Editorial

20, January 2017

African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights releases statement on the situation in Cameroon ⁰

Press Release on the Human Rights Situation in Cameroon Following strike actions of Lawyers, Teachers and Civil Society

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) continues to follow closely the deteriorating human rights situation in Cameroon, State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter) caused by the ongoing protests in the English speaking North West and South West regions of the country.

The Commission’s Country Rapporteur for Cameroon and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Hon. Commissioner Reine Alapini-Gansou, is deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Cameroon, in particular: killings of civilians; the deployment of armed military personnel, special security forces (BIR) and war machines to these two regions; the disproportionate and deathly use of force and violence to dispel peaceful and unarmed Lawyers, Teachers, Students, civilians and protesters in Bamenda, Buea and Kumba; the raping of students in Buea; the arbitrary arrests, detention and merciless beatings orchestrated by the police, gendarmerie, military and the BIR following strikes and protests that have been going on since October 2016.

The Special Rapporteur has received information that the strikes and protests are allegedly provoked by what has been dubbed, “the Anglophone problem,” due to discontented Anglophone Lawyers, Teachers and Civil Society in English speaking Cameroon legitimately and peacefully seeking a halt to: the gradual, but systematic destruction and obliteration of the Common Law Legal System and the Anglosaxon System of Education; the marginalisation and neglect by the administration of Cameroon of the two English speaking regions of Cameroon; and the return to Federal system of governance.

The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned about the alleged deaths of more than nine (9) Cameroonians during the protests in Bamenda, Buea and Kumba, and the allegations that the Government is planning mass arrest, kidnappings and assassination of leaders of Lawyers’ associations, Teachers’ unions, Civil Society and human rights defenders as a means to thwart the Anglophone cause.

The Special Rapporteur condemns very strongly the alleged use of disproportionate force against civilians, the violent and deathly suppression of peaceful demonstrators and calls on the Government of the Republic of Cameroon to:

Investigate the alleged killings, rapes, inhumane treatment and human rights violations on peaceful protesters by the riot Police, elements of the gendarmerie, the military and the (BIR) in Bamenda, Buea and Kumba;
Immediately end the alleged violence against civilians and take necessary steps to ensure that the human rights of its citizens and all its inhabitants are respected;
Uphold the right to freedom of expression, assembly, the right to peaceful protest and ensure the security of its citizens, as provided by the African Charter;
Cease all arbitrary arrests and detention; and
Release all individuals unlawfully arrested during the protest.

The Special Rapporteur would like to remind the Cameroonian authorities of their obligations to guarantee fundamental rights, including the right to life, the right to freedom of assembly, association and expression as well as the right to self-determination as provided in Articles 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 20 of the African Charter.

The Special Rapporteur also calls on the international Community to look into the matter and support the Government of Cameroon in the peaceful resolution of the “Anglophone problem”; by encouraging genuine and inclusive dialogue between the Government of Cameroon and the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers, Teachers, and Civil society in the Anglophone regions and other such bodies established to resolve the issue.

The Special Rapporteur will continue to monitor developments in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon and calls on the African Union to contribute towards the effective realization of human and peoples’ rights in the country as a whole.

Done in Banjul-The Gambia

Honourable Commissioner Reine Alapini-Gansou

Country Rapporteur for Cameroon and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa

19, January 2017

Banning the Consortium and the SCNC: A desperate kick of a dying horse ²

This so-called Ministerial order banning the SCNC and the Consortium of Southern Cameroons Civil Society Organizations is a desperate kick of a dying horse. This desperate move is not new. Southern Cameroonians have lived with this since the annexation and colonization of our territory in 1961. Southern Cameroonians have resisted colonial governance through dictatorial fiat and the ongoing popular revolt against colonial rule and bestiality are but an irrevocable step towards regaining our freedom. We have lived under a permanent state of emergency in our territory since 1961 and the so-called Ministerial Order in context tacitly affirms that. But the egregious violations like abductions, assassinations and all forms of crimes against humanity did not drive us underground even under Babatoura Ahidjo and Forchive. On the contrary, the coercive methods they deployed against us convinced even those who were born into colonial rule and skeptics that life under colonial rule is simply unacceptable and impossible. The liberating spirit of freedom which our ancestors endured and which we inherited must not be frightened into submission.

A regime that invites the Consortium into purported negotiations and failing to bribe or intimidate them to betray the popular aspiration of the people they were mandated to represent is itself living on life-support. It is on life support because it no longer has the pleasure and benefit of time or the hitherto docility of its own emasculated citizens to realize its desperate goals. The requests made by the Consortium that are cited in the so-called Ministerial Order banning the Consortium were made within the context of the supposed negotiation convened by the government of La Republique. What a responsible government would have done would have been to provide a reply to the requests made within the context of the purported negotiations. To ban and abduct a negotiating party on the basis of proposals made within that context of a negotiation in which it is party and indeed convened the meeting, and on the basis of legitimate actions taken within the context of the issues in contention is criminal and indeed an act of state terror.

The purporting banning of the Consortium is null and void ab initio and no legal consequences whatsoever. The purported baning and abductions must therefore be condemned worldwide and the abducted persons and all other Southern Cameroonians abducted prior to and during the ongoing resistance unconditionally released.

The supposed ban of the SCNC is laughable. The SCNC has litigated cases with La Republique du Cameroun internationally. At the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the SCNC, SCAPO and SCYL litigated the Southern Cameroons Case and La Republique du Cameroun accepted the outcome of the case and in writing, accepted to abide by the decision of African Leaders for a resort to dialogue under the supervision of the African Commission to discuss constitutional arrangements aimed at resolving the Southern Cameroons issue.

The fact that La Republique has so far not submitted itself to the decision of the AU long after the extension of time it sought does not invalidate its acceptance of the outcome of the case. The SCNC has an international status and has been recognized as such, including by La Republique du Cameroun. Curiously, the purported decision banning the SCNC does not refer to any specific legal instruments indicating that it had at any time sought legal status or legitimacy from a colonial contraption it has always rejected. The SCNC has and will always operate in the territory of the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia and will never ever be driven underground at the threshold of success when previous attempts failed and failed woefully.

One act of panic on the part of the neo-colonial contraption aimed at frightening the Southern Cameroons to capitulate was the meeting of CEMAC countries summoned on or about the 23 December 2016 at the heart of the resistance purportedly to discuss matters relating to the colonial currency, the Franc CFA. The real purpose of that meeting had nothing to do with the colonial currency but intended by the humiliating presence of two French colonial representatives to send warning signals to the Southern Cameroons not to mess up with the French colonial economy within our territory.

Again the banning of the Consortium and the SCNC and the abduction of the Chairman of the Consortium, distinguished President of Fako Lawyers Association and Vice President of the African Bar Association Barrister Agbor Nkongho and others only a few days after the anniversary of the assassination of Ernest Ouandie whose assassination on 15 January, 1971 provided a pretext to impose a state of emergency under which the Yes /Oui fraudulent referendum was conducted on 20 May 1972 was intended again to frighten us and force us underground.

Again this is a miscalculation for this time around, fear has changed sides as HRM Fon Gorgi Dinka prophetically said many years ago. The ongoing resistance of the Southern Cameroons against colonial rule, oppression, injustice and bestiality will be determined by a number of factors all which are on our side: Justice, history, resilience, and time. The glorious days of colonial rule are in the past. Only the sovereign will of the people in the exercise of their right to self-determination will determine our fate and not force and the abusive use of force. The people have taken control of their destiny and there is no looking back under any cowardly use of force against armless and peaceful people.

Chief Charles A. Taku

18, January 2017

“The Problem with the Cameroons” ²

The arrest of the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and the shutting down of internet services in West Cameroon by the Biya Francophone regime has served as a major boost to Southern Cameroonians advocating for an independent West Cameroon state. Cameroon Concord News does not want any Anglophone to feel left behind of the happenings that matter in Southern Cameroons. Our contributing editor Barrister Shufai Blaise Sevidzem Berinyuy in this soul-searching article says the liberation of Southern Cameroons is highly regarded and facts remain the vital tool in achieving victory:

The problem with the Cameroons to my mind is falsehood and spiritual wickedness in high places. The government of La Republique du Cameroun tells a lot of lies and seems to truly believe its lies. The country can never stand because it is built on lies and maintained by a desperate and very costly attempt to sustain the falsehood at all costs.

The history of the country has been thoroughly falsified. Everybody seems to overlook the impact of the falsehood and it will never triumph over truth. This history has been erroneous to the extent that even legal minds tend to believe that there was a valid and subsisting federation in the Cameroons between 1961 -1972 whereas what obtained was a gigantic fraud orchestrated by the government of President Ahmadou Ahidjo against the gullible and unsuspecting leaders of the Southern Cameroons under Premier John Ngu Foncha in 1961. Ahidjo and La Republique du Cameroun carefully put in place an undeclared hidden agenda to systematically annex and assimilate The Southern Cameroons over time. This is what happened;

When the Second World War ended, the United Nations Organization (UNO) was created to take over the role hitherto played by the League of Nations to safeguard world peace and stability in the comity of nations. The Mandates System of the League of Nations under which former German colonies were administered by members of the League of Nations came to an end in October 1947 when the United Nations Trusteeship Council was created as an organ of the UNO to oversee the various European powers administer and prepare the said former colonies for independence. As part of the said Trusteeship System, France was given The United Nations Trust Territory of French Cameroons whilst Britain was Given the UN Trust Territory of British Cameroons.

The British Cameroons was divided for administrative convenience into two territories (British Northern Cameroons which was administered from Kaduna as part of the Northern Region of Nigeria and British Southern Cameroons which was administered from Enugu as part of the Eastern Region of Nigeria).

In 1954, there was a crisis in the Eastern House of Assembly at Enugu that caused the representatives of the Southern Cameroons in the said Eastern House of Assembly to withdraw from there and come home to Buea where they set up the Southern Cameroons House of Assembly. Britain, the administrative authority quickly gave its blessings to their plight and a parliamentary system of government with a bi-camera assembly akin to what obtained in Great Britain was put in place with an elected Prime Minister who was Head of Government´s business and a cabinet of ministers appointed from the House of Representatives by the Queen of England who handled issues of sovereignty like Foreign Affairs, Defense, Police and currency. There was a Constitution for the territory known as The Southern Cameroons Constitution Orders in Council. Sovereignty was then still vested with the Queen (administrative authority). Dr EML Endeley was the first Prime Minister from 1954 – 1958 when he was defeated in a free and fair elections by John Ngu Foncha to whom he handed power gracefully and sat in House of Assembly as leader of the opposition.

In October 1959 the UNO General Assembly passed Resolution 1541 setting a deadline for immediate independence of all colonial territories under trusteeship in 1960. The British ironically complained that the British Southern Cameroons was not ready for independence having been administered from Nigeria with most of the Civil Service, Police and other staff coming from Nigeria and so with their mafia, the UN Resolution got modified and the notion of independence by joining either Nigeria or former French Cameroons that had just obtained independence on 1^st January 1960 was crafted. Meanwhile, French Cameroons got its independence on 1^st January 1960 and was admitted into the UNO as member on in 1960 with its territory clearly mapped out, frozen and her flag, Coat of Arms and articles of state which did not include the territory of Southern Cameroons which though quasi autonomous with bi-camera parliament and government under an elected Prime Minister, was still a trust territory of the UNO under Britain.

Meantime campaigns raged in British Cameroons as to independence by joining either independent Nigeria or La Republique du Cameroun. The third option spearheaded by PM Kale with the support of scholars like Fr Paul Verdzekov (then Curate in Catholic Mission Bota) who had just returned from studies in Ireland and Soborne in France was unpopular and muzzled out. Hence the plebiscite was organized on the 11^th February 1961 under the auspices of the UNO with the publication of the pamphlet entitled The Two Alternatives which clearly spelt out the terms of either eventual union. Voting was done separately in Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons and as was secretly planned by the British, Northern Cameroons voted to join Nigeria while Southern Cameroons voted for union with La Republique du Cameroun.

To give meaning to and settle the issues of the plebiscite results, the UNO General Assembly passed Resolution 1608 of 21^st April 1961 which further clarified the conditions under which the respective federations would be constituted on the basis of equality. Thereafter Northern Cameroons pursuant to the same Resolution got independence by joining Nigeria on 22^nd June 1961 while the Southern Cameroons was to have its own independence from Britain on 1^st October 1961. It must be underlined here that the Northern Cameroons that went to Nigeria got partitioned into two regions within the Nigerian federation and never acceded to Self government with an elected Premier and House of Assembly like the Southern Cameroons from 1954 when they rioted and left the Eastern House of Assembly at Enugu and consequently has undergone a peculiar political evolution and development as part of Nigeria.

As soon as the territory was thus partitioned by the UNO that created the trusteeship system, President Ahmadou Ahidjo of La Republique conceived his fraudulent, grand plan to systematically annex and assimilate the British Southern Cameroons which he announced at the UNC (CNU) Party Congress in Ebolowa in 1961 how part of their territory which was estranged had come back to the motherland.

June 22^nd 1961 – British Northern Cameroons obtains independence and becomes part of independent Federal Republic of Nigeria while British Southern Cameroons is still under UN Trusteeship waiting for midnight 30^th September when trusteeship would end so she becomes independent and joins La Republique du Cameroun in a UN sponsored federation “…equal in status” as per UNGA Resolution 1608 of 21/04/1961.

July 1961 – La Republique du Cameroun conceives draft Bill to change name of country to “Republique Federale du Cameroun” and allegedly smuggles bill to John Ngu Foncha who does not reveal same to Southern Cameroons House of Representatives nor government that he headed.

July 1961 – Ahidjo organizes Foumban Constitutional Conference where the draft Bill for federal constitution was to be debated but unfortunately the conference ends in disarray without any Resolution.

August 24^th-25^th, 1961 – the Draft Bill for Federal Republic of Cameroun is debated and adopted in the parliament of La Republique du Cameroun only. Neither House of Representatives, House of Chiefs nor Government of The Southern Cameroons who had voted to join them were consulted.

1^st September 1961 – President Ahmadou Ahidjo by virtue of powers granted him by the constitution of La Republique du Cameroun promulgates the adopted draft Bill into Law No L/F/01 of 01/09/1961 on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroun which immediately goes operational in his country whilst the Southern Cameroons is still under UN Trusteeship with The Southern Cameroons Constitution Orders in Council as our own governing law under the British Crown and Union Jack.

30^th September 1961 – at the Tiko international Airport in the afternoon, while Southern Cameroons was still under UN Trusteeship that was to expire at midnight for the territory to achieve independence and join La Republique du Cameroon, Ahidjo comes for official visit, the Union Jack is lowered and the Two Stars Flag of La Republique du Cameroun is hoisted, Ahidjo inspects Guard of Honour mounted by the remaining British soldiers and Ikeja trained Police, Ahidjo is thus handed The Southern Cameroons illegally and prematurely by J O Fields (last Commissioner)who waves Good Bye, enters the plane and goes off to England.

1^st October 1961 – Ahmadou Ahidjo, Head of State of the Federal Republic of Cameroon and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces

– Had already sent his troops to occupy Buea and Bamenda

– appoints John Ngu Foncha an elected Prime Minister as Vice President of the Federal Republic with office and fabulous salary/allowances in Yaounde.

– appoints J C Ngoh as Federal Inspector of Administration answerable to the president and with more powers than the elected Prime Minister of West Cameroon.

– Signs Decree in 1962 extending Terrorism Law of La Republique du Cameroun to West Cameroon to give legal cover to arrest and incarcerate political opponents like Nde Tumazah, Albert Mukong, Peter Banfegha etc of the UPC and One Kamerun party stock who were still enjoying liberties in West Cameroon.

– 1966 – One party system is rammed down throats of Southern Cameroonians who had managed a vibrant multiparty system with multiple free and fair elections since 1954.

– 1968 – Augustine Ngom Jua another elected Prime Minister of West Cameroon (never appointed Vice President of Federation) is sacked ignominiously whilst addressing parliament in Buea and replaced with S.T Muna

– 1970 – S.T Muna is appointed Federal Vice President whilst J.N Foncha is appointed Grand chancellor of National Orders (whatever that means).

– 20^th May 1972 – hoax of Referendum is organized to create United Republic of Cameroon, sovereignty is vested with the President who creates 7 Provinces dividing West Cameroon into South West and North West Provinces respectively making sure that seeds of division are sowed, watered and nurtured between them and sponsoring VIKUMA (Victoria, Kumba, Mamfe alliance against the NW).

– 1^st February 1984 – Paul Biya signs decree resurrecting the erstwhile Republique du Cameroun which had only gone into abeyance with the illegal imposition of the Federal Constitution on the UN Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons.

– 1992 – High Court of Bamenda in Judgment No HCB/28/92 per Justice FOMBE Richard, between The State of Southern Cameroons alias Ambazonia & 2 Ors Vs La Republique Du Cameroun & 1Or declared the administration of La Republique du Cameroun illegal over the Southern Cameroons territory … (judge is subsequently killed and Case File has disappeared).

– May 2009 – Notwithstanding the existing illegality, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) in Communication 266/2003 dated 27/05/2009 between Kevin Ngwang Gumne, SCNC & SCAPO Vs Cameroon wherein the special tribunal of the African Union held that Southern Cameroonians are a distinct people different from citizens of La Republique du Cameroun and recommended Constructive Dialogue between La Republique du Cameroun and the peoples of the Southern Cameroons. In fact when the leader of the Cameroon delegation (Dr Dione Ngute) raised the issue of them being tried in the military tribunal because they were terrorists, the court asked him whether terrorists go to court and he was dumbfounded. In fact this same recognition was made by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Communication 1134/2002 dated 17/03/2005 between Fon Fongum Gorji Dinka Vs Cameroon as well as in the very recent Communication 1813/2003 dated December 2014 between Ebenezer Derek Mbongo Akwanga Vs Cameroon wherein the UNHRC went ahead to award damages in the sum of US$3.445.904 against the Defendants.

– The recommendations for constructive dialogue between the two peoples of La Republique du Cameroun and the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) by both the African Union and the UNO Secretary General Koffi A. Annan has been roundly frustrated with impunity and utmost disdain by Paul Biya’s La Republique du Cameroun and everybody seems so helpless!!

– It must also be underlined here that while it was legal and legitimate for the Draft Bill for the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroun to be debated only in the parliament of La Republique du Cameroun and then promulgated into law by their president Ahmadou Ahidjo and implemented in their territory, it remains a gigantic fraud and illegality for that Federal Constitution and ALL OTHER SUBSEQUENT LEGISLATION and practice deriving from it to be implemented in the territory of the Southern Cameroons(Ambazonia). A law that was adopted and promulgated without our consent should not be implemented on us. This happens to be one of the principal causes of the American War of Independence, the principle of NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. How can a law adopted for example, in parliament of Nigeria be implemented on Cameroon!!!!

– By the same argument should Southern Cameroons continue to pay taxes and sponsor a government that rather than build roads, schools and hospitals sends armed police and gendarmes to torture, maim, rape and even kill innocent armless school children? Do we suffer with children like this only for them to get to the University and be tortured, maimed, raped and killed by armed troops of La Republique du Cameroun? Why the carnage as if we were conquered in War?

– Etc …

PUZZLES:

Help me find answers to following puzzles;

Ø Was it correct by any stretch of imagination for President Ahmadou Ahidjo of La Republique du Cameroun after adopting a federal constitution in his country, promulgating same into law and applying same in his country from 1^st September 1961 to unilaterally impose same constitution on the British Southern Cameroons as from 1^st October 1961?

Ø Was there any legal basis for the alleged Federal Republic of Cameroon that included the territory of former British Southern Cameroons?

Ø Considering the United Nations Charter, was it legal or legitimate for La Republique du Cameroun a member state since 1960 to simply extend its territory to include the territory of the UN Trust Territory of British Southern Cameroons even after the Plebiscite without a priori depositing a signed Treaty of Union with such a territory in the Secretariat of the UNO as mandatorily required by Art 102(1) of the UNO Charter?

Ø Is there any legal basis for the governance of the British Southern Cameroons territory by respective Governments of Presidents Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya since 1961 till today?

Ø Was the imposition of the Constitution of La Republique du Cameroun on the peace loving people of the Southern Cameroons from 1^st October 1961 not an Act of Annexation pure and simple that is roundly condemned at international law?

Ø Is there any difference between what La Republique du Cameroun did in October 1961 and the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq?

Ø Is it not crystal clear that there was an illegal mafia arrangement or conspiracy, in fact a slave deal involving Britain our administering authority and the UNO on the one hand and France and La Republique du Cameroun on the other hand wherein instead of granting independence to the Southern Cameroons trust territory in conformity with mandatory provisions of Art. 176 (b) of UN Charter on 1^st October 1961 before the joining they handed us illegally and prematurely to Ahmadou Ahidjo at the Tiko international Airport (since closed down) on 30^th September 1961?

Ø Can this problem be resolved peacefully without the UNO and the British coming back to complete and rectify (in conformity with international legality) the decolonization of Southern Cameroons that they thwarted?

Ø In the alternative since liberty and justice is priceless, must The Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia as many citizens want it to be called) engage in an avoidable War of independence against La Republique du Cameroun before the the UNO, Britain and the international community can give value to the UNO Charter and the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights?

Ø So preventive diplomacy becomes an empty slogan when it comes to basic truth as in the case of the Southern Cameroons?

You will definitely bear with me that everything that has happened in the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) since 1^st October 1961 remains an absolute illegality until the independence and sovereignty of the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) shall have been resurrected. The fight for legality, truth and justice is a just cause for which every sacrifice is worth it and shall find justification. WE SHALL OVERCOME!!!

By Barrister Shufai Blaise Sevidzem Berinyuy

Taku Chambers Buea

15, January 2017

Goodbye Fru Ndi, Welcome Wirba Joseph ³

Ni John Fru Ndi has finally twisted SDF policy into an odd shaped pretzel of contradictions, telling an undercover news reporter that the appointment of a Francophone as the party’s Secretary General was a political strategy while informing Southern Cameroonians that the marginalization of Anglophones by La Republique du Cameroun is a violation of basic human rights and the constitution that was adopted in 1961.

To be sure, the most pressing challenge that Ni John Fru Ndi faces at the moment, however, is the threat to his party’s existence and his own identity as a political figure. Fru Ndi has finally revealed himself as a celebrated bribe taker from La Republique and by extrapolation, the French. The SDF Chairman was quick to hold protest rallies in Bamenda and Buea observing that the SDF stand firmly with the Anglophone leaders and the Southern Cameroons people in ensuring that West Cameroonians gain back their legal, educational and political systems.

But some few days later Fru Ndi who had never allowed anyone from East Cameroon to run the secretariat of the so-called main opposition party in Cameroon appointed a Francophone to be the SDF’s new Secretary General. When reminded of the timing of the appointment and that (He) Fru Ndi orchestrated a boycott of French products, Fru Ndi shied away and insulted the journalist.

The recent Fru Ndi telephone conversation has finally betrayed the unprecedented, but fledgling supply of huge financial resources by a cadre of President Biya agents in the political, diplomatic and military sectors of the country to the SDF leadership. So, West Cameroonians are now fully aware that Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi’s peaceful march in Bamenda and Buea were teleguided from Etoudi with the ill-disguised aim to continue to exert enormous pressure on Anglophones to concede to La Republique’s terms.

It is abundantly clear that the current Southern Cameroons crisis is a non-partisan uprising, properly managed by a group of respectable Anglophone scholars experienced in international relations and diplomacy. Yet, Fru Ndi and Justice Ayah Paul have been struggling to make the Southern Cameroons revolution their own and have been pushing the members of the Consortium into a corner where the new generation of Anglophone leaders must accept a bad deal for the Southern Cameroons people. The concession of appointing a Francophone as Secretary General of the SDF and Paul Ayah’s vicious attack on the Consortium are happening because of the growing influence of blood money on the old generation of Southern Cameroons leaders.

Biya has used Fru Ndi to put more pressure on the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and it’s very clear the Anglophone leaders have been able to stand up to the pressure. Fru Ndi’s SDF Southern Cameroons policy is racked with incoherence and hypocrisy. It’s very interesting, that as you go around meeting the older generation of Anglophone political elites, you see a double standard.

In other words, what men like Fru Ndi, Ayah Paul and Chief Tabetando are saying is that self determination is a must for citizens in La Republique du Cameroun and for Southern Cameroons, self determination does not apply. Fru Ndi is the leader of the powerful independent lobby that drives La Republiques activities in Southern Cameroons. But the new Anglophone nationalism has put an end to Fru Ndi’s political career. The Chairman should hand over to Hon. Wirba now. Our understanding is that the SDF MP has the charisma to drive the party into the new emerging West Cameroon political structure as will be defined by the Consortium. Good bye Fru Ndi, welcome Wirba.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

14, January 2017

Francophones negotiate in bad faith and then move the goalpost ⁰

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium should be wary of signing agreements with the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime because it has a track record of negotiating in bad faith and then moving the goalpost. Conflicting reports had surfaced that soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) were deployed to force the Anglophone leaders to endorse a document putting an end to the strike action. The leaders responded by appealing for calm.

However, the reaction of Southern Cameroonians in Bamenda where the meeting is holding has once again signaled an urgent need for a major Southern Cameroons Conference. It is evidently clear that 99.9 per cent of Southern Cameroonians no longer want any union with La Republique du Cameroun. Our statistics is based on a poll conducted by reporters of the Cameroon Concord News Group throughout Southern Cameroons territory and even beyond.

We understand the Yaoundé regime is still arresting many Southern Cameroon young men and women and detaining them in Francophone prison centers. Paul Biya and his gang of Francophone political elites have lost control of Anglophone Cameroon and are now planning to impose financial sanctions such as salary cuts and summary dismissal of many Anglophone teachers from the public service amid growing tensions.

Judging from what the members of the Ad Hoc Committee have tabled so far in Bamenda, Southern Cameroons will never get what it wants and La Republique will continue to plunder our resources to the benefit of their own children. The general opinion is that Southern Cameroons should be recognized by the United Nations as a member state. What is actually going on in Bamenda now places some restrictions on this demand.

The suggestion from Minister Fame Ndongo that federalism and other Anglophone demands are political and can only be dealt with by the National Assembly it’s just more proof that you can’t trust the Francophone political elites in negotiations. They are not sincere in their dialogue and they don’t want what they say they want. They want to continue to marginalize Southern Cameroonians.

The Ad Hoc Committee is not fighting to reopen schools because Biya and his Francophone regime cares about Anglophone children. They only care about their children studying in Southern Cameroon schools and the billions of FCFA they are making from students coming in from Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, the Central African Republic and Chad to study in the Universities of Buea and Bamenda.

This is absolutely the reason for the creation of the Ad Hoc Committee. Their job description is to negotiate in bad faith, and then move the goalpost. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group think the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium should be very wary of setting agreements with the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

What the Anglophone leaders need to do is to develop more cooperation with the Southern Cameroons Diaspora and proceed with the restoration of West Cameroon political and economic establishments in concert with the African Union, the UN, EU, US and the United Kingdom so that any kinds of financial sanctions such as the one that took Justice Ayah Paul back to La Republique will be toothless as they have been largely with Sudan against South Sudan, and then Southern Cameroonians will be able to free themselves from this kind of Francophone bullying and blackmailing.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

13, January 2017

All Anglophone Conference is imminent ³

The atrocities of the Francophone army and the numerous meetings held between the so-called Ad Hoc Committee and the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium including the successful civil disobedience campaign that has paralyzed all academic activities in Southern Cameroons have failed to defuse a spiraling political crisis in the United Republic of Cameroon. With no senior Anglophone resignation from the scandal-hit Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government, the time for an All Anglophone Conference is now.

Prime Minister Yang Philemon is reportedly under huge pressure after his Ad Hoc Committee members are implicated in abuses of power ranging from manipulation of the leaders of the Southern Cameroons Consortium, fake press releases and state radio and television apparent cover-up of numerous police killings in Kumba, Buea, Bamenda and Kumbo.

The Anglophone leaders yesterday rejected the sum of 30 million FCFA each from Higher Education Minister, Jacques Fame Ndongo to sanction the resumption of schools in Southern Cameroons. The Ad Hoc Committee opted for another meeting today and this time around with the lawyers.

The meeting with the lawyers comes amid continuing attempts to bribe the leaders and other British Southern Cameroons independent personalities. In these tough days, when Southern Cameroons is in deep political crisis, it is time for all Anglophone members of parliament both from the ruling CPDM and the SDF to resign. Those who have any political affiliation with La Republique du Cameroun should not be allowed to participate in the All Anglophone Conference. We of Cameroon Intelligence Report hope such political action will help in resolving the Anglophone problem.

Understandably, the Francophone political elites caused the crisis with anti reunification behavior currently being teleguided by Biya, Martin Belinga Eboutou and Fame Ndongo. The intelligence services of an unnamed European state is already assisting the Francophone government in Yaoundé and very soon the leaders of the Consortium will be accused of plotting to destabilize the nation.

Biya and his allies are unfit to govern and many suspect this Ad Hoc Committee is a political operation by the Francophone government to divert attention from genuine Anglophone demands. We have gotten intelligence that the Consortium intends to hold an All Anglophone Conference. We welcome it and appeal for the creation of an interim Southern Cameroons House of Assembly comprising those who are presently supervising the strikes actions in all Sub Divisions and Divisional headquarters in the territory.

We suggest that the All Anglophone Conference should not take the old pattern of a free for all like the AAC1 and AAC II. This is because the ruling CPDM crime syndicate might infiltrate the conference, make it turn violent and further destabilize Southern Cameroonians.

This is no time for triumphalism so Fru Ndi, Ayah Paul, Yang Philemon and other highly placed Southern Cameroons CPDM barons should be told that leadership in this struggle is not our ultimate goal. This is just a step towards ending Francophone dominance and marginalization of British Southern Cameroonians.

The Ambassadors from the US, EU, Germany, France, Britain and Italy should be informed about Southern Cameroons government’s commitment to every democratic principles and values stated in the UN Charter.The leaders should bear in mind that any town, village or city in Southern Cameroons can host an All Anglophone Conference not only Buea and Bamenda.

In the Consortium we trust

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

12, January 2017

Trust in Biya is gone, so too is confidence in his appointees ¹

Etoudi is propagating the idea that the various designated mediators sent to Southern Cameroons have failed and that there is an urgent need for the presence of the 83 year old Cameroonian dictator-the man widely believed to have plunged the nation into its present state of confused identity. The pro Yaounde politicians are insinuating that Paul Biya’s presence could be an effective solution for things to return to normal in the South West and North West regions. It is not true. What is true is that Biya has lost his chance among the greats.

The failure of dialogue and negotiations cannot be blamed on the Anglophone leaders but on Biya’s pattern of governance. Biya is not only tactless but very reckless and too full of himself. The Anglophone crisis has eventually exposed him. We of this publication can now say loudly and clearly that Biya is a political disaster that has been around for the last 34 years. While the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has been consistently consistent with their demands and actions, Biya and his entire CPDM crime syndicate have been caught committing the same errors or falling into spectacular new ones.

To be sure, even primary school pupils of British Southern Cameroons including those of La Republique du Cameroun have come to the conclusion that there is just no one to challenge the Consortium. So, tribalism has made Paul Biya to end as a prominent and successful failure. Schools in the South West and North West have not resumed as articulated by a certain Ghogomu Mingo and the anti Anglophone Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo. Minister Atanga Njie is hiding!! So too are all CPDM political actors from the defunct South West and North West regions. Justice Ayah Paul is seeking for notice. However, it is evident; schools will only open their doors if the Anglophone problem is resolved.

Given the current situation, no glimmer of hope is envisaged for a return to normal in the coming days if Biya does not step aside or personally engage the new generation of Anglophone leaders. Reviewing of government strategy will change nothing. British Southern Cameroonians have had enough of this Francophone bad faith and marginalization. The Prime Minister and Head of Government could not do anything, cabinet ministers, Senators, MPs and Mayors either. Jean Kueté, the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the ruling CPDM party was almost lynched in Bamenda after an unsuccessful attempt to hold a political meeting.

A frustrated Biya has come to understand that his 34 years as head of state has been because of the goodwill of the Cameroonian people not the army or the gendarmerie. The regime is now aware that the North West/ South West Divide tactics is a thing of the past. Yaoundé is also well informed that the cast of the men called to lead the talks were unpopular citizens in their respective constituencies. The pronouncements that came out of some cabinet ministers namely, Laurent Esso, Fame Ndongo, Atanga Njie and Issa Tchiroma Bakary made the situation moved from bad to worse.

The Yaoundé regime underestimated the Consortium and described them using a battery of adjectives. But our teachers, lawyers, Okada men, business community, Anglophone Roman Catholic Bishops including some right thinking CPDM political elites are now reading from the same script. To God be the Glory. To Biya’s greatest surprise, the Consortium has become so powerful to the extent that if the Anglophone leaders decide to request the release of Chief Inoni and Fonjindam-they will get it done in one second!! We of this group are appealing to the Consortium not to forget the Wum detainees. It was in Wum in Menchum Division where it all started. This is strength you get when you involve the common man in any political struggle. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are proud to surrender our loyalty to The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Contrary to what many are thinking today that the only one able to solve the Anglophone Problem in Cameroon is the President of the Republic. We believe that Biya will only be among the Francophone representatives in the presence of the United Nations and African Union envoys to map out the way forward for the two territories. Trust in Biya is gone, so too is confidence in his appointees. Only a neutral third body can mediate between us and them.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

11, January 2017

There are reasons why the Consortium should snub Garga Haman Adji ⁰

Cameroon Concord News is calling on the leaders of the Consortium not to hold any talks with the so-called special envoy of President Paul Biya, Garga Haman Adji. Garga pretends to be a nationalist but carries with him anti Anglophone sentiments. Such an expired Francophone politician should never in the first place be designated to break the deadlock in the ongoing crisis rocking the two English speaking regions.

His trip to Bamenda on Tuesday January 10, 2017 remains a primitive and cheap design by the 83 year old Right Royal President to continue to snub Southern Cameroonians. We understand, Garga Haman met with members of the Consortium in a briefing before heading to the governor’s office where he held talks with his Francophone brother, Adolphe LELE L’AFRIQUE.

Even though nothing filtered out of the two briefings, Garga Haman reportedly sounded positive to some media gurus and observed that all will be well. For those who do not know, Garga Haman resigned from the Biya regime as Minister of State Control and declared his support for Ni John Fru Ndi in the presidential elections of 1992.

Gargo told the world that his decision was because Fru Ndi had a 2 year transition program. Intelligence later revealed that Garga had mustered a group of Nordists to flush out Fru Ndi and take power back to the North. At Yaounde Hilton Hotel, when Fru Ndi and the Union for Change could no longer be an item in 1994, Garga Haman held a press conference and insulted every Anglophone personality including Ni John Fru Ndi.

How could a man whose house in Yaounde was attacked by CPDM militia in 1992 after the proclamation of the presidential election and whose cars were burnt and could only transport his children to school using a car that was given to him by an Anglophone, the late Dr Ben AgborBessong demonstrated such a frightful and unloving attitude towards Anglophones? We can now reveal that Garga Haman belongs to that generation of Francophones who see Anglophones as second class citizens.

His visit is also to make a mockery of Prime Minister Yang Philemon efforts and to inform the international community that the PM and his Director of Cabinet failed to solve the on-going Southern Cameroons crisis. His nomination as the President Biya’s special envoy came shortly after the head of State’s end of year message to the Nation on December 31, 2016. What we of Cameroon Concord News are saying is simply that the Southern Cameroons Problem is not a CPDM/SDF kind of affair. It cannot be resolved by appointing a South Westerner as Prime Minister as the regime is planning to do. The problems cannot be solved by sending highly placed civil servants and Francophone government officials to Southern Cameroons.

The late Amadou Ahidjo met with a teacher and a lawyer in Foumban to agree on reunification matters, Biya should travel to Buea or Bamenda and meet with that teacher and that lawyer of the Consortium and seek a way forward. It is no longer an issue of Head of State and common teachers and obscure lawyers!! It is that Southern Cameroonians have handed over leadership of their territory to the Consortium and whosoever is going by that name La Republique du Cameroun and who genuinely wants a One and Indivisible Cameroon, should and must speak to The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Several meetings with the Anglophone Leaders and the Ad hoc Committee have ended in a deadlock. The Garga Mission to us is a waste of Anglophone time. Barrister Agbor Felix Nkongho, President of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC, told the media that they are ready for dialogue but insisted that the remaining 20 youths be released. It is not yet clear whether the Consortium will agree to dialogue with Garga Haman Adji. We of Cameroon Concord News think that the Southern Cameroons Problem is bigger than any Francophone personality and that only Paul Biya should head any meaningful dialogue.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

10, January 2017

Southern Cameroons Civil Disobedience: THIS IS WHAT OUR CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN ⁰

Let’s teach the children that today’s act of civil disobedience is the ultimate expression of their power over the dictator Biya and his coterie of corrupt ministers.

Let’s tell our children, that this act of civic education- of boycotting school, to demand accountability from an insensitive government is what developed countries have done to become developed.

Let’s teach our children that true education is an outgrowth of the needs of society, and that even the best education in a society where one is treated as a second-class citizen only diminishes one’s self-esteem.

Let’s teach our children that the ultimate purpose of education is to mould a free individual, who can think critically, and that having the best education and remaining under bondage is a negation of that education.

Let’s teach our children that the best education is the attainment of self-government where we can decide how far we want to go, and not forced to live in a system where we can only aspire to play second fiddle.

Let’s give our children historical examples where students stayed away from school for a year, and gained the right to earn a substantively richer education, through the use of cutting edge technology that is available in more open societies.

Let’s take advantage of this teachable moment empower our children to aspire to a genuine education that no despotism can enslave.

By Larry Eyong

9, January 2017

Happy Ghost Town to All Southern Cameroonians: Let this spirit continue ⁰

Since 2016 Southern Cameroons has been experiencing a wave of anti-government protests unleashed by hatred for the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime. Anglophone Cameroonians say Francophones have taken over their country and were systematically destroying their Anglo-Saxon heritage. Many people have been killed in Kumba, Bamenda, Buea and Kumbo.

Anti-government demonstrations rocked the Universities of Buea and Bamenda. It was followed by an industrial action staged by Common Law Lawyers and the Anglophone Teachers Trade Unions. Thousands of demonstrators went on to the streets calling on the Yaounde regime to embrace political reform and to stop killing protesters. Southern Cameroonians also demanded the release of all those arrested and respect for justice and the rule of law. However, the response from the Francophone dominated security forces, which used live ammunition against protesters, led to the death of many unarmed people.

Although the government security apparatus reported that the demonstrations had been contained and the 83 year Head of State described the protesters as “extremist and manipulators”, the current political situation in British Southern Cameroons has become volatile. Our intelligence officers have all reported that things are fast changing and developments have become increasingly unpredictable. The leaders of the various trade unions have metamorphosed into a consortium and are said to be busy devising alternative methods of protest that range from weakening the Francophone government institutions through staying at home and not operating businesses to organizing a Diaspora-based grand solidarity rally. The ghost town being observe today in Southern Cameroons has so far been a huge success.

Some conclusions could be drawn following the failure on the part of the Francophone government to halt the ghost town operation. Firstly, these new generations of Anglophones have lost faith in the ONE Cameroun concept. Secondly, the so-called Anglophone political elites militating with the ruling CPDM party no longer have legitimate authority in Southern Cameroons. And thirdly, Cameroon as a nation has entered its last journey of many dangers.

In Mamfe, a town that hosted the 1953 Conference after the Eastern Regional Crisis at Enugu which eventually paved the way for reunification, Southern Cameroonians refused to sing the national anthem. To be sure, Manyu Division has shut down completely today Monday the 9th of January in support of the Anglophone nationalism. In Mundemba, even the lame and the blind joined in anti La Republique protest. In Kumba, Buea, Bamenda and Kumbo where the first demonstrations took place, residents have resorted to a new mode of protest – staying at home. The streets of all major towns and cities in Southern Cameroons are now deserted and workers are staying at home and business remained closed.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group understand that Southern Cameroonians have opted for this type of protest because their leaders demanded an answer from the Francophone government, but the response was one of bullets in return. This peaceful ghost town method of protest demonstrates a complete rejection of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime by Southern Cameroonians. The ghost town protest is an indication of the increasing maturity of the leaders of the Consortium.

The Yaounde regime is planning to blocked internet connection and access to social media tools. But some experts have argued that this may attract the use of proxy servers. Cameroun’s Minister of Communications and government spokesman has repeatedly claimed that that social media had been used to churn out false information, mostly seditious remarks, trying to agitate people against security forces. There are growing numbers of Anglophone news websites all supporting the creation of a Southern Cameroons state.

Cameroon government receives billions of dollars annually from international donors and has remained a key strategic partner of the West, particularly the US and the French, in the ‘war against Boko Haram terror. This financial support has been toughening the regime’s resolve to silence Anglophone dissenting voices. The French and the US approach of tiptoeing around human right violations in Cameroun and its continued support for the Biya regime has been stirring up anger among even Francophone sections of the country. The US, the EU including the Roman Catholic Church are supporting a regime – which they know is clearly undemocratic and is the very cause of the state terrorism we now observe in Southern Cameroons.

Ever since the police atrocities in Bamenda, Buea Kumba and Kumbo, no pressure has been put on the regime to allow for credible investigation into the rapes and killings. Not a single UN official has demanded access to visit the affected areas to establish what really happened in Southern Cameroons. Minister Issa Tchiroma is always ready to inform international public opinion that the government has its own system of checks and balances and that Cameroun’s own Human Rights Commission was doing its job in investigating and publicizing the human rights situation in the country.

The regime supported by Anglophones such as Ghogomu Paul Minglo is still in denial of the injustice its policies have resulted in. With the success of today’s ghost town, President Biya now has the opportunity to change La Republique’s approach – otherwise if the situation is left to fester, there will be more outbursts, more unrest, more protests and perhaps more violence.