

Biya was ushered in with grandiose promises of economic prosperity and stability for the United Republic of Cameroon. However, after 41 years, it has become painfully evident that the so-called University of Sorbonne graduate remains a prominent and successful failure and his rigour and moralization policies have also been unfulfilled and has left Cameroon a divided nation with an economy that is in a state of continuous deterioration.

In his New Year address to the nation, Biya and his gang simply plagiarized his past speeches and the 2024 presentation to the people of Cameroon was an empty economic promise unveiled by a 91-year-old grand dad who should be in a care home in Mvomeka’a.

For 41 years, the Francophone dictator and his Francophone dominated regime have presented an array of promises spanning domestic and international matters, raising hopes for a brighter economic future in both French and English speaking Cameroon. Unfortunately, the passage of time has revealed these promises to be empty and baseless, perpetuating a shameful, disgusting and disheartening trend within the Biya administration. The Biya regime politics is all about money, women and sex including sponsoring irresponsible children in funny academic institutions abroad.

Nothing good can be attributed to Mr. Biya and his government. Immediately after Joseph Dion Ngute was appointed Prime Minister and Head of Government, Yaoundé told the world that the new Dion Ngute administration would bring down inflation. It was the same story with all the numerous Southern Cameroons prime ministers: Peter Mafany Musonge, Inoni Ephraim, and Philemon Yang.  However, the harsh reality is that inflation is skyrocketing and escalating and Cameroonians are dying like flies.  

Low-income households in both French and English speaking Cameroon have borne the brunt of Biya’s 41 years of economic failures, with housing rents and essential food items experiencing the most significant price hikes.

We of the Cameroon Intelligence Report and the Cameroon Concord News are of the opinion that the most important outcome of the 41-year rule of the Biya administration has been the collapse of the Cameroonian society with medical doctors now telling us that HIV is like malaria.

The French have been helping the Yaoundé regime to manage its budget deficit by printing money and borrowing from French financial establishments. The Biya government and by extrapolation-the Cameroonian people after 41-years actually owe the French thousands of billions of dollars.

For 41-years, Cameroonians have gone through everything name them: escalating prices, devaluation of the FCFA, Lake Nyos, Eseka train disaster, poverty, disease, genocides, Nsam fire disaster, diminishing incomes, rapes, political assassinations, rigged elections and by some strange happenstance, none of these ills fueled public discontent against Biya in French Cameroun.

For 41-years, Biya has continuously appointed his Beti-Bulu kinsmen who lack qualifications and experience to key positions. This questionable decision-making has undeniably contributed to the worsening economic situation in both French and English speaking Cameroon and has encouraged many who had hoped for competent leadership to leave the country. This begs the question: For how long are we going to continue watching these Francophone criminals destroy our future generation?  

The stark reality is that all of the political, economic and social promises made when Biya took office on November 6, 1982 remain unfulfilled.  Addressing these challenges will require not only a new and effective leadership but also a commitment to transparency, accountability, and competent governance.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Hello Cameroon Concord People,

Thanks to you, 2023 was a year of unprecedented effectiveness and major successes for the Concord Group. Our ability to cover events everywhere and the reporting speed of our correspondents in all ten regions have been up to the challenges and dramatic events around Cameroon. We informed the world that there is genocide going on in Southern Cameroons and we told the EU and the UN that both journalists Samuel Wazizi and Martinez Zogo were killed by state agents. I thank you very sincerely.

Ever since we moved our editorial office from Essen in Germany to London in the United Kingdom, we resolved not to bother our readers with New Year resolutions. But we opted for New Year predictions and we were right with Minister Amadou Ali, Hon. Lifaka, Sultan Mbombo Njoya, Gervais Mendo Ze and Mayor Patrick Ekema.

We are already in 2024 so who are the politicians to die this year? Which African country would win the Africa Cup of Nations? Interestingly, our London Bureau Chief Isong Asu says that our focus should be on the most notable obituaries to read in 2024. Correspondingly, the 91-year-old Biya has wrong footed us again and again! But this 2024, he will not.

We of the Cameroon Intelligence Report and the Cameroon Concord News enjoy making predictions! But we are also aware that prediction is an unforgiving art. Sometimes, outcomes that you might expect such as the demise of an evil man like President Biya may turn out to be wrong. However, one of our readers in Leicester in the United Kingdom noted rightfully that faulty predictions can be helpful and also entertaining.

So here is what we of the Concord Group have set out as 2024 predictions! We also expect you to identify which of our predictions will turn out to be untrue on December 31st 2024.

Biya will win another presidential election and die in office.

After staging the election that will keep Biya in power, Minister Paul Atanga Nji will suffer a massive stroke and will die in a hospital in France.

Minister Ayang Luc of the so-called Economic and Social Council will move into his new mansion that has cost the Cameroonian tax payer hundreds of millions of FCFA and will die of an undisclosed illness in Yaoundé.  

Chief Dr. Dion Ngute will be replaced as prime minister and head of government due to underperformance.

Minister Laurent Esso has led the ruling CPDM government to its last journey of many dangers—-the Martinez Zogo affair! He will receive his P45 this 2024.

Hon. Rose Abunaw, having been MP for both the CPDM and UNDP political parties will make a comeback into active politics in Yaoundé.

Write to us at cameroonconcordnews@gmail.com with your own predictions. Happy New Year!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Fellow Cameroonians,

My Dear Compatriots,

Over the past year which is drawing to an end, our country has been faced with numerous challenges.

Some of them result from an increasingly difficult international context. Others are due to purely domestic issues, most of which are long-standing.

I would like to start by assuring you that in spite of this difficult situation, we continued to cope, together, like the united and close-knit Nation that we have always been, our eyes riveted on a single objective, the only one that matters, namely progress.

As in the past, the said international context weighed heavily on our internal situation.

The lingering war in Eastern Europe continued to disrupt the supply channels of the global consumer products market.

Foodstuff and energy resource prices thus continued to rise as the conditions for accessing external financing tightened.

The resurgence, last October, of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worsened the rifts within the international community and is now monopolizing its attention.

As expected, such a situation adversely impacted our country. It led to a general price hike in consumer products and, consequently, the cost of living. It also resulted in various types of shortages, including a shortage of petroleum products.

My Dear Compatriots,

The difficulties that I have just mentioned in no way dampened my resolve to work for the well-being of our people, who, without any doubt, massively trusted and continue to trust me.

Despite the unfavourable context, the Government, under my authority, continued its action with greater determination.

The laudable efforts made following the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure economic recovery yielded appreciable outcomes. The resilience of our economy was confirmed.

Proof of this, is our growth rate which continued to progress and was estimated at 3.9% in 2023, thanks notably to the performance of the non-oil sector.

The consumption support measures implemented by Government helped to contain and stabilize inflation at about 6.7%.

The implementation of various projects was continued or launched to meet the aspirations of the people and improve their wellbeing.

I would like to dwell for a moment on the most sensitive sectors.

The Project to Supply Drinking Water to the City of Yaounde and its Environs from the River Sanaga is virtually completed. Its imminent commissioning   will help to substantially reduce the drinking water deficit in the city of Yaounde.

Studies on the Project to Supply Drinking Water to the City of Douala and its Environs are well advanced. In the long term, the city will be supplied an additional 400 thousand cubic metres of water daily.

Moreover, the Government has embarked on upgrading drinking water production stations in several secondary towns, namely Dschang, Yabassi, Garoua-Boulai, etc.

The requisite efforts will continue to be deployed to rehabilitate and extend the distribution networks of this precious resource in our towns and villages to make it more accessible to households.

Major strides were also made in the electricity sector to reduce our country’s energy deficit.

About 44 thousand solar panels have been installed in the three northern regions, covering 40% of electricity needs in the said regions.

The 420-megawatt Nachtigal Dam will be commissioned in the coming days.

The Lom Pangar Dam-toe plant will also be operational in 2024. It will help to increase energy supply in the town of Bertoua and its environs.

Several other hydropower facility projects are also planned or being launched. These include the Kikot, Minkouma, Grand Eweng and Bini à Warak dams.

In the long term, the installed capacity of all these facilities will secure our country’s electric energy self-sufficiency. Additionally, it will make us reach the enviable status of electricity-exporting country.

My Dear Compatriots,

I am aware of the extent to which the frequent water and electricity cuts are impacting your daily life and disrupting your activities.

I can assure you that the Government is sparing no effort to improve the situation in these core sectors.

I have instructed my Office to ensure celerity in administrative procedures and in sourcing for related financing by the relevant ministries.

The same instructions have been given with respect to the need to improve the situation of our road infrastructure.

As you must be aware, this problem is at the core of my concerns. The related challenges are multiple, the most acute of them being the inadequacy of financial resources. 

However, I am pleased to note that we are also making relentless progress in this sector.

I am therefore satisfied that, during this year ending, over 700 kilometres of roads were asphalted or rehabilitated nationwide. Several related highway engineering structures were also built in the process.

Construction works on the Lékié loop, as well as the Kumba-Ekondo Titi and Babadjou-Bamenda roads are ongoing   and will be continued at a satisfactory pace.

Regarding the Ebolowa-Kribi road, negotiations with donors, which for long were stalled by environmental issues, are finally being concluded. All the requisite measures will be taken to ensure that the construction of this road, so eagerly awaited by the populations concerned, effectively starts in 2024.

I recently issued instructions for the rehabilitation of the Ngaoundere-Garoua road. Negotiations are also ongoing with our financial partners for the completion of construction works on the Mora-Dabanga-Kousseri road and the rehabilitation of the Edea-Kribi and Douala-Bafoussam roads.

The repair of urban road networks is continuing in the towns of Maroua and Ngaoundere. The related programme will extend to other regional headquarters.

Motorway projects will not be left out during the coming year with, particularly, the launching of the construction of the urban section of the Yaounde-Nsimalen motorway and that of Phase 2 of the Yaounde-Douala motorway.

Additionally, faced with the worsening situation, I have instructed the Government to urgently find a lasting solution to the problem of household garbage collection in our cities, in collaboration with Councils and City Councils.

Fellow Cameroonians,

My Dear Compatriots,

Over the past weeks, you were faced with a shortage of petroleum products, suffering many inconveniences as a result. To address this situation, I have instructed the Government to take urgent measures to ensure constant supply of the market.

However, the challenges in the sector are broader and more complex.

You must be aware that to maintain pump prices of fuel at their current levels, which are far below those in neighbouring countries, the State has to make huge financial sacrifices to subsidize petroleum product imports.

The burden of these subsidies weighs heavily on our budget and significantly reduces the much-needed resources to address other problems facing our people.

Last year, the Government increased slightly the pump prices of fuel.

As a result, the subsidy on petroleum products decreased from over 1 000 billion CFA francs in 2022 to around 640 billion CFA francs in 2023.

However, this subsidy continues to weigh heavily on public coffers.

Though we will most certainly have no choice but to reduce it further, we will ensure that the requisite adjustments do not significantly impact the purchasing power of households.

Ultimately, the rehabilitation of SONARA, which must be expedited as I have instructed, should help to improve the situation in this sector.

My Dear Compatriots,

Despite the Government’s goodwill, it is clear that the implementation of various projects to meet our people’s aspirations faces a major impediment, namely inadequacy of the required financial resources.

This is why I have repeatedly ordered the Government to streamline public spending and find new ways and means of boosting public resources.

Regarding the reduction of public spending, I have strongly reiterated my previous instructions to the Government to reduce recurrent expenditure.

Actions implemented to combat corruption and misappropriation of public funds are essential for protecting public resources. They will be intensified in the coming year.

The Three-Year Integrated Import Substitution Plan for 2024-2026, which I have instructed the Government to implement, is also part of my effort to enable our country to save on its precious resources.

This plan should help to reduce the negative impact of imports on our trade balance by strengthening our food sovereignty. Its deficit is estimated at just over 1 500 billion CFA francs per year.

To increase public resources, there is a need to explore new avenues, given the constraints of broadening the tax base and the slump in oil revenue.

In this regard, solid minerals, especially old, appear to be an excellent niche for financial resources.

Our country is richly endowed with   mineral resources that need to be exploited.

I am delighted that the mining projects I announced last year for the development of the Kribi-Lobé, Bipindi-Grand Zambi, and Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore deposits have been launched.

Improving the business climate is clearly a prerequisite for attracting foreign investment and creating a robust private sector that should facilitate our transition to emergence through dynamic job and wealth creation.

Trust in the judicial system is inevitable for  perception of the business climate. As you are aware, the judiciary is one of the pillars of the rule of law.

Therefore, it is imperative that it should act with complete impartiality and should be impervious to any manner of interference. I would like to assure you that, as guarantor of its independence, I will continue to take all the requisite measures to ensure its proper functioning.

My Dear Compatriots,

Allow me to say a few words about the national education sector. Despite the Government’s efforts, calm has not been fully restored therein.

Yet, according to stakeholders, the Government has made commendable efforts in this regard.

In addition to the various types of measures taken by the relevant ministries, more than 72 billion CFA francs was disbursed in 2023 to cover related expenses.

An additional amount of 102 billion CFA francs has also been provided in the State budget for the 2024 financial year to cover residual expenditure.

Therefore, it will be difficult for us to accept that a handful of teachers, who seem to have ulterior motives, should continue to hold our children’s education hostage.

Let me be clear on this issue. As much as I am committed to ensuring that teachers practise their noble profession under appropriate conditions, I am equally uncompromising about respect for the right of our young people to education. Strong measures will be taken to ensure that our children do not fall victim to substandard education.

Constructive dialogue will also be pursued with the recognized trade unions to address the aspirations and concerns of teachers in a peaceful manner.

My Dear Compatriots,

Regarding safety, numerous road accidents continue to plunge families into mourning and rob the country of precious human resources.

I want to make it clear that this is unacceptable! Once again, I appeal to the sense of responsibility of drivers and bus service operators. All necessary measures must be taken to ensure the safety of passengers and other road users.

The Government, for its part, will not only step up efforts to improve the state of the road network, but will also rigorously apply the necessary preventive and repressive measures.

My Dear Compatriots,

Thanks to the people’s active cooperation with our defence and security forces, the situation in the North-West, South-West and Far-North Regions has improved significantly.

It is now possible to calmly implement the reconstruction and development plans for the said regions.

However, atrocities committed by terrorists have not completely disappeared. Unfortunately, civilians are the main victims.

On 6 November 2023, the town of Mamfe was the scene of a barbaric massacre of some twenty civilians in the middle of the night.

I strongly condemn such atrocities, which defy reason and have no justification whatsoever.

I encourage our fellow citizens in the regions affected by terrorism to continue to cooperate with the defence and security forces, whose courage and professionalism I salute.

I reiterate my appeal to armed groups to lay down their arms and join Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Centres. I am pleased to note that an increasing number of these combatants have responded to this call in recent weeks.

For those who persist in criminal activity, be it terrorism or organized crime, the fate that awaits them is not an enviable one. They must know that our firm determination to ensure the security of our fellow citizens will never falter.

Fellow Cameroonians,

My Dear Compatriots,

In a few weeks, our beloved Indomitable Lions will participate in the 34th Edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire. On behalf of you all, I would like to encourage and urge them to defend our country’s flag with courage and honour, as they have in the past.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, 2024.

Long Live the Republic!

Long live Cameroon!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024, to the Valiant people of Ambazonia

The feel of the Season is once more upon us. The glory of the Lord has manifested itself one more time, through another year. Twelve months have blown past us and it feels like yesterday. It is difficult for me to say this, especially given where we were this time last year. The circumstances we find ourselves may be trying and tempting but we remain hopeful.

When so many around us are burdened with fear and uncertainty, I invite you to make room for the brothers & sisters who now are struggling to understand the ultimate reason for our fight, for the liberation and independence of our people. No gifts will mean as much as acts of pure love that you offer to the rejected, the worn down and the weary. Please notice and take care of the needy of the struggle.

We have watched the days turn into weeks, months, and years. It is understandable for some to count these years as lost time and lost opportunities. But we have chosen to quantify and qualify these days, weeks, months, and years in terms of our determination and commitment to our cause of freedom and liberty. We are on a quest for the unique feeling of belonging to a homeland wherein all are valued and dear ones can strive to bring out the best in themselves. This is the feeling of ultimate happiness that only the certainty of our fatherland can produce. We are fighting to give our children and theirs a nation that they can call their own; something which none of us now can say within LRC.

As we look forward to spending the sixth and seventh Christmas in the pursuit of this unique endeavor, we should take time to contemplate not only on the purpose but also on the course of our journey. For our purpose, I can assure you that it has never been clearer and brighter. For the course, we remain steadier, sturdier and more resolute than ever.

Now, to each member of our fight for freedom I say: Stay on the covenant path. Whether you are moving along the path or have slipped from it or you can’t see the path from where you are, I plead with you to remain steadfast. Your commitment to doing what is right, by making covenants with our people and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing available to the people of Ambazonia.

Amid the internal division, sibling-rivalry, confusion, power-tussle and contradictions, we need to work tirelessly and ceaselessly to build bridges of understanding rather than creating walls of further division and internal conflict. More than ever before, we need unity of purpose. I plead with us all to work together for peace, for mutual respect and for an outpouring of love for all of Ambazonia’s children.

With this joyful hope and an abundant spirit of gratitude, I join hands with our mothers & fathers, all Prisoners of Conscience & War, and all Ambazonians to wish you the best in this very festive season, full of cheer and blessing. In this same spirit, I pledge and recommit myself to you, to the fight for Homeland and for the freedom and liberation of Ambazonia. With this spirit and in this spirit, I extend my appreciation & gratitude for all what you have been doing, for all that you have done and for what you will continue to do and be for the people of Ambazonia. The foot-of-the-mountain (Buea) beacons at the near horizon.

Sisiku AyukTabe

Kondengui Principal Prison, Yaoundé.

Soter Agbaw-Ebai, chairman and editor-in-chief of the Cameroon Concord Group has said that Paul Biya’s 41 years at the head of the Cameroonian nation has to end.

In a presentation today in Dublin, Ireland on the hydra headed political situation in Yaoundé, Soter Agbaw-Ebai stated that there is a ghost president in Cameroon and a pretended government.

Agbaw-Ebai furthered that an intellectual coup d’etat has already taken place in Yaoundé and he wondered aloud when the physical coup d’etat will take place, adding that the overwhelming majority of Cameroonians agree.

Soter Agbaw-Ebai told the sell-out crowd that Biya is naked and Cameroon is naked.  He stated that the new generation of Cameroonians has the right to see a new head of state.  

Soter Agbaw-Ebai, a former Yaoundé City Correspondent with The Herald Newspaper in the 90s said “Cameroon has a Paul Biya problem and that for 41 years of Biya’s rule, Cameroonians have been sitting in a car that has a puncture in all four tyres.”

Agbaw-Ebai also doesn’t think Biya and his Francophone dominated military will be able to eliminate Ambazonia Restoration Forces. He told the Irish present that both sides must end the war properly, stressing that it was up to Southern Cameroonians and their jailed leaders to handle the aftermath of the conflict as a united people.

Agbaw-Ebai opined that moderate French Cameroun political elites should start talking to the Ambazonian leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and that the jailed Southern Cameroons leaders should be in the driving seat.   “The idea that only Southern Cameroonians who have served in the Biya regime can do the trick isn’t going to work” Agbaw-Ebai submitted.

By Isong Asu on Special assignment in Dublin

Judging from all political gossips in the nation’s capital Yaoundé, it is evidently clear that Biya still wants to hang on. Biya is 91 and if Cameroonians are not deceiving themselves, can a 91-year-old man be enthusiastic about developing a country?

The time to make room for the youngest, for new ideas and for other experiences has come and the new commanders of the Presidential Guards and the Rapid Intervention Battalion must embrace it!

Since Biya and his generation have refused to accept their well-deserved role as retired senior citizens, we of the Concord Group are of the opinion that the military should stage a coup and restore the dignity of the Cameroonian nation.

Meeting with the new Gabonese leader General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema on Wednesday in Yaoundé, Biya showed multiple signs of fatigue, dragging his words, getting bogged down in his sentences, getting lost in his statements. Biya has gotten enough and he should go and go now!

If Biya decides to run in the 2025 presidential election, it will be mainly because of the crimes he and his kinsmen have committed against several innocent Cameroonian families.

Biya’s outing in Moscow during the Russia-Africa Summit demonstrated the risk posed by people in their 80s and 90s – who cling.

Corruption is everywhere and blood is spilling on town and city streets from crime the Biya hardliners are not fighting.

No fresh ideas coming from even the Western-trained Francophone political elite. Almost everywhere in Cameroon is the same. But Biya and his gang are only ensuring that he will be unstoppable in 2025.

Luckily, younger military leaders are popping up all over Africa including the one Biya received on Wednesday at the so-called Unity Palace.

So who is that presidential guard commander in Yaoundé who is willing to come to the rescue of the Cameroonian nation?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai