Headline News

13, March 2017

Anglophone Crisis: Troops deployed to Ekok as ghost town rocks Manyu Division 2

The positions of many CPDM elites from Manyu Division have been put in jeopardy as the population has backed the anti-La Republique ghost town operations as one of the civil disobedience measures taken by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium to stop the marginalization of Southern Cameroons by the Francophone political structure.

Manyus made the claim today as all commercial activities from Tinto via Mamfe to Eyumojock and Akawaya remained closed. The Manyu constituency had all along been a private preserve for the ruling CPDM crime syndicate without an iota of development in the area.

Our sources in Mamfe revealed that the Peter Mafany Musonge South West CPDM gang attempted to sabotage the actions of the Consortium and the resistance by using a prominent Manyu family. We also gathered that two Consortium coordinators in Mamfe have been placed under house arrest-one of them from the Abunaw family.

The regime in Yaoundé has reportedly opted for a deliberate silence and systematic abductions all in a bid to stifle the revolution. However, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium’s long-stated plans are now set to become reality, and over the coming months Southern Cameroonians will be celebrating the creation of an independent state.

The Biya Francophone regime is said to be under consideration pressure both at home and abroad following the successful holding of an important Southern Cameroons forum in Houston, USA. A well-placed source at the French embassy in Yaoundé told Cameroon Intelligence Report that close aides to Biya are urging the French government to get rid of the 84 year old and dialogue with the detained leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Many Southern Cameroon activists have fled to neighboring Nigeria via Mamfe, the chief town in Manyu Division. Troops loyal to the Biya regime have been deployed to Ekok, a border town with the Cross River State of Nigeria. Though there was little signs of extra military activity at the time of filing this report, with uncertainly increasing about what will happen over the next months after the Houston meeting, many Nigerians living in Manyu Division are returning home.

The Senior Divisional Officer and the military commander have played down reports of the creation of a Southern Cameroons Defense Force. But a prominent member of the Consortium was quoted as saying that  “We are about to enter into a phase of civil disobedience to hamper any decision by Mr. Biya and La Republique and we fully support the role our Diaspora is playing.”

Cameroon Intelligence Report

Biya stands with Cavaye and Niat

13, March 2017

Biya stands with Cavaye and Niat 1

The National Assembly and the Senate will today Monday, March 13 renew the members of their respective bureau. The electoral process in both the Upper and Lower Houses remains a traditional ritual performed on the occasion of the first ordinary session of every legislative year which opens in Yaounde, the nation’s capital.

In the National Assembly, the 77 year old Speaker, Cavaye Yeguié Djibril from the Far North region who will also be celebrating his 47th year as a member of parliament is expected to be re-elected to the post he has held for 25 years. President Biya reportedly lobbied the MPs to maintain the leaders of both houses.

The 83 year old Marcel Niat Njifenji who is also the first president of the House of Senate will also be re-elected to his post. It should be noted that this year’s first ordinary session is being held in the context of a serious socio-political crisis that has rocked the Anglophone regions of the country.

The Anglophone crisis will undoubtedly invite itself to parliament, and could force the President of the Republic to redistribute ministerial portfolios to gain some kind of  regional balance in a country that counts at least 220 ethnic groups.

Reported by Cameroon Intelligence Report

After a failed Southern Cameroons mission, Philemon Yang expected in Douala today

13, March 2017

After a failed Southern Cameroons mission, Philemon Yang expected in Douala today 0

After a failed Southern Cameroons mission that was aimed at re-launching the school year in the two Anglophone regions of the country, Prime Minister Philemon will travel from Yaoundé this Monday, March 13, 2017 to Douala, in the Littoral Region. During his stay of less than 24 hours in the economic capital, the Head of Government accompanied by several ministers, will preside from 10 am in the conference room of the Sawa hotel in the Bonanjo neighborhood, the eighth Session of the Cameroon Business Forum (CBF). This year’s business meeting will be held under the theme “Enhancing the Competitiveness of the Economy through the facilitation of cross-border trade”.

Government sources say participants in the economic forum from the private and public sectors as well as civil society will also assess the status of the implementation of the resolutions adopted at the seventh session that held in the economic capital on March 15, 2016.

“The Cameroon Business Forum is the forum of dialogue par excellence between the inefficient CPDM regime and the very efficient private sector whose main tasks are to strengthen consultation between the public authorities and the business community, improving the business climate and supporting private sector development “.

Louis Paul Motaze, then Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office, commissioned the Cameroon Business Forum which was created in January 2009 by the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group.

By Rita Akana with files from CIN

Biya’s men at war over control of Tonnerre Kalara Football Club

13, March 2017

Biya’s men at war over control of Tonnerre Kalara Football Club 0

The chartered members of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime have extended their tribal war into Cameroon football. In the early evening of Sunday, March 12, 2017 at the Yaounde military stadium, the Sub Prefect of the Yaounde 3rd district tried in vain to postpone the match Tonnerre kalara club (Tkc) of Yaoundé against Botafogo of Douala for what the Biya appointee noted was a threat of disturbance to public order.

The match of the 3rd day of the national championship Ligue 2 opposing Tonnerre Kalara club of Yaoundé against Botafogo of Douala initially scheduled to begin at 2.30 pm at the Military Stadium in Yaoundé finally started around 5 pm. The kick-off recorded nearly two and a half hours delay due to a war of words verbal between a group of people headed by General Pierre Semengue, the President of the Cameroon Professional Football League and another group led by Emile Onambele ZIbi, leader of one of the two factions fighting for the management of the Thunder Kalara club of Yaounde (TKC). Tonnere produced international football legends like Roger Milla, George Opong Weah, Salla Mensah and Ndoram

Despite an impressive police and gendarme deployment after threats of disruption of the match, Emile Onambele ZIbi and his supporters found themselves inside the stadium to prevent the unfolding of the game. Biya and his kinsmen have reportedly destroyed every aspect of Cameroonian life including the Roman Catholic Church.

Zibi

Cameroun Info.Net

Francophone doctors and teachers announces massive strike action

13, March 2017

Francophone doctors and teachers announces massive strike action 2

Francophone Cameroonian medical doctors and teachers have announced a decision to go on strike on the 27 of April 2017. The medical practitioners and the teachers said in a statement made public on Sunday the 12 of March that the CPDM government has failed in its promise to improve the working conditions of health and teaching officials in the country.

The doctors’ trade union also revealed that there was an urgent need for a short-term implementation of basic health insurance with universal coverage, to improve the provision of care and to enable all Cameroonians of all social strata to have equal access to health care.

The doctors are also asking the government to raise their wages, suspend the policy of assigning newly recruited doctors without pay and above all, raise the retirement age from 55 to 65.  In a similar direction, Francophone teachers have also announced their strike action on March 27. The French speaking teachers have reportedly made a sea of demands to the government.

By Sama Ernest

 

Syria: President Assad says Western disinformation against Damascus lacks credibility

13, March 2017

Syria: President Assad says Western disinformation against Damascus lacks credibility 0

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the era of spreading disinformation by most of the Western media against the Syrian government has passed and their credibility is questioned even by the people in the West. The Syrian leader made the remarks in a meeting with a European parliamentary delegation headed by Deputy Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Javier Couso on Sunday, adding that frequent visits to Damascus by European parliamentarians in the past months are a clear sign that they have come to witness the reality and relay to their respective people a true image of what is happening in Syria.

Elsewhere in his remarks, President Assad reiterated that the wrong policies adopted and pursued by several European countries toward the region in general and Damascus in particular had led to the spread of terrorism and the flow of large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers to those European countries.

The flawed policies include supporting extremism and terrorism and imposing economic sanctions on the Syrian people, he added. The members of the delegation, which represented several European nations and parties, for their part, asserted that their visit was aimed at rectifying the erroneous views both on the political and popular levels toward what is actually going on in Syria.

They also confirmed that they would keep on working toward restoring diplomatic ties between the European Union member states and Syria, and toward ending the sanctions imposed on the Arab country. The two sides also discussed the latest developments in Syria, the EU policies on the foreign-backed terrorists targeting the Syrian people, and the prospects of finding effective and conclusive solutions for ending the six-year-long war in the Arab country.

Presstv

Germany: Merkel to meet Trump in US visit

12, March 2017

Germany: Merkel to meet Trump in US visit 0

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to travel to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump and discuss with him issues of mutual concern. The meeting, due to take place at the White House on Tuesday, would be Merkel’s first face-to-face with Trump since he took office on January 20 this year. Merkel has been Germany’s chancellor since 2005.

The leader of Europe’s most powerful economy has emphasized that she would be representing the European Union (EU) in her meeting with the US president. “I will of course point out that for us, our country and our membership in the European Union are two sides of the same coin,” Merkel said at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, ahead of the visit.

Trump and his officials have previously questioned the institutional foundation of the EU. A spokeswoman for Merkel has said the two leaders would discuss “bilateral and international topics, and transatlantic ties.” US sources have said the two would discuss issues related to NATO, refugees, the EU, and Russia.

On almost all of those topics, Trump has adopted stances diverging — sometimes radically — from those of European leaders. One such area would be Russia. Trump has said he favors better, possibly even strategic cooperation with Russia. European leaders, on the other hand, have had serious reservations about ties with Moscow, particularly over the Ukrainian conflict.

Trump is “very interested in hearing her (Merkel’s) insights on what it’s like to deal with the Russians,” a US official said anonymously. Transatlantic trade is another area of concern for Berlin. Trump has said he plans to renegotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Presstv

Anglophone Crisis: Too much uncertainty inside the Biya regime

12, March 2017

Anglophone Crisis: Too much uncertainty inside the Biya regime 1

The plenary session of both the so-called Upper and Lower Houses of parliament begins on Monday March 13, 2017. As a tradition, the election of the bureau members takes place at the first session of every legislative year. This year’s maiden parliamentary sessions have been convened by both the President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the President of the Senate Marcel Niat Njifenji.

In the context of a crisis that has rocked the Anglophone regions of the country since the end of 2016 and the Francophone dominated government’s inability to find a solution, it would not be surprising to see some political adjustments in the Biya regime.  However, the question that arises mainly is who should be sacrificed between Cavaye Yeguié Djibril and Marcel Niat Njifenji, if the head of state wants to satisfy the Anglophones?

Understandably, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has made it clear that the current Southern Cameroon political elites of the ruling CPDM no longer represent the aspirations of West Cameroonians. However, the Yaoundé regime still intends to try its last joker.

Using their old guerilla tactics, the Presidency of the Republic is already circulating the name of Peter Mafany Musonge as President of the Senate. The Biya men reportedly observed that Simon Achidi Achu is currently very old and weak. A reliable source hinted Cameroon Concord News that the post of Prime Minister will return to the Far North and added that the personality most foretold to this post Is Alamine Ousmane Mey, current Minister of Finance.

A journalist with a sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report quoted a source in Paris in the case of a constitutional revision, for the introduction of the post of Vice-President of the Republic. What we know is that several possibilities could arise for possible appointments which will have no impact on the Southern Cameroons quest for an independent state.

By Rita Akana

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Part of the solution is the removal of Biya from office

12, March 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Part of the solution is the removal of Biya from office 4

After four months of inactivity, the so-called members of parliament and senators will resume their hand clapping exercise on Monday the 13 of March 2017 in Yaoundé. This first parliamentary session of the year will of course begin in a particular context, marked by the crisis in Southern Cameroons that has shaken the Biya Francophone regime and for the first time in 34 years prevented the 84 year old dictator from travelling out of the country.

For four months, the Francophone regime has failed in stopping the Southern Cameroons uprising and day-by-day after the Prime Minister Philemon Yang’s recent tour of the Bamenda province of West Cameroon, it is evidently clear that the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and the people of Southern Cameroons are winning and secession is indeed at the door of Cameroon.

The measures taken by the Beti Ewondo ruling think thank have been crude, intolerable, unbearable, unacceptable and at best primitive. And this is due to the fact that the tank they think from is too shallow. The shutting down of the internet services in West Cameroon was aimed at cutting off communications between Southern Cameroonians back home and those in the Diaspora. From every indication, the policy failed woefully and instead recruited genuine CPDM followers into the resistance.

The Anglophone crisis will be at the center of discussions in both the Upper and Lower Houses. Ghost town operations will continue tomorrow Monday as many Southern Cameroonians including some Francophone political elites now believe and fervently too that Paul Biya himself does not want the crisis to be resolved.

Correspondingly, MPs and Senators will pretend on camera to question members of government on the Southern Cameroons situation. The cabinet ministers are all Francophone citizens who are obviously reading from the same script with the man who appointed them into government. Consequently, Southern Cameroonians would be watching CRTV as a foreign news channel during the parliamentary debates.

The general understanding is that if these MPs and Senators were truly the representatives of the Cameroonian people, they would have condemned the rapes, extra judicial killings, massive arrests and abductions going on in Southern Cameroons. Above all, they would have during their last session in November 2016, focused their concerns on the situation of the Anglophone lawyers and teachers including the students of the University of Buea.

Their failure to stand up as a group and be counted led to the transformation of the corporate crisis into a political issue. To save Cameroon from disintegrating as a nation, the National Assembly should legislate on matters related to the resolution of the Anglophone problem. The MPs should bear in mind that part of the solution to the Anglophone crisis is the removal of President Biya from office not any form of CPDM process of decentralization.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons Women conference ends in Germany amid security concerns

11, March 2017

Southern Cameroons Women conference ends in Germany amid security concerns 0

Police in the western German city of Essen have ordered a big shopping mall to stay closed for an entire day after receiving tip-offs about an imminent attack. “As police, we are the security authority here and have decided to close the mall,” police spokesman Christoph Wickhorst said as about 100 officers positioned themselves around the compound of the mall and the adjacent parking lot at Limbecker Platz square in downtown Essen.

Wickhorst said other security agencies had tipped off police late on Friday that an attack would certainly happen in the shopping center on Saturday. The closure of the mall came as a major conference grouping Southern Cameroons women throughout Western Europe ended in the city. Many of the Anglophone Cameroonian women were expected to visit the mall.

The official would not elaborate but police in Essen later said a man was being questioned in relation to the threat and that his apartment in the nearby city of Oberhausen was searched. Media reports said another man was also arrested at an internet cafe in Oberhausen in the afternoon. Heavy police presence was also visible at a shopping mall in the city.

The mall in Essen is reportedly one of the biggest in Germany. It said on its website that some 60,000 people normally visited 200 stores of the mall every Saturday. Reports said police officers, many armed with machine pistols and bullet-proof vests, had even forced out early morning staff.

Over the past years, Germany has been spared of terrorist attacks such as those that happened in France and Belgium. However, elements of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have claimed several low-profile assaults on people in crowded places.

Germany has accepted more than a million from a historic flow of refugees that began to hit Europe in early 2015. Many fear the liberal asylum policies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel could cost Germany dearly, as reports have said some terror attacks have been carried out through refugee recruits. Last year, 10 people were injured after an ax-wielding man attacked shoppers at a mall in Dusseldorf. It later turned out that the man had no links to terror groups and acted on his own.

Essen

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