The hearings at the Constitutional Council continued on Wednesday with Prof. Kamto’s team producing more evidence to convince the Biya appointed Constitutional Council to understand that a decision other than the one that confirms the people’s choice might plunge the country into a spiral of violence and destruction.

The Kamto team, consisting of the country’s finest lawyers, proved that the country’s laws had been designed to favor a particular presidential candidate, as all their complaints before and during the presidential election had been clearly ignored by ELECAM, the country’s election-organizing body.

But the icing on the cake came when Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor-Balla spoke to the Constitutional Council, urging its members to listen to the people’s wishes and aspirations, as there could be consequences that might come with lots of regrets.

He called on the Constitutional Council to understand that when the people do not get listened to, there will always be adverse consequences. He recalled that since the government failed to listen to Southern Cameroonians lawyers and teachers in October 2016, the country has been going through a tough time and that the fear of a separation was real.

He underscored the point that no law or ordinance could be mightier than the will of the people. He recognized the capabilities of the members of the constitutional Council, urging them to prove that the country was bigger than any individual.

He pointed out that many leaders would come and go, but Cameroon will always be around and it will be prudent and wise for the Constitutional Council to take a decision that would give members of that august body an enviable place in the country’s history.

Another brilliant barrister who distinguished himself as a legal force to reckon was Barrister Ikome Mbella of the Southwest region who drew the Constitutional Council’s attention to the tragedy unfolding in the two English-speaking regions.  He advised Constitutional Council members to do justice to the people of Cameroon to prevent the country from being caught in the throes of chaos that might destroy and interrupt lives.

Other lawyers weighed in on the matter, urging the Constitutional Council member to do the right thing. Some advised them to understand that though they had been appointed by the country’s President, Paul Biya, they still had the right and obligation to exercise their right to apply the law as expected by the people of Cameroon.

It should be recalled that the Constitutional Council had been created by Mr. Biya and all its members are supporters of the ruling CPDM. The wife of the president of the Constitutional Council, Clement Atangana, is a CPDM parliamentarian, the wife of Mr. Fouman Akame is also a CPDM parliamentarian, and Professor Joseph Marie Bipoum Woum was a minister under President Paul Biya and chairman of the board of directors of several state-owned corporations.

For her part, Justice Florence Arrey, another member of the Constitutional Council, is the recognized long-term girlfriend of the country’s current justice minister, Laurent Esso, and the two have a couple of children from a relationship that has lasted decades. Laurent Esso, it should be underscored is President Paul Biya’s closest collaborator and he played a significant role in the establishment of the Constitutional Council and the appointment of its members.

This therefore compels many Cameroonians to think that the hearing at the Constitutional Council is indeed an exercise in futility as all members of the Constitutional Council are related to the ruling part and have all been compromised.

Meanwhile, after throwing out Prof. Kamto’s application for members of the Constitutional Council to recuse themselves yesterday in the morning because of the numerous conflicts of interest outlined in the applicant’s application, the Kamto legal team on Tuesday put up an impressive show on the irregularities that actually marred the October 7, 2018 poll.

The team’s lead legal expert, Barrister Ndoki, put the team’s collective effort and determination to expose the ruling party’s sloppy rigging strategy on display. The team outlined cases of massive fraud, with numbers for many polling stations not adding up and some results report signed without being properly verified if they had been signed by the right persons. The reported cases of fraud concerned, in particular, the Far North, the South, and the Northwest and Southwest regions.

In the two English-speaking regions, it was reported that since the population had been chased away by government forces that had resorted to shooting young men, army soldiers voted as many times as they could, oblivious of the fact that everybody was aware that the population had moved into East Cameroon and on voting day, there was no security for those who wanted to venture out to vote.

Some of the results reports did not even have the signatures of the returning officers and where there were signatures, the number of signatures on the first pages did not match the number of signatures on the following pages. Some results reports were produced based on the recommendations of the authorities who, in many cases, were ruling party supporters.

In the Far North region which has been given to Mr. Paul Biya, the number of votes cast was higher than the number of registered voters. The CPDM rigging machine in that region had actually worked overtime and it failed to take into consideration the number of registered voters.

But it was in the South region, which is the president’s region which the ruling party felt that it had a free hand to do whatever it wanted. Its sloppiness resulted in many mistakes, with even dead people voting.  The Constitutional Council session was put off to Wednesday after Council members were totally overwhelmed by the evidence Prof. Kamto’s team provided and this great legal team has continued on Wednesday to prove that the election had been marred by irregularities just to give Mr. Biya an advantage that might extend his stay in power.

Cameroon is at the crossroads. The country’s history is being rewritten and the Constitutional Council has a place in this effort to bring peace, stability and justice to a troubled country. Members of the Constitutional Council might have been compromised, but they still have an obligation towards the people of this country that has been in the spotlight for decades for all the wrong reasons.

By Kingsley Betek and Sama Ernest in Yaounde

Dr. Joachim Arrey, a Canada-based writer, journalist, political analyst and translator, has been one of the many people around the world who have been calling for dialogue as a means to address the Southern Cameroons crisis. A native of the Southwest region of Cameroon, Dr. Arrey holds that genuine and sustainable solutions to the destructive crisis can only be found at the negotiating table.  While in the UK recently, he took time off his tight schedule to visit the Cameroon Concord News Group’s (CCNG) global headquarters where he spoke with Group Chairman, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, on the goings-on in Cameroon. It was a pleasure chatting with him. Read…

Cameroon Concord News: Thanks for visiting us. A lot has been going on in Southern Cameroons and things appear to only get worse by the day. What do you think can be done to put an end to the reckless killing of young men and women in Southern Cameroons?

Dr Arrey: I have been following what is happening in our part of the country very closely. Things are not looking great out there. Our people are dying and it beats my imagination that we have not yet understood that all wars find their solutions at the negotiating table. There is no price for who can kill more people. Both parties must understand this. Let’s not let our emotions drive us to ridiculous extents. I have been urging both parties to head to the negotiating table and I still stand by that. The government has to find a way to bring these killings to an end. We are losing our human resources and this will come back to bite us some day. The financial resources we are using to buy arms could be diverted to real development projects that can create jobs for our youths. We have to be strategic in our thinking and we must learn from the mistakes of other people.

Cameroon Concord News: But the Yaounde government is not listening to any calls for an inclusive dialogue. What do you expect the oppressed people of Southern Cameroons to do?

Dr Arrey: Self-defense is a legitimate right of every citizen recognized under international law, but this does not imply that we cannot talk peace around a negotiating table during war time. A lot of atrocities have already been committed and I feel really bad that a small protest by teachers and lawyers has been allowed to spill out of proportion.  The gory images coming out of Southern Cameroons tell me that there are huge war crimes being committed by both sides. What both parties must understand is that at the end of the fighting, all these atrocities will be investigated and those who will be found guilty of gross human rights violations and war crimes will have to pay the price. I would like to use this opportunity to call on the government of Cameroon to reconsider some of its decisions. The truth is that military action will not give it the fast solution it needs. Southern Cameroonians have expressed genuine grievances and I think it is only proper for the government to listen to calls for an inclusive dialogue that will help to lay this matter to rest. The world has evolved and the days when military brutality was considered a weapon of choice to address national issues have long gone. We have to be in and of this world and this requires us to adopt approaches that other civilized nations have used to deal with their minorities.

Cameroon Concord News: You have always talked of federalism and you always point out that Canada holds an effective solution to our problem. Can you explain this to our readers?

Dr Arrey: Thanks for granting me the opportunity to discuss this particular point with your readers. I have always held that a well-structured federal system will spare Cameroon the type of crisis it is going through at this moment. The world has changed and the people want to take ownership of their own issues. They want to take control of their lives and this can only happen if a federal system is brought to our country. The current crisis in Southern Cameroons is a direct consequence of the over-centralization that has taken place over the last five decades. The development and management of any country in the world is always a work in progress and for that work to progress by leaps and bounds, there must be dialogue at all times. Cameroonian leaders must stop thinking that the top-bottom approach that has worked in the past will work in modern times. If we have to avoid situations like the current one that is tearing the country apart, we must adopt new and innovative approaches that will guarantee us peace and progress. No country develops when there are perceptions of injustice, nepotism, discrimination and marginalization.

This therefore brings me to the role Canada can play to help us out of this pretty mess. I have profound respect for the Canadian political system. It is a federal system that has brought peace to this great nation that has been the envy of the world for decades. It is a country that does not talk, but it acts. Its federal system grants the provinces autonomy over certain issues that could result in conflicts if not well managed. Let us not forget that Canada also has a minority – a French-speaking minority – Quebec – that has a totally different culture from the rest of the country.

The federal government has yielded a lot of ground to this province so as to bring peace to the country. The bright and praise-worthy management of the country by past and present Canadian prime ministers like Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau has helped to put Canada in the spotlight for all the right reasons. Cameroon should seek to find out how Canada pulled this off to the extent that it has become one of the best countries in the world to raise a family. The country’s bilingual nature should advise our leaders that we could have something in common with Canada. It never hurts to borrow from those who have posted great results.

Cameroon Concord News: You sound so informed and experienced. Will you be ready to go back home to give a helping hand if called upon, especially regarding the Southern Cameroons crisis?

Dr Arrey:  I am already preparing my retirement and I have made up my mind to return to Cameroon, especially to my native Ossing where I believe I have a lot to offer. I don’t need to be called up by anybody for me to return to Cameroon. There is a lot to be done out there and I think I will be more than happy to serve the people of my small city and division. I have a lot of experience in many areas and I am willing to share that experience with anybody who seeks to have a share of it. It is just but normal for me to give back to my people who were there for me during my hour of need.

I also have my father’s cocoa and coffee plantations to take care of. Those are the plantations that helped to give me the education that has taken me to all the nooks and crannies of the world. As for writing and politics, these two elements run in my blood. I will always be there to write in order to inform Cameroonians and to analyze political situations for many people to gain a better understanding of what is happening in their country. That is what nature wants me to do and that is one of the many things I will be doing upon retirement.

Cameroon Concord News: Still on politics, I understand it runs in the family. I have been reliably advised that your daughter who lives in Canada is already in politics. Is that true?

Dr Arrey: My daughter has chosen a different path in life. At the tender age of 14 she told me she wanted to be in politics and that she wanted to fight for immigrants after having noticed my own frustrations in life. I cannot but admire and appreciate her for understanding my pain. She immediately joined the Liberal party of Canada where she has been making her modest contribution. She has been participating in elections in Canada, not as a candidate, but a worker for her party. She is still in university and she must achieve all her academic dreams before becoming an active political player. I cannot but wish her the best and will always give her my entire support whenever she needs it.

Cameroon Concord News: What do you make of the political drama that is playing out in the nation’s capital at this time?

Dr Arrey: Cameroon is really going through a tough moment in its history. Boko Haram is still an active threat in the north, Southern Cameroons is still boiling and seeing what is almost bursting out of the ground in Yaounde gives me goose bumps. I sincerely hope that the truth will prevail. I really want the people’s choice to be respected so that we can have peace. If the authorities do not respect the will of the people, they should be ready to deal with the consequences. I have always said that Cameroon is a ticking time bomb and that if care is not taken, it could blow up one day and this will mean killing lots of people and destabilizing the entire sub-region. I want peace to prevail, but seeing what is already happening in Yaounde, I know we are in for tough times.

Professor Kamto has already declared that the people have given him a mandate which he must defend at all cost and that already sounds like he is preparing for a big fight. This, he says, is based on the results his party has. The government and the ruling party are struggling to prove that he is wrong and they are saying that only the constitutional council has the right to announce election results. I am on the sidelines and waiting for the official announcement. I only hope it will come to help Cameroonians live in peace. If things go the other way, then our country will have to deal with a huge crisis. I pray for the best for my beloved country. I just want my fellow Cameroonians to live in peace. This will surely require a change in the way the government has been running the show.

Cameroon Concord News: Thank you, Dr. Arrey, for sharing your perspective with us. We hope you will find more time to visit us in the days and months ahead.

Dr. Arrey: The pleasure is mine. You have been doing a great job and I hope I will continue to read your inspiring and informative editorials.

Prof. Maurice Kamto’s announcement on Monday, October 8, 2018, wherein he claimed victory following a presidential poll, has left government officials in a confused state. Kamto, a jurist and professor of law, understands the implications and consequences of his announcement and the timing of that announcement could not be better.

The international community is gradually taking a look at Cameroon and the elections are expected to produce a leader who can help address the conflict in the two English-speaking regions that is tearing the country apart.

Elections in Cameroon have never really been free and fair and Mr. Biya who has ruled the country with an iron fist for 36 years has used all the tricks in the book to extend his stay in power. But this year’s elections are surely going to undo him. At 86, Mr. Biya still holds that he could use those old tricks to obtain seven more years and his intimidation to silence the people who have all these years been looking for avenues to retire him.

Cameroonians have been robbed of many election victories by the Biya regime for decades and election rigging seems to be Mr. Biya’s stock in trade. In 1992, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), through its flagbearer, John Fru Ndi, beat Mr. Paul Biya in a highly contested poll that almost dragged the country into a civil war.

The victory was handed to Mr. Biya by a bunch of corrupt Supreme Court judges who had been appointed by Mr. Biya himself.  Ever since Prof. Kamto made his announcement, the Yaounde government has been trying to intimidate him and his collaborators.

Even before the announcement was made, the country’s territorial administration minister, Atanga Nji, an ex-convict, had been threatening to unleash the law against anybody who dared to declare himself as the winner of the presidential poll.

But his threats have clearly fallen on deaf ears. Prof. Kamto is a legal expert himself and he understands the law more than Atanga Nji who is simply a secondary school drop-out.

The territorial administration minister had said nobody was above the law, but failed to let Cameroonians know if any of his party members had been arrested for the vast electoral fraud orchestrated by his party.

The Internet is awash with videos of the fraud, but neither ELECAM, the body responsible for the organization of elections, nor the territorial administration ministry, had made mention of such fraud. Does this imply that ruling party members are above the law?

If government officials cannot respect the law, why do they think others must respect the law? Was it not on Election Day that Issa Tchiroma, the country’s communications minister, boastfully said after voting that Mr. Biya already had a majority? Why do government officials think that they are too intelligent for everybody?

The dark ages are behind Cameroonians and nobody, not even the country’s president can deceive the people into believing that he has won the election.

Issa Tchiroma can only cry about the situation. He knows that the match is over. They have mistreated Cameroonians for too long and their tricks are known now by the public and he cannot be taken seriously. The world knows his allegations are unjustifiable and baseless.

“”…..Kamto acted in violation of the rules and regulations governing the election…You cannot win election without obtaining an overwhelming majority of votes in the Far North region of Cameroon…the CPDM has the region in its palms,” he said.

He might think he is convincing anybody that Prof. Kamto wants to plunge the country into chaos, but Cameroonians already know the truth. Issa Tchiroma and Atanga Nji, it should be recalled, are among government officials who have actually caused the Southern Cameroons crisis to escalate.

The threat of arresting Prof. Kamto will surely not have any impact. The government knows that Kamto and his team are capable of putting two million Cameroonians on the streets if they play foul. They might have succeeded to contain John Fru Ndi in Bamenda in 1992, but 2018 is different from 1992. The advent of new media makes it easy for people to easily converge wherever they want and Cameroonians are prepared to defend their votes.

If they look into the mirror of history, they will find out that other dictatorial regimes have tried that but failed woefully. The case of Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire are good examples that can enable Atanga Nji and Issa Tchiroma to understand that the changing times require different strategies.

You can intimidate some of the people some of the time, but you cannot intimidate all of the people all the time. Social media is an important tool that has granted the people access to the public sphere as they are armed with the right information.

Mr. Biya and his collaborators must understand that if they do not act appropriately, the country might go up in flames. Cameroon is already bogged down in the north with Boko Haram, while Southern Cameroonians fighters are making life hard for the Yaounde government in a war that is not conventional. If the government is not careful, it will be caught up in another battle with the Francophone majority that has been silent for too long.

With diminishing resources, the Yaounde government cannot afford to fight a war on three fronts. And the third from could be very nasty, as it will be fought in the full glare of the international community.  The Kamto declaration should be seen as signal to the Biya regime that its time is over. It an alert to a regime that has lost its way and it is incapable of addressing the issues facing the country.

Mr. Biya and his men should see the writing on the wall. Their time is up and it is in their interest if they choose the honorable way out.  Mr. Kamto has decided to leave the door open for Mr. Biya and his men to walk out in dignity. He has advised them to come for negotiations on how the transition could be smooth.

If they fail to listen to Prof. Kamto’s wise counsel, they will have to deal with an angry crowd that might want to take its pound of flesh for the pain it has been put through for 36 years. Instead of being confused and trying to play hardball with the public, they should seize the opportunity offered to them by Professor Kamto.

If they push ahead with their plan through their questionable Constitutional Council, then they have clearly opted for a path that will expose them to violence and disgrace. There is still time for Biya and his men to put on their thinking caps.

Everything has its time. The time for tricks is over. It is in the interest of the regime and that of the country if Mr. Biya concedes defeat and congratulates Prof. Kamto on his success.  The world is watching and the international community is already nodding in approval and this is giving Prof. Kamto the courage he needs to move forward with his plan of action.

By Kingsley Betek and Irene Nanyongo in Yaounde

All Cameroon Concord News Group reporters and undercover polling station agents should send polling results to:

Email: Cameroonintelligencereport@gmail.com

Cameroonconcordnews@gmail.com

SMS/WhatsApp: +353 899 770 436 (Ireland)

+44 789 554 9927 (UK)

+49 157 823 10910 (Germany)

Results will be computed overnight at the Cameroon Concord News Group global headquarters in the United Kingdom.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Group Chairman

Dear friends of Crisis Group,

On 7 October 2018, Cameroonians will vote in a precarious presidential election. The political climate is tense, the economy unsteady and the country is threatened by Boko Haram in the Far North and armed separatists groups in the Anglophone regions in the Northwest and Southwest. A few days ahead of polling day, communal tensions are also growing, while new movements are forming across the country, which, though still embryonic, reject the election.

Crisis Group has been closely following recent developments in Cameroon and their implications for the upcoming election, along with a steady flow of reporting since 2014 on Boko Haram in the country’s Far North, and on the Anglophone crisis since 2016. Our publications provide an overview of key issues surrounding the vote. We have prepared a full reading list, and outline some of our key publications below.

Today, our briefing entitled Cameroon: Divisions Widen Ahead of Presidential Vote was made available in full in both English and French. In it, we argue that the government and armed Anglophone separatists still have time to declare a ceasefire to improve prospects for a peaceful poll in areas affected by the conflict. In addition, the government should strike a more conciliatory tone toward the Anglophone conflict and make moves to curb rhetoric stigmatising specific ethnic groups across the country. Outside powers – in particular the African Union, France, the UN and the U.S. – should use the days before the election to push for a ceasefire while taking a firmer line against leaders implicated in violence on either side. They should also call on the government to refrain from cracking down violently against any protests that take place around the vote.

In September, Crisis Group issued a statement calling for national and international support for the proposed Anglophone General Conference. We argue that the conference could offer a decisive breakthrough in the Anglophone crisis if all parties, including the separatists, attend.

As fighting between government forces and Boko Haram insurgents in Cameroon’s Far North diminishes, a lasting peace depends on how the government deals with former members of the jihadist movement, its former prisoners and the vigilante groups set up to fight it. Our August report advocates for community service, public confessions, symbolic ceremonies and vocational training to help reintegrate those who do not pose a threat.

The danger of bloodshed around this weekend’s vote is high in Anglophone regions, and insecurity in the Far North will hinder the administration of the poll. In a more peaceful climate, the election could offer the political renewal Cameroon needs. As things stand, it risks further polarising society. Though time is short before the vote, these parties could take steps to calm tensions and reduce this risk.

Dr. Comfort Ero
Director, Africa Program
International Crisis Group

Cameroon is on the threshold of a disaster. If care is not taken, the world might play spectator to an orgy of killing in that part of the world. Over the last two years, the world has been having a taste of what might happen after the October 7, 2018 polls in the country’s English-speaking regions.

The anger and frustration in many towns and cities in the country could reduce the slaughtering that is playing out in Southern Cameroons to a dress rehearsal. The English-speaking regions have become the theater of mass killings. Some 4,000 Cameroonians have already lost their lives, including close to 2,000 army soldiers.

So far, the conflict in Southern Cameroons has been localized. The government has been working very hard to ensure that it does not spread to East Cameroon, but this might change very soon due to the presidential poll that will take place on October 7.

The elections are coming with pressure and this election could be that factor that might tip the country into the type of conflicts Africans are used to seeing. According to the  International Crisis Group report, while political tension are growing as the presidential election approaches, the government has not come up with any framework for dialogue between Yaoundé, the opposition and civil society.

The government seems to be adopting the same strategy it employed during and after the 2011 presidential poll. The government is known for breaking the main social movements, isolating the most vociferous leaders and activists and recruiting leaders from the usual sources of opposition, such as students, street vendors, commercial motorcycle drivers and others from the transport sector. Recently, it has expanded its surveillance networks across social media, especially Facebook and Whatsapp.

This strategy could prove counter-productive. By decapitating these movements, the government loses its understanding of working class dynamics and hence its insight into how the population mobilizes. The absence of leaders means that when violence erupts, as with the serious riots in February 2008, there is hardly anybody in civil society or in the opposition to moderate the rioters and dialogue with the government.

The most challenging thing now is that opinions by ordinary people are increasingly radical. In Douala and Yaoundé, dozens of young people interviewed by Crisis Group think they should “make themselves heard by doing what the Anglophones are doing”. Some go so far as saying: “since the government and opposition are both against us, we might as well spoil everything so that nobody wins, the report adds.

Since 2017, intercommunal tensions have worsened throughout the country. On social networks and in the media, journalists, politicians, academics, activists and other civil society actors speak in terms that stigmatize ethnic groups. While ethnic divides are nothing new in Cameroon, the approaching presidential election is aggravating them as leaders of the governing party and the opposition use them to create or consolidate their political base. There is a danger that ethnic antagonisms will mirror political tensions and exacerbate any violence that may occur in the electoral period, the report says.

“In recent years, the government has used the tense security situation to further reduce civil liberties. For example, it has used the antiterrorist law passed in 2014 against journalists and civil society. Since 2017, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Communications have explicitly threatened journalists and sought to regulate the media more frequently,” the report adds.

To stave off criticism, the government is also restricting public expression by banning demonstrations organized by the opposition and civil society. Some in civil society have responded by not seeking the authorization to hold their marches. With the exception of the Stand up for Cameroon movement, they have, however, been careful not to express political grievances. They limit their demands; regularly emphasizing that their actions are not political and that they are not calling for the departure of Biya, no doubt to avoid harsher repression.

The journey down the dangerous path is relentless and the leaders seem to be enjoying their own dangerous rhetoric. They are working hard to stifle opposition and this has resulted in a brutal crackdown on journalists, activists, lawyers and others. This crack-down on civil liberties is accompanied by a hardening of attitudes towards international partners and international organizations. Yaoundé responds angrily to the smallest criticisms and maintains a stern attitude toward diplomats in the capital and international organizations.

A part of the population, whom the government has recently convinced that there is an international conspiracy to destabilize the country, approve of this attitude. The government is gradually leading the country down a dangerous path; a path that has seen many other African countries and today, those countries are suffering from the effects of such a mentality.

The October 7, 2018, poll remains a tough challenge to the country. Even the ICG report underscores that the political climate is tense, the economy shaky and much of the country insecure and it is torn between Boko Haram in the Far North and a conflict in the English-speaking regions. Intercommunal tensions are worsening not only in Southern Cameroons but also in other parts of the country.

However, the government and armed Southern Cameroons separatists still have time to declare a ceasefire to improve prospects for polling in areas affected by the conflict. But this might not happen as the separatists are prepared to disrupt the elections. Outside powers do have a role in this. They could push both sides to declare a ceasefire or even press for an inclusive dialogue that will spare the country and the region the bloodshed that has been noticed in other African countries.

The ICG report also underscores that the government should take steps to curb rhetoric stigmatizing specific ethnic groups and it should do a lot to sound more conciliatory. After the vote, both sides should support efforts by religious leaders to hold an Anglophone General Conference. Such a conference could help lay the ground for a national inclusive dialogue that is necessary to resolve the Southern Cameroons crisis that is already in its third year.

“The danger of violence around the vote in Anglophone regions is high. But other parts of the country could also be affected, even if the postponement of the parliamentary and municipal elections to October 2019, which carried their own danger of localized friction, has mitigated some risks. As Election Day approaches, tensions are growing and the government has become harder-line, opting for repression and peddling conspiracy theories in response to demands for social and political reform. Embryonic movements are emerging across the country, which reject the election. Some of them call for a popular insurrection to unseat Cameroonian President Paul Biya. In the Anglophone regions and parts of the Far North, insecurity may hinder the smooth conduct of the vote,” the report says.

The presidential election on October 7 will take place in an unprecedented political and security climate for Cameroon. Lack of clarity on the country’s future is worrying. Governance issues and the succession to Biya, now 85, are of pressing concern. Reducing the risk of violence during the election, including by security forces, is a precondition for putting Cameroon on track towards a peaceful transition. The priority for the incoming government will then be to organize a national dialogue to resolve the Southern Cameroons crisis, the report concludes.

Compiled by Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, Kingsley Betek and Irene Nayongo.

The 2018 presidential election campaigns have just a week to go and the signs are not good for Cameroonians who have been struggling to stop their government that appears to be made up of ‘foreign’ mercenaries.

Over the last 26 years, there have been many elections in Cameroon and the ruling party, considered by an overwhelming majority of Cameroonians as a crime syndicate, has won most, if not all of the elections. The 2018 campaigns were launched a week ago, but the candidate of the ruling party, Paul Biya, only came out on September 29, 2018 to start campaigning.

The opposition candidates have been all over the country to seek votes that may take them to the Unity Palace, but what they are oblivious of is the fact that presidential elections have never been won in Cameroon via the ballot boxes.

In 1992, the SDF candidate, John Fru Ndi, proved that an incumbent could be defeated. He pulled crowds and told the right stories. His stories were music to many ears, but he and his party failed to figure out that the Supreme Court which was acting for the constitutional council, had other plans.

The results were released in favor of Mr. Biya who was popularly unpopular across the country. The country’s Supreme Court judges were Mr. Biya’s protégés and given their loyalty to such a brutal dictator, they could not publish the real results which were in favor of the SDF candidate.

In 1992, there was a small coalition, but other major parties had refused to join the Union for Change that was supposed to represent the opposition. Bouba Bello and Adamou Ndam Njoya felt they had more governance experience than Mr. Fru Ndi. They therefore decided to betray the people of Cameroon.

Mr. Bouba Bello has since then been an ally of the ruling party to the detriment of the people who are still under the yoke of an incompetent dictator whose penchant for waste is legendary. It should be recalled that Mr. Bouba Bello was directly involved in the 1984 coup d’état that almost resulted in the overthrow of Mr. Biya.

Mr. Bouba Bello had fled to Nigeria after the coup. He only came back when a general amnesty was granted to those who had been implicated in the coup. And all of this came about when Cameroonians fought tooth and nail to bring about multiparty politics in Cameroon.

The failure of the opposition in 1992 to engineer a strong coalition in the presidential elections of that year was the opposition’s greatest undoing. But has today’s opposition learned any lessons? From every indication, thunder might be striking twice in the same place. The opposition is yet to learn the lessons of the past.

The faces might have changed, but the mentality us still the same. While new faces have jumped into the political arena, the mentality of the past seems to be at work. The new faces in Cameroon’s political landscape may be different, but the thinking of those on the opposition has not changed that much.

Every Cameroonian erroneously thinks that he is presidential material. He selfishly holds that he is more intelligent than his compatriots. And this thinking is standing in the way of efforts aimed at unseating a dictator who is only counting on his rigging ability.

Part of the election rigging process is for the ruling party to argue that if the opposition was not divided, it could win the election.  But deep in the minds of ruling party supporters, they know that the opposition does not need to unite in order to win Mr. Biya who has been in power for 36 years and has nothing to show for his long stay in power.

The country’s economy is on its knees. The unemployment rate is unprecedented in this country that is endowed with enormous human and natural resources.  Corruption has become the government’s hallmark and it has indeed been institutionalized. Mr. Biya is the main engineer of this corruption and he has been using the country’s treasury as his personal ATM.

For 36 years, Mr. Biya and his government have failed to live up to the glorious expectations of the population. The country is bereft of basic infrastructure. Its roads are among the worst in the world. The railway network has collapsed and the country’s clinics are nothing more than consultation clinics.

Politically, Mr. Biya is considered as the worst catastrophe that ever visited the country. Cameroon is more divided today than it has ever been. Nepotism is the order of the day and people from the president’s ethic group are those who are running the show.

Though his ethic group accounts for less than 10% of the country’s population, they account for more than 70% of the country’s government. This has created a feeling of frustration among other ethnic groups which some allege are already talking about revenge once Mr. Biya leaves office.

With such a dismal economic and political performance, there is no way Mr. Biya could win the 2018 presidential election if it was free, fair and transparent. Today, Cameroon is on the brink of a civil war. The government has unleashed its militia and untrained soldiers on Southern Cameroonians who have been complaining of marginalization for more than five decades.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in less than two years as a result of the conflict pitting Southern Cameroonians against the government. Over the last month, government militia and soldiers, most of which are constituted of young Betis who are mad that power is slipping through their fingers, have been killing young male adults in the English-speaking region indiscriminately.

More than 200 villages have been burnt and children and old people have been burnt in their homes by government troops who enjoy using collective punishment as a tool to intimidate the population.  Over the last two weeks, more than half a million Southern Cameroonians have fled to East Cameroon in search of a safe haven.

More than a million have fled to Nigeria where they are living rough. Those who escaped to East Cameroon are still in trouble as the government has systematically and continuously arrested many of them who are seeking refuge in Yaounde or Douala.

As a justification for their arrest, the country’s defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, last week released a press statement indicating that there were separatists among English-speaking Cameroonians who had escaped the government’s military brutality to Yaounde.  Ever since that release was published, more than 2,000 Southern Cameroonians have already disappeared in Yaounde and thousands are concerned about their safety.

Meanwhile, those who do not have the means to travel to East Cameroon are being mowed down by government troops who have been given a license to shoot and kill. Last week alone, more than 500 innocent civilians were gunned down by army soldiers.  Yesterday night in Buea, a lady was pulled out of her home and shot in the leg by a Beti soldier.

In Bachou Ntai, many residents were slaughtered on Saturday, September 29 by army soldiers who were angry that pictures of Mr. Biya had been torn down by angry youths who held that the ruling party must not hold its campaign in their town.

Among those killed is the nephew of the Senate vice-president, Chief George Tabetando, who has been in favor of the killing of Southern Cameroonians.  With such a picture, there is no way the ruling party, that is being accused of having mismanaged a strike by teachers and lawyers, can win an election in Cameroon.

But if opposition parties have to make hay of the government’s incompetence, they must realize that making common cause will help them achieve their goal – unseating Mr. Biya and his ruling crime syndicate.

The major opposition parties must come together to give the people a chance at making their dream come true. Cameroonians are sick and tired of the government they have; a government that has been conducting itself as a bunch of mercenaries.

There is a huge need for a coalition. This will not be necessary in a transparent system, but since Cameroon is a country soaked in corruption and abnormalities, the ruling party must be denied that argument that will justify its rigging of the election.

Opposition leaders must shrink their egos. They must understand that they are operating in a system that has been designed to favor Mr. Biya.  They have to enhance their chances and this can only be achieved through a solid coalition that will render the ruling party’s rigging machinery ineffective and inefficient.

By Kingsley Betek

Since 2016, Cameroon, the West African state most famous for its soccer prowess, has descended into conflict. With the country voting in an already discredited presidential election on 7 October, the need for strong leadership from the Catholic Church has never been greater.

The roots of the conflict

Cameroon’s English-speaking minority claims it has been increasingly marginalized by the Francophone majority since gaining independence. Of 32 cabinet members, only one is Anglophone, even though English speakers represent 20% of the population. In 2016, the government tried to impose Francophone judges in the Anglophone region’s courts, and to force the French language on its schools. This led to peaceful civil protests such as strike days when shops and schools closed. The authorities responded with disproportionate force, inadvertently fueling a militant secessionist movement. An example of this heavy-handed reaction, as reported by the impartial human rights watchdog, Crisis Group, was a government helicopter hovering over a church, shooting unarmed worshippers as they emerged.

The conflict deepens

The security situation is deteriorating rapidly. Dozens of secessionist leaders who were detained in January remain incommunicado, adding to Anglophone grievance. A recent Amnesty report describes the army’s scorched earth tactics, with 106 villages in the North West and South West regions raided, looted, and burned. Their ethnic cleansing strategy is working: 200,000 have fled into the bush, while 20,000 are in refugee camps in Nigeria.

Social media heightens the sense that English-speakers are being persecuted. Stories of government soldiers torturing and humiliating Anglophones are common, as are disturbing videos of human rights violations circulating online. In this tense atmosphere, there are rumours that political prisoners are being sprayed with chemicals that make them unwell. Cameroon authorities have reportedly denied visas to the International Committee of the Red Cross. On September 10th, soldiers demanded that doctors at Bamenda hospital hand over wounded patients, suspecting them of being rebels, rather than civilians caught in cross fire. There are also unconfirmed reports from the Africa-based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy that the government now requires Anglophones to have internal travel permits. Amnesty estimates 400 people have been killed, although sources in Cameroon believe the figure is much higher, claiming that there are mass graves in the bush.

The authorities’ harsh response to early peaceful protests has led to a polarization of opinion within the besieged Anglophone community. Secessionists are now using extreme violence, targeting security services and government representatives, and punishing civilians who fail to back their vision of a new independent Anglophone country called Ambazonia. Schools not participating in the general strike are being attacked, with 70 torched since 2016. Teachers and students have been seized, and parents are withdrawing their children from schools. The principals of several secondary schools have been kidnapped as retribution for keeping schools open. On an anecdotal level, a Catholic nun reports to your correspondent that her town is surrounded by forces from both sides, effectively holding civilians hostage; people who have fled to camps fear imminent attack; and members of the Diaspora worry constantly about the safety of their family back in Cameroon.

Although the Anglophone Diaspora has appealed to the UK, its former colonial power, it is clear from answers to Parliamentary questions from Lord Alton among others that Britain will go no further than appealing for dialogue. In the run up to Brexit, establishing trading relations is a priority; in June, the government announced that UK interests had signed a natural gas deal with Cameroon worth £1.5 billion. Furthermore, the international community is unlikely to apply pressure to Cameroon’s leader, Paul Biya, while his country’s troops are battling the Islamist terrorists, Boko Haram, in the Lake Chad region.

What can the Catholic Church do?

The church commands the respect of all sides of the population; it is seen as a legitimate voice of civil society. From the beginning of the current crisis, Anglophone faith leaders have called for inclusive talks aimed at finding a peaceful, federal approach, devolving some powers to disenfranchised English-speaking regions. These calls were first ignored and then rejected by Biya’s government. As secessionists have adopted increasingly violent means, the Francophone authorities have hardened their position, refusing to negotiate with terrorists.

The 85-year-old Biya will most probably be re-elected in October, after a process that will fail to meet international standards of free and fair elections, as it usually does in Cameroon. Observers fear that the closing days of the election campaign may spark even more violence. Biya, who has been in power since 1982, seems determined to ignore Anglophone calls for dialogue. Meanwhile, it is noticeable that few French-speaking faith leaders have expressed solidarity with their opposite numbers in the Anglophone region, or have put pressure on Biya to compromise.

In November there will be a conference of faith leaders, convened by the Anglophone churches. This is an opportunity for French-speaking Catholics to join moderate Anglophones in calling for inclusive dialogue to resolve the country’s crisis by non-violent, constitutional means. The church is in a unique position, with the moral authority to push the government into negotiations. The continuing disengagement of many Francophone faith leaders is unhelpful at best. While brave Anglophone priests and bishops demonstrate the courage to seek a peaceful and moderate way forward, they deserve the active support of their fellow religious leaders among the French-speaking majority.

Source: Independent Catholic News