Every media person is running away from the two Cameroons!! Nowhere is safe for Cameroonian journalists whether you are English or French speaking since the 90-year-old President Paul Biya launched his armed response to a strike action staged by lawyers and teachers in Southern Cameroons.

As a Cameroonian journalist, whether you are in Yaoundé, Maroua, Garoua, Douala, Buea or Bamenda working for the state-owned CRTV or a private media organization, reporters who continue to cover the Biya regime are in constant danger of being killed.

Cameroon Intelligence Report recently lost contact with some news men in detention centers in both French and Southern Cameroons who have been making public heartrending accounts of the disturbing situation in major Cameroonian towns and cities including Yaoundé, the nation’s capital.

Cameroonian journalists are under constant pressure with arrest, assassination and torture from every government official including Divisional Officers and Regional Governors.

 “There is suffering and pain all over the national territory,” said a reporter for a local radio station in Yaoundé, describing what news reporting in Cameroon under Biya is like for him and his colleagues.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group will continue to help all independent journalists in Cameroon who are risking their lives to keep Cameroonians informed. Be a part of this venture!!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

Today marks forty-one years since Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, took over from the country’s first President, Amadou Ahidjo, who resigned supposedly for health reasons. Ahidjo, the man who had made Cameroon the purpose of his being, had always dreamed of transforming the country into an earthly paradise. 

He had designed the educational system to enable Cameroonians compete favorably at the international level. The quality of education was good and this helped the country to make giant strides towards sustainable development. Though the country was bereft of massive financial resources, the country’s first president made up for this shortage of financial resources with discipline and determination.

Due to the lack of resources, the country did not have a good road network, but from 1977 when oil was discovered, the country’s fortunes changed for the better. Many infrastructure development projects were lined up and their implementation was marked by rigor and discipline.

But this changed in 1982 when Mr. Biya succeeded Ahidjo. Though he had served as the country’s Prime Minister under Ahidjo, he had not learned that discipline was a key ingredient in the implementation of national policies and projects. No initiative succeeds without discipline!

By 1985, the country’s economy and politics were already showing signs of chaos. Discipline which characterized the Ahidjo regime had taken French leave of the Biya regime. Mr. Biya, unlike Ahidjo, had prioritized loyalty over competence and this has cost the country a huge fortune. He brought his tribesmen into government without conducting the proper background checks and there are lots of crooks and dishonest people in the system.

Though the Centre and South regions of Cameroon account for less than 10% of the country’s population, Mr. Biya tribesmen make for more than 70% of appointed government officials, with many not having the appropriate experience and qualifications to drive major operations and policies!

Today, the country has one of the worst road networks on the continent. Each day, thousands of Cameroonians die of road accidents and, for decades, the government has not found it necessary to develop road infrastructure which will reduce both travel times and death toll on the country’s roads. Times have changed but the Biya regime is frozen in time.

Regarding the economy, things are not looking good for the country. Unemployment is high; many young Cameroonians are looking outward. Government policy regarding employment in the civil service has left many from other tribes desperate. Loyalty trumps over qualification and in certain cases, many people have been caught with fake certificates, especially people from the president’s tribe.

Universities which are supposed to serve as centers of excellence have been transformed into brothels as the culture of sex-for-marks has been fully entrenched and this is happening with the tacit approval of the country’s authorities. The country’s higher education minister, Fame Ndongo, has been presiding over this mess as he himself has been at the centre of massive sex scandals in the ministry he leads. 

Mr. Biya and his ruling CPDM may be celebrating today, but they know they have brought untold hardship on Cameroonians. Most young Cameroonians want to leave the country and even retirees are relocating to countries like the U.S and Canada because their retirement incomes leave much to be desired. 

The country is amongst the dirtiest on the continent with its towns and cities not going through any form of town planning. The government does not seem to have an inkling of structured existence as slums are popping up all over the nation.

Regarding security, the government is struggling. Crime rate has increased significantly, with soldiers and police officers even renting out their weapons to criminals for a fee. Even when the population reports a crime, the police hardly act. It is always a waste of time for police officers to be called to the crime scene as they will never make it. 

Either there is no fuel in the car for them to use, or when there is a car, there is no fuel. Sometimes, security forces even seek to know the type of weapons the criminals are carrying. This is to ensure that they do not get into a fierce fight with heavily armed criminals. Kind police officers will even tell the frightened victims to call neighbors to help them. That is the country Mr. Biya will be leaving for future generations.

Mr. Biya has been a master at divide-and-rule. He has succeeded to pit tribes against tribe, and there is evidence that the day he exits, there will be bloodshed in the country. Currently, there are killings going on in Southern Cameroons where a fierce rebellion against the Yaoundé government has sent some ten thousand Cameroonians to an early grave and things could get worse if Mr. Biya suddenly dies.

For the public service, it is the worst the continent has. Corruption is rife and Cameroonians have to pay millions of francs to get admission into professional schools. Every sector of the public service has come up with a scheme to exploit the ordinary citizen and the country’s authorities have decided to look the other way while government officials exploit their fellow citizens.

Cameroon under Mr. Biya has been a living hell. Many Cameroonians prefer to look outwards as the government has failed to create opportunities for its citizens. 41 years in power have rolled the country back into grinding poverty and, in development terms, the country has been taken back by at least 100 years. Today’s celebrations could be described as a celebration of failure, inefficiency, greed, corruption and dishonesty. This is the legacy Mr. Biya will be leaving behind.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

When the Jews left Egypt for their Promised Land, some of them fell on the wayside and did not enter the gates of that Land, including their leader Moses. By transitioning at the doorstep of the foot-of-the-mountain, Rev Andrew Ambeazieh has become one of the Moses of the Ambazonian quest for freedom and restoration of their Homeland. When the Americans fought their war of independence, valiant patriots fell on the battle field while some died from frost bite and even more died in prisons and detention camps. When the French rose up against Tyranny, most of them faced the guillotine for their convictions and their commitment to liberte, egalite and fraternite. When black South Africans stood up against Apartheid, patriots like Steve Biko, were murdered in detention.

Even so, Israel is today free and strong. Even so, America is today the light and the hope of democracy. Even so, the French today have no kings and their President can never again, state as a matter of fact and law that ‘L’etat c’est moi”. Even so, Mandela and the Rivona Nine walked out of Prison on the 11th of February 1990 to a free and eventually democratic South Africa.

Today, we are gathered to celebrate the life of a unique and singular Ambazonian Patriot. A man ordained by God to serve humanity. A man who, because he wanted his people to walk the narrow,  slippery and steep road of righteousness, justice and brotherhood, was captured, abducted, persecuted and prosecuted and technically “executed” in detention by cancelling his Bail by the court of appeal for health reasons just to allow him waste in prison custody.

A man who had the foresight and the courage to challenge one of the most brutal institutions on earth – the LRC government. For this he was captured. A man who knew the real meaning of autonomy, sovereignty and national identity because he was young enough to understand when the British Southern Cameroons came out of the Western House of Assembly in Enugu to stand alone as an independent political entity in Buea.

A man who saw the inauguration, installation and workings of parliamentary democracy when the British Southern Cameroons had the first fair & free multi-party elections in Africa on the 24th of January 1959. A man who saw the first peaceful transition of power in African politics from Endeley to Foncha, before the deluge of orchestrated and Machiavelli independence charades that only served as precursors to neo colonialism and imperialism.

A man who lived the tomfoolery of pseudo independence and the stark nakedness of international illegality, fraternal inhumanity and LRC’s cruelty and incivility. A man who witnessed the legitimacy of typical Anglo-Saxon elections obliterated by the whims and caprices of a tyrant and his French masters – from 1966 to 1990 and then again, as a fluke in 1992.

A man who witnessed the Anglo-Saxon system of education and common law under which he grew, bastardized into an unrecognized smokescreen (poison) where corruption, nepotism, favoritism and mediocrity shamelessly took the places of meritocracy, fair play, equity and hard work.

A man who witnessed all of these and was disappointed. In his disappointment, he spoke up. When he spoke up, he was prosecuted. And when he was prosecuted, he protested. And when he protested, he was termed a terrorist, abducted, detained, sentenced and incarcerated until the date of his transition into eternity, 11th Oct 2023, at a Yaounde maximum security prison, the Kondengui Prison Principale, from where I write this eulogy.

A man, who has lived, seen, fought and died for a cause. In so doing he gave a different meaning to terrorism and patriotism. Through his non-violent protests, he mustered the courage and the effrontery to tell Ahidjo, Biya and their French Masters that Southern Cameroons was not francophone and hence was not on the market stall to be bargained, negotiated and exploited. He had the courage and effrontery to write the famous “Quit Order Notice” asking Mr Biya’s LRC government to leave Ambazonia.

In so doing, he followed in the footsteps of Albert Ndongmo, Albert Mukong, Um Nyobe, Ernest Ouandie and Roland Moumie. Like these nationalists, he demonstrated with his life that the fight for one’s homeland is worth paying the ultimate price for. Like these nationalists, he demonstrated with the tacit acceptance of his wrongful persecutions and prosecutions that justice delayed is justice denied, and justice denied is also justice destroyed. This is because denial is a function of time and destruction is a function of ancestral and divine ordination. Even on his dying bed, Patriot Rev Andrew Ambeazieh saw the confines of prison as only a premonition and precursor to the total and unconditional freedom of Ambazonia. He lived for it. He worked for it. He prayed for it. He believed unreservedly in it. And he died for it. 

He died believing in the fundamental faith and convictions of all authentic Ambazonians in the fate of our Country as a free, independent and sovereign nation. He died believing in the tenacity, bravery and insurmountable courage of our self-defense fighters all over the territory of Ambazonia. He died believing in the unconquerable spirit of our Diaspora and their inexhaustible measure to give and keep giving, to sustain the liberation struggle by all means possible. He died believing that there is still hope that can be derived from the common humanity of the international community and all international stakeholders who can bring about a just and equitable mediation and resolution of this senseless and unnecessary war that has been cast upon the hapless population of Ambazonia.

With this belief, Patriot Rev Ambeazieh died a victorious soldier and Commander. He conquered the false fear that was perpetuated by LRC and nursed all over our land for 62 years and counting. In conquering this fear he won for himself and for all of us Ambazonians the freedom to speak freely, the freedom to associate with all other Ambazonians within and without Ambazonia, the freedom to think all the progressive thoughts that we bring all Ambazonians together under one national tent to self-determine and to self-realize.  So even though his body died in the dungeons of an LRC maximum security prison, his spirit was free and is now flying all over the hills and valleys of Ambazonia.

Inspiring us and injecting us with the rejuvenation that is necessary to carry us across the Mungo to Buea, and across Matazem to Bamenda.

This is the ultimate certification and award that a Patriot can earn. Patriot Rev Ambeazieh has not only earned it but has valiantly, as any soldier imaginable or any Commander in chief that ever lived, worn his Patriotism and lived his nationalism. “We will get to Buea and enjoy the ‘Bonitas’ of our homeland” he always proudly said. We will have our autonomy and sovereignty, he always confidently declared.

Dear departed brother, friend, and father; Rev Andrew Ambeazieh Ofembe. The Ambazonian community at the Kondengui Prison Principale Yaounde (KPPY) has been missing you since the 11th of October 2023. We miss you every morning at our meditation, we miss you at our tea and bread sessions and during dinners (meals which we provide out of our own Ambazonian resources). We will continue to miss your daily routine of trying to build bridges in the best way you knew how. Your family will miss a devoted son, a generous husband and an irreplaceable father. Ambazonia will miss a hero, a nationalist, a leader and a blue blood Patriot Founder.

My first eulogy message on this occasion, captured as theme of our morning meditation on Monday 16th Oct 2023 was “We are still marching forward”.  Today, we beseech all Ambazonians therefore, to go forth and remember that each time we see a beautiful sunrise and heavenly sunset, in the horizon, please stop and commune with the spirit of our Patriot Founder. Each time we feel the gentle breeze of the Mandara range in all of the Savanah State, please pause and commune with the enduring spirit of our fallen Patriot Founder. Each time we see the waves wash on the shores of Victoria and Idenau, we should pause, pick a pebble and throw into the Ocean to keep the faith with the interceding and protective spirit of our Founding Patriot. Each time we maintain a minute of silence, we say his name in our hearts, to remind us all of the founding mortar that we shall all cast at the foot of the flag when we formally lay the foundation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

We are sure that ours will be called the Founding Generation of Ambazonia, because of what patriots like Rev Andrew Ambeazieh have left behind; a nation for us to defend, a flag for us to fly and an Anthem for us to sing … Hail, Hail, Hail this land of Glory …

Fare thee well dear brother, father and comrade. May the land of our ancestors be welcoming on to you and may your soul find peace & rest in the bosom of our Creator. REST IN PERFECT PEACE.

Sisiku AyukTabe

Kondengui Principal Prison Yaounde (KPPY)

Greetings from Yaoundé which is in a much panicked mood!  Minister René Emmanuel Sadi is now saying that any Cameroonian predicting a coup risked being arrested and prosecuted.

In a statement on Monday, Sadi moonlighting as Minister of Communication and government spokesperson stated that “The government therefore urges those concerned to be careful not to draw senseless and preposterous parallels, and to make obscene predictions about the future of Cameroon which could amount to calls for the destabilization of the state.”

With Biya’s time on earth nearly over, it’s time to turn away from the 90-year-old President, who survived a coup attempt in 1984 and has ruled Cameroon for 41 years.

One event to watch is the football friendly between the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Russian Federation in Moscow in mid-October. Cameroon Concord News Group London Bureau Chief Isong Asu calls it “a Biya’s last journey of many dangers” for the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé. It will be the first football match between an African team and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and has been actively encouraged by the 90-year President Biya.

Southern Cameroons business communities in the diaspora are seeing red with the customs-led public auctions in Douala. Goods to be sold are those that have been stored ever since the war started in Southern Cameroons. The customs department says the goods to be sold include various items such as electronics, household appliances, antiques, food products, machinery, etc. The customs estimates their value at tens of millions of FCFA. It is all Southern Cameroons money.

Mr Biya’s back-to-school campaign in Southern Cameroons has not been going according to plan; the actions of Ambazonia restoration forces have successfully erected a stone wall against the reopening of schools. Two head teachers and a female student were killed by Ambazonia fighters and this week a Roman Catholic priest and three teachers sustained gunshot wounds in an attack on CS Kembong in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu.        

Household final consumption prices in Cameroon went up 0.5% in August. This overall food price trend came with inflation that reached a yearly average of 7.8% at the end of August.

The Biya Francophone regime also has plenty to worry about: The nation’s economy is stalling. Businesses are closing down and major corporations like PAMOL and CDC are filing for bankruptcy protection. Most of the major banks and telecom operators seem to be in difficulty. 90-year-old Mr. Biya says the younger generation should turn to farming. Not surprisingly, many are turning a deaf ear to the stupidity coming from Etoudi

It is evidently clear that the office of prime minister was a creation to appease Southern Cameroonians following the emergence of the late Ni John Fru Ndi! All the Anglophone political men-name them: Simon Achidi Achu, Peter Mafany Musonge, Inoni Ephraim, Philemon Yang and now the celebrated polygamist Dion Ngute have failed to deliver to the people of Southern Cameroons. Dion Ngute’s recent performance has been patchy, and his war of words with Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh has turned into open mutiny within government circles.

It remains extremely difficult to avoid the jailed Southern Cameroons leaders in Kondengui. To avoid a coup in Yaoundé, Biya and his men should start talking to Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. A stitch in time saves nine!!

Thank you for keeping the faith in what we do in Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report.  We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are doing all what we can to move some of you to get in touch. Remember that you are what you read! Regardless, you can reach me at soteragbawebai@gmail.com

Both the Cameroon security services and separatist insurgents are implicated in atrocities in the long-running Anglophone conflict, according to reports released today, International Day of Peace. The reports have been compiled and verified using geolocation, based on videos, photos, satellite imagery, eyewitness accounts, social media posts, and news items.

The Cameroon Database of Atrocities works with the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) to confirm each atrocity took place at a specific location and date. The eight new reports join a further 40 reports already compiled by the Database. It is hoped that the existence of the reports may discourage further acts of violence, end the impunity with which the perpetrators act, and one day be used in bringing these actors to justice.

The eight new reports confirm the following:

–Cameroon government forces arbitrarily burned multiple civilian homes in a village;

–Government forces arbitrarily arrested no fewer than 42 to 85 youths in a village, who are still detained months later;

–An elite government soldier violently harassed young men at several locations over several years;

–Anglophone separatist fighters burned several trucks of civilian foodstuffs;

–Separatist fighters detonated explosives at an outdoor market and at a race, killing one mother and injuring 19, including athletes running the race;

–Separatist fighters burned a school, a mayor’s house, and a church, while also taking hostages for ransom at the church, who were released one month later.

Cameroon’s so-called “Anglophone Crisis” began more than six years ago with peaceful protests, which became violent after the government responded with excessive force and arrested moderate protest leaders.

This led to a separatist movement calling for independence of Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions. The separatists’ 2017 unilateral independence declaration provoked brutal crackdowns from Cameroon government forces. Soon the crisis escalated into an armed conflict, with the Cameroon military fighting armed separatist groups, and civilians caught in the middle.

Since then, the Anglophone regions have witnessed widespread atrocities by both sides, causing over 6,000 deaths, 1.5 million displaced, and leaving 700,000 children out of school for years. Both sides have behaved with impunity.

Pope Francis has repeatedly urged the Cameroon government to act to stop the violence, but there has been little interest in diplomatic activity. Earlier this year, the government backed away from potential peace talks facilitated by Canada.

Commenting on the reports, CHRDA’s president, Barrister Felix ‘AgborBalla’Nkongho said: There is a need for accountability and an end to this culture of impunity. It can only be done when we monitor, document and report these gross and egregious crimes.

Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, Senior Associate and Regional Director forAfrica at National Democratic Institute in Washington, D.C., stated:

These data reports confirm that six years on, deaths and destruction are still a regular occurrence in the Anglophone conflict zones. The vicious cycle of violence and retaliation with impunity continues to foster suffering and deprivation, especially among civilian populations.

They’re yet another warning to those with guns that their actions are being fully documented and, ultimately, individuals and their sponsors and accomplices will be held to account someday. We hope that day comes soon so this well-documented evidence of atrocities can serve its purpose.

This release on the international peace day also coincides with the General Assembly of the United Nations currently holding in New York as world leaders lament the flurry of global crises and insecurity. One very significant takeaway from these reports is to put friends of Cameroon and the international community on notice that human life is not safe anywhere if it is not safe everywhere: underreported crises and conflicts such as is the case in Anglophone Cameroon deserve as much condemnation and efforts to find resolution through third-party-led mediation or negotiations, as more well-known conflicts.

Source: www.CameroonPeaceJustice.ca

The resurgence of the activities of the ominous unknown gunmen in Southern Cameroons in the recent weeks is becoming worrisome.

Ever since Minister Paul Atanga Nji introduced his private militia known as the Atanga Nji Boys to help Cameroon government army soldiers in their fight against separatists, the unknown gunmen has become a phenomenon in the area and it is getting to an alarming height.

The inability of the Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé to unravel the mystery behind this or to unveil the real identity of the masterminds of these so-called unknown gunmen is not helping matters.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that recently, there has been a blame game between the Francophone dominated security agencies and Ambazonia Restoration fighters.

While Yaoundé continues to point accusing fingers at the Southern Cameroons Self Defense Groups, the Ambazonia Interim Government including other front line groups have not minced words in their allegation that Cameroon government security agents in collaboration with some treacherous civil administrators and military leaders in Southern Cameroons are sponsoring the activities of the Atanga Nji Boys to disrepute, discredit and demonize the Southern Cameroons uprising.

A highly placed Cameroon government official contacted by this reporter but who sued for anonymity said that the festering insecurity in Southern Cameroons is politically motivated.

The modus operandi of these unknown gunmen in some instances like the attack on the Mamfe Divisional Hospital leaves members of the public more confused on who actually is behind the mysterious masquerade.

On Sunday, September 17, 2023, four innocent PAMOL workers were killed by unidentified gunmen. The armed men reportedly attacked the estate in Lobe, Ekondo-titi Subdivision in Ndian.

PAMOL Plantations in a statement made public on Monday, September 18, 2023, said the victims were Foin Ernest, a mechanic and his son Foin Marcel, Tiah Rita and Sakwe Olga wives of a Lobe Mill worker and a retired Research employee.

Could Ambazonia fighters truly be killing fellow folks as recently witnessed in Kumbo in Bui Division, Muea in Fako and now Ekondo titi in Ndian?

Who are truly the people behind the mysterious unknown gunmen?

Despite the narratives of both the Biya Francophone regime and the Dabney Yerima-led Ambazonia Interim Government, the fact remains that Anglophone Cameroon is burning! The fire is ragging so fast that if something is not done and done in a hurry to extinguish the inferno, the entire Southern Cameroons will soon be consumed.

In just one week unknown gunmen have killed people in Bamenda, Buea and Kumba including security agents on roadblocks.

The crisis in Southern Cameroons seems not to be cooling off!! There are lots of things still happening and another explosion of tensions is a possibility.

The consequences of the conflict are all over the place. The trust that used to be the population’s hallmark has simply evaporated given the atrocities that have taken place in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Many children in rural parts of Southern Cameroons are still not going to school and this is creating a serious problem that will haunt the country in the future.

The crisis which started with protests by teachers and lawyers in 2016, has robbed the two English-speaking regions of the country of much-needed economic development, as many investors have simply fled the region with their investments.

Many Southern Cameroonians are now investing in East Cameroon as the war has proven that instability is not friendly with economic prosperity. Where violence exists, economic prosperity simply walks away, leaving the population in abject poverty.

The relocation of businesses has worsened the unemployment situation in the two English-speaking regions of the country and unemployment has a way of generating hardship and producing hardened criminals.

The Yaoundé government has the nasty habit of leaving things to time but time might never address the grievances of Southern Cameroonians who hold that they have been victims of marginalization and other forms of injustice.

If the violence that has hit the two regions like a ton of bricks must remain a thing of the past, the Yaoundé government must take certain appeasement measures which should help to prevent future conflicts.

One of such measures must be the institution of constant, frank and fruitful dialogue with the jailed Anglophone leaders which will help the government and the local communities to address issues in a timely manner so as to preempt any future misunderstanding.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Manyus all over the world will be joining the people of the Bachuo Akagbe Kingdom in celebrating the life of an extraordinary man, a champion, father, grandfather and traditional ruler-His Royal Highness Chief John Eyong Etchu II.

We of the Cameroon Concord News and the Cameroon Intelligence Report are proud and happy and of course, we are going to be part of this historic thanksgiving process. From Birmingham in the United Kingdom to Paris-France and from Mulheim an der Rhur in Germany to Dallas-Texas in the USA, it will all be to honor the memory of a soul who touched the lives of many around the world in countless ways. Though our hearts are heavy with sorrow, let us remember that this is a time to cherish the legacy of a remarkable individual.

His Royal Highness Chief John Eyong Etchu II was a man of unwavering strength, dignity, and kindness. His warm smile and gentle presence could light up any room. He possessed a wisdom that was only acquired through a lifetime of experiences, and he shared that wisdom generously with everyone around him. His words of guidance and encouragement were like beacons in times of darkness, offering comfort and reassurance.

Chief John Eyong Etchu II had an incredible work ethic, a testament to his strong and firm determination. He taught Cameroonians and members of his family including the people of Bachuo-Akagbe the value of perseverance. After graduating from Queen of the Rosary Primary School Okoyong (1947 to 1953) and St. Paul’s Teachers Training College (1953 to 1955), he took up a career in teaching until 1960 when he disagreed publicly with an Irish Revered Father over the management of Catholic schools and had to leave the Roman Catholic Mission.

Events took a dramatic u-turn for the better and in the 1960 Southern Cameroons National Sports event in Tiko, the young teacher Etchu had an outstanding performance and record. He was advised to join the Youth and Sports department. It was from there that the Police Department came calling!

While at the police training centre in Mutengene, a customs service was created and his superior moved John Etchu over and he finally graduated as a customs officer. He served as a customs brigade officer and had a meteoric rise in the system retiring as a brigade commander.+

Family was the cornerstone of his life, and his love for each and every one of his children, relation and Bachuo-Akagbe citizens was immeasurable. As a family man, he had 3 wives: Christina Tabi (RIP) Emmerencia Arrey and Sophie Bate and was blessed with 22 children- 10 males and 12 females.

Chief John Etchu II had an innate ability to make everyone around him feel special, treasured, and deeply loved. He revealed in everyone’s accomplishments, offering praise and support at every turn. His presence at family and village gatherings brought joy and laughter, filling the room with warmth and happiness. His legacy of love and unity will continue to live on within the Etchu dynasty and the Bachuo-Akagbe Kingdom a testimony to the enduring bond he fostered.

But it wasn’t just his immediate family and the people of Bachuo-Akagbe that felt the warmth of his love. His generosity knew no bounds, and he would go out of his way to help those in need. Whether it was a lending hand, a compassionate ear, or words of encouragement, he made a difference in the lives of so many outside Manyu, leaving behind a ripple effect of kindness that will forever resonate.

We remember His Royal Highness Chief John Etchu II not only for his virtues but also for the memories we as a people shared together. The stories he told both as a Parish Council chairman and a political man. He was CNU Youth President for Manyu Division from 1977 to 1986 and served as a chartered member of the Saint Joseph Parish Council in Mamfe.

We remember His Royal Highness Chief John Etchu II also for the adventures he embarked upon and the laughter he shared will forever be etched in the hearts of many both in Cameroon and even beyond. He had a mischievous sense of humor, always ready with a clever remark or something witty to say that could make even the most somber of occasions light up with laughter. His zest for life was contagious, and he taught his family and friends to savor every moment, to find joy in the simplest of pleasures.

As the Cameroonian nation bids farewell to our beloved Etchu Custom as he was popularly known in Manyu Division, let us remember the lessons he taught us and the love he bestowed upon us even during his trials and tribulations. Enthroned in 1992 and installed on May 18, 1996 he remains the longest serving traditional ruler of the Bachuo-Akagbe kingdom.

Though he may no longer be physically present, his spirit will forever live within us, guiding us in times of need and reminding us to live with compassion, integrity, and love that he demonstrated after May 18, 1994 when he was attacked by armed robbers. That incident left him physically handicapped and he lived with the challenge for the rest of his life.

But the May 18, 1994 incident and the Southern Cameroons uprising never scared him either as he again was on an extensive travel adventure around the globe that took him to Paris, London, New York, Munich, Mulheim and Texas.

In Texas USA, he suffered a stroke and with age telling on him, his health started deteriorating! The Chief was reliably informed that some members of his ruling council back home were already pushing for his replacement as ruler of the Bachuo-Akagbe Kingdom. From his sick bed, he wished them well and breathed his last!!

Born on Wednesday March 12, 1941 in Bachuo-Akagbe village to His Royal Highness Chief Etchu Samuel Smith Agbor I and Olga Bessem Ayuk, the Crown Prince lost his mother at the tender age of 6 and was raised by his father, elder sisters and step mothers.

While we mourn the loss of an extraordinary man, we should also celebrate the life he lived and the impact he made. As we carry his memory forward, let us honor him by embracing the qualities he embodied, by cherishing our loved ones, and by living our lives to the fullest, just as he did.

Rest in peace Chief John Eyong Etchu II! Your legacy will forever be engraved in our hearts. To God and to God alone—be the glory.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

There is a deadly bug spreading across Africa like wildfire. And this time, it is not the coronavirus. It is military coup d’états which have been designed to take down monarchies or incompetent African leaders.

This contagion has moved from Sudan to Mali, spreading to Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and recently to Gabon.

The question now is who is going to be the virus’ next victim; the bug which is causing ineffective African leaders to tremble in their pants?

The bug is relentless in its attack and giving its mutatinality, it has struck fear in many. It is a matter of when it next gets a victim, not if it will attack those who have made themselves unpopular due to their economic and political reasons.

With flu and other contagious infections, people take vaccines to protect themselves, but this new infection in Africa has prompted the leaders of Rwanda, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo Brazzaville to take proactive measures to keep themselves safe by restructuring their security and defense teams.

Following the recent military coup in Gabon, where the reign of the Bongo family was ended after 56 years, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria declared that this is “a contagion of autocracy.”

President Tinubu is only half right. The men in military fatigues who now occupy some presidential palaces in Africa through coups are not democratically elected, have seized power through arms, and are autocrats. But for President Tinubu to consider Omar al-Bashir, Ali Bongo, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and some deposed leaders as representatives of democracy is outright incorrect.

Democracy is more than just elections. Most of the elections held on the continent of Africa are sham elections designed to keep the international community and donors off the backs of African leaders.

In a democratic polity, the government must be created and maintained with the people’s consent, with a clearly defined system of conducting free and fair elections with the citizens encouraged to participate in the political process.

Genuine democracies have a separation of power where authority is not concentrated in the hands of a single individual.

A genuine democracy must have a mechanism for protecting Human Rights and guaranteeing freedom of speech.

Finally, a proper democratic system embodies the rule of law or due process of law where all citizens are accountable to laws publicly passed and equitably enforced by an independent judicial system.

John Stuart Mill argued that democracy gives each person a share of political power, forcing leaders to consider the rights and interests of the wider population.

But this cannot be true of the people in Niger, Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso and most African countries. In politics, we learn that coups will likely happen in unconsolidated democracies where leaders abuse the state apparatus for personal gain. 

One doesn’t have to be a genius to identify the problems facing the countries that have recently had military coups and most of Africa– poverty, inequality, lack of basic infrastructure, non-existent healthcare systems, corruption, poor educational set-up, hopelessness, sky-high youth and adult unemployment, unaffordable food prices, illiteracy, high fertility rate, food insecurity, insecurity, bad governance, frequent power cuts and much more.

 If democracy is a government of the people and for the people, as Lincoln stated, its purpose must be to provide economic benefits, development, and human dignity to its citizens.

Despite the obvious failure of the recently deposed leaders and the political class in Africa to live up to what democracy stands for, some are calling for ECOWAS to intervene in Niger to restore a version of democracy that doesn’t consider the best interests of citizens.

The people clamouring for ECOWAS to intervene militarily in Niger to restore “democracy” are not doing that for Niger or Africa’s interests. A war to restore what ECOWAS and France call democracy in Niger will be a monumental error of judgment and a failure of diplomacy by Nigeria, the regional powerhouse.

President Bola Tinubu has more than enough on his plate in Nigeria and should not fall into the trap of playing to the gallery of the world stage. He has access to a sea of gifted IR scholars and historians in Nigeria; he should listen to their wise counsel.

The imminent challenge for President Tinubu and a few other decent African leaders is to design an immediate and binding architecture for good government in Africa.

Civilian coups through sham elections and presidencies for life through constitutional amendments must be frowned upon and discontinued.

This move will restore confidence in the state governing structure. Until the AU gets member states to sign up to a binding architecture on government for the people, coups will be more frequent in the foreseeable future.

According to Schmitter and Karl, modern political democracy is a system of governance in which citizens hold rulers accountable for their actions in the public realm.

But most African presidents are civilian coup leaders who have never won genuine elections and treat the state as their private property.

Most of them are accomplished kleptocrats who are not responsible to anyone. The celebration of coup leaders in many countries is a massive indictment of the quality of democracy in Africa.

President J F Kennedy observed “that those who possess wealth and power in poor nations must accept their own responsibilities. They must lead the fight for those basic reforms which alone can preserve the fabric of their societies. Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

The tyranny of the minority at the top of governments in Africa is irresponsible and a catalyst for coups. Africans want good infrastructure, education, sound healthcare systems, food and energy security and a responsible state.

Democracy is a fantastic and non-negotiable political concept when appropriately practiced. But Africans must look at the infrastructure miracle, economic development and progress in China over the last 30 years and contemplate that despite the absence of democracy in that country, anyone who can deliver such improvement for Africa would be welcome.

Until democracy is defined and practiced to benefit the people of Africa, military coups are here to stay.

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief, Cameroon Concord News Group

Asu is a researcher and columnist with interests in Public Policy, Economic Development, and Institutions of Democracy in the Developing World. He is a Department of Government, University of Essex graduate, earning a BA in Politics and International Relations, and is pursuing an MA in Public Policy. He is researching and writing his maiden book on Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa and lives in London, UK. Talk back at asu.ashu@yahoo.co.uk

At the heart of democracy is the premise that the governors are accountable to the governed. Harris Soche defines democracy as the people’s government, where the population is the power holder. With this power, the population defends and protects themselves from the tyranny of those in power. This concept underpins liberal democracies around the world. As many African countries gained political independence in the 1960s, the founding fathers had democratic governance at the forefront of how they intended to rule their new nations.

As Nkrumah, Nyerere, Ahidjo, Ahmed Ben Bella, Lumumba and the other giants of Africa were planning to build a united and prosperous Africa with accountability at the heart of it, the colonizers who had been kicked out against their will were plotting to wreck their lofty dreams. The dream of government for the people was killed in Africa after the golden ’60s and ’70s when, one after the other, the colonialists used strongmen to eliminate the founding fathers. From Nkrumah to Lumumba, from Ahmed Ben Bella to Agostinho Neto, through violent coups and dubious and brutal assassinations, politicians who had the best interest of their nations and Africa in mind were replaced by political strongmen.

These strongmen are bloodthirsty and experts at projecting fear. Terror is their tool. They are incredibly clever at their game; hire political consultants to run their machinery and work to design more effective instruments of control while acting like people who love democracy. Strongmen are manipulators who pretend to be humble servants of the people, while their main goal is to exploit political power for their gains. Strongmen ruled their countries uninterrupted with blessings from Western capitals for decades with nothing productive to show. Mobutu Seseseko ruled Zaire with an iron fist and without sentiments for 27 years. Before he was deposed in 1997 during a civil war, he had more money in his private Swiss bank accounts than his country’s official reserves.

Omar Bongo was another strongman who ruled oil-rich Gabon for over 42 years from 1967 till his death in 2009. Like all strongmen, Bongo was a crude and malicious political operator who tolerated no opposition and bled the oil-rich country’s treasury dry to enrich his 54 children. Today, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Teodoro Obiang Nguema are two strongmen who have ruled for 41 and 44 years, respectively, with citizens of both oil-rich countries poorer now than when these leaders came to power more than four decades ago.

As the world changed politically and economically in the 1990s, Western nations and others benefitted from globalization and the internet miracle. Consequently, the drums for multiparty politics around Africa were louder, and strongmen became imaginative and accepted multiparty politics in their countries. This move was designed to keep international aid agencies and institutions like the IMF and the World Bank quiet as foreign aid was now linked to democratic reforms.

Since the 90s, strongmen have claimed to accept democracy as a system of government in their countries, but their instincts and actions have been otherwise. These leaders profess democratic norms but preside over oppressive and unaccountable regimes. They organize elections to keep the eyes of international donors away from them. These elections have all fallen short of democratic standards, and these countries’ constitutions have constantly been amended to suit the demands of these political entrepreneurs.

Strongmen never leave the political stage alive. Consequently, as they die in power, they leave leadership vacuums. And nowhere is that more profound than in Gabon, where yesterday, August 30th 2023, the army launched a successful coup that ended the Bongo family clamp on power. Ali Bongo became president in 2009 after his father died. His election in 2009 was rigged, and his reelection in 2016 against Jean Ping was substantially disputed as he won with less than 5,000 votes. The post-election violence saw many people killed by the security forces. In 2018, President Bongo suffered a stroke and has been going around his business with a walking stick to support his paralyzed frame. However, he was a candidate in the recent presidential election on August 26th, 2023—the coup leaders point to this disputed election as their motive to restore democratic and constitutional order in the country.

The story of Gabon, like many countries in Africa, is one that strongmen have destroyed. According to the World Bank, Gabon has a population of 2.5 million, and the real GDP per capita is 20% lower in 2020 than in 1990, and 30% of its citizens live below the $5.50 per day poverty line. This is astounding as the country is extremely rich in natural resources, and the soil is fertile with excellent weather for agriculture. Still, poverty is an unwanted and ever-present companion of the population.

Today in Gabon, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and many parts of Africa, thousands celebrate with the army after coups not because they despise civilian rule and don’t want democracy. Democracy is not a perfect experiment and has flaws. Around Africa, people are acutely aware that despite its flaws, a government of the people is better than men in military fatigues. Still, the reign of strongmen in Africa over the last six decades has brought more misery than happiness. And at this juncture, anything is better than civilian strongmen. These are sad days for Africa, but the future can’t be bleaker than the past.

By Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group