Headline News

5, February 2017

Veteran CRTV Journalist endorses the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Says there are no anointed ones ⁰

Former political commentator with the Cameroon radio and television, Lawrence EyongEchaw has broken the silence he maintained ever since the Anglophone uprising started in 2016. Larry Eyong who also moonlighted as the Shadow Minister of Communication for the Social Democratic Front posted on his Face Book page an endorsement of the leadership of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. In this soul-searching write-up, Larry argues that there are no anointed ones and that some people need to get over themselves:

For nearly a quarter century, the restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons has been spearheaded by, a desultory consternation of mutually antagonistic, and self –serving organizations, with larger-than-life leaders, who are more concerned with undercutting one another, than creating the synergy for the realization of the goal of liberating the people.

Paradoxically, the upstarts leading the rival liberation movements, operate in the same monolithic political culture that they condemn in the leader of “La Republique du Cameroun”, with each leaders, perpetuating himself as, “Leader of the People of the Southern Cameroons’, like Kim Il Sung, in North Korea, and Moi Tse Tung in China.

Like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, each believes that because he make so much sacrifice for the liberation struggle, he has carte blanche to run roughshod against the participatory democratic principles that we cherish and want to restore in the Southern Cameroons.

Early in the life of the movement in the Diaspora-which has become the spear of the nation- there was an existentialist debate, about whether to support fugitives of “La Republique du Cameroun” who were seeking asylum in the United States, or to allow these fugitives to swim or drown by their own devices.

Ironically, the decision to extend our support to the fugitives, created the financial wherewithal to support some of our leaders who were languishing in the dungeons of “La Republique du Cameroun’. But, in a classic case of, killing the goose that laid the golden egg, some of these leaders, out of egotism and the need to enhance their credibility in the eyes of the world, decided to substitute themselves for the immigration authorities of Western countries, by wanting to personally vet those who claimed to be fugitives of the struggle.

Fortunately, the laws of these countries afford the opportunity, for a case by case, evaluation of the factual basis of each émigré’s claim, resulting in the acceptance of a huge number of émigrés, who are now the backbone sustaining the struggle in the Diaspora, to the extent that the regime is suspending social media, and sending marksmen to the West, to physically eliminate some émigrés and scare others.

Yet, the self-proclaimed leaders of the Southern Cameroons Independence movement must remember that, but for the ingenuity of these compatriots who have settled in the West, and are able to make financial contributions to the struggle, they would not have audiences to deliver speeches and extol their exploits in the struggle.

The regime in Yaounde had become comfortable with the consternation of rabble-rousers who were rivaling each other, in claiming legitimacy in leading the liberation movement. This would generally enhance their negotiating position and increase their bribe offer with the Yaounde regime.

But when a new organization was borne with leadership that had the bona fides to leverage the momentum that had been created by the “coffin revolution” back home, the factional leaders of the Southern Cameroons resorted to a scorched earth policy of distraction, disorientation, division and doubt that was intended to result in desperation and despair in the people of the Southern Cameroons in the Diaspora.

Fortunately, Southern Cameroonians are able to see through these smokescreens and maintain their eyes on the prize. Outrageous and unfounded accusations have been levied against people who had a pioneering role in advocating for multi-party democracy in Cameroon, and spending time in the Kondengui maximum security prison, for being agents of the Yaoundé government.

The reality is that, some Southern Cameroonian leaders, who have developed a bunker –mentality are scared of new leadership with the wisdom and connections to take the struggle to greater heights. These Machiavellian machinations have already failed as the bulk of Southern Cameroonians have vowed to support the new leader, ready to put his ingenuity at the service of the people of the Southern Cameroons.

By Larry Eyong

4, February 2017

Leading German News Magazine portrays Donald Trump as a terrorist ⁰

A leading German weekly magazine has published a striking cartoon of US President Donald Trump on its cover, portraying him as a terrorist, who beheaded the Statue of Liberty while shouting “America First.”

On the cover of its Friday edition, Der Spiegel depicted the cartoon figure of Trump with a bloodied knife in one hand and the bleeding head of Lady Liberty in the other.

Edel Rodriguez, who designed the cover, told The Washington Post that the Statue of Liberty represents the United States’ history of welcoming refugees.

Rodriguez, a Cuban refugee, who went to America as a political refugee in 1980, condemned Trump’s order to ban entry of refugees to the US, seeing it as “a beheading of democracy, a beheading of a sacred symbol.”

He argued that beheading is associated with the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group and “there’s a comparison” between ISIL and Trump. “Both sides are extremists, so I’m just making a comparison between them.”

“I was 9 years old when I came here, so I remember it well, and I remember the feelings and how little kids feel when they are leaving their country,” Rodriguez told the Post. “I remember all that, and so it bothers me a lot that little children are being kept from coming to this country.”

When asked why he pictured Trump with missing facial features, Rodriguez said, “That’s the way I see him. I see him as someone that’s very angry, and it’s pretty much his mouth that’s moving all the time, so that’s how I tend to show him in some of my work.”

Trump signed an executive order last week—after only a week in office— to bar all persons from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the United States for 90 days and suspends the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days until the president determines they have been sufficiently changed.

This is not the first time that the president was pictured beheading the statue. Back in December 2015, after Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” The New York Daily News pictured him beheading the Statue.

The New Yorker reveals its cover photo for February 13 and 20 on February 3, 2017.

The New Yorker magazine also revealed on Friday a new cover illustration—called “Liberty’s Flameout”— showing the Statue’s flame has been extinguished.

“It used to be that the Statue of Liberty, and her shining torch, was the vision that welcomed new immigrants. And, at the same time, it was the symbol of American values,” said John Tomac, who designed the cover.

“Now it seems that we are turning off the light,” he told the magazine, which announced on Friday that it was canceling its annual party for the White House Correspondent’s Dinner.

Presstv

4, February 2017

Anglophone Crisis: Consortium getting tough on La Republique du Cameroun ³

The interim leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have dismissed reports over state radio and television calling off the strike. The leaders say, the government succeeded in getting signatures of some insignificant members of one of the teachers’ trade unions and claimed that the Consortium had agreed to stop the strikes and the civil disobedience campaign. The leaders have announced a ghost town operation for Monday and maintained that all schools should remain closed.

Inside sources deep within the Consortium hinted our Buea undercover reporter that it is the people’s revolution and only the detained leaders have legitimate authority to call off the strikes. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium is pushing for a highly publicized sit-in civil disobedience on the 11^th of February. Approximately eight teachers met with CPDM agents from Yaoundé and traded their signatures for blood money.

The Consortium maintains that the Francophone government has been ineffective and biased because it is tied to Anglophone political elites who are not the genuine representatives of Southern Cameroonians. The leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, who began the sit-in action in 2016, said that since no progress has been made schools will not resume until a proper agreement is reach between the Francophone political elites and the people of Southern Cameroons.

The interim leaders noted that they were pleased with the South West reaction against the Buea Musonge meeting that attempted to invoke the North West/South West Divide tactics. Southern Cameroonians have held rallies in major cities in the West to generate support for the struggle and the West Cameroon cause, attracting thousands to the resistance.

Biya is reportedly feeling the pressure and is now taking the issue a lot more seriously. During a ceremony held in honour of the 4 senior army officials who died when their helicopter crashed in the Far North region, the 83 year-old leader appealed for unity.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

4, February 2017

Moderator Samuel Fonki calls for the release of all Anglophone detainees ⁰

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, Rt. Rev. Samuel Fonki Forba has said that the Government should release all Anglophone leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and proceed with dialogue for the possible resumption of schools in the two English speaking regions of the country.

Rt. Rev Samuel Fonki was speaking at a Press Conference held in Bamenda, North West region after the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees Meeting of the PCC. The Moderator and 13 other Executives signed a two-page press release proposing that some sought of amnesty be given to all those who were arrested and detained in the wake of the crisis that continues to rock Southern Cameroons.

“We want those arrested because of their political ideologies and those detained because of crimes committed within the period to be tried in the regions where they were arrested so that their rights to be cared for by family members and friends would be guaranteed.”

The PCC Moderator and his Executives also called on the State to end all arbitrary arrest and detention of persons from the two English Speaking regions. They also suggested that the Government should comply with the decisions arrived at with Teachers during the Bamenda meeting of January to enable the resumption of classes.

On the issue of suspension of the strike and contrary to what was reportedly on Cameroon Tribune, the Moderator said, “I never initiated a strike action in the first place and I would not be the one to call it off. I am simply appealing on stakeholders to do so. If Government schools are unable to resume classes, I don’t see how PCC schools can do so in isolation.”

Cameroun Info.Net

4, February 2017

US judge blocks Trump’s travel ban ²

A US federal judge in Seattle, Washington, has ordered a temporary, nationwide halt to President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban that blocks the entry of citizens from seven predominately Muslim countries. The ruling on Friday by US District Judge James Robart was broader than similar ones before it, and represents the most severe legal blow to Trump’s action, although his administration could still have the policy put back into effect with an appeal.

The ruling prompted government authorities to immediately communicate with airlines and begin taking steps that would allow those previously affected to travel. Trump signed an executive order on January 27 that imposed a temporary travel ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and placed an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. The move also suspended admission of all refugees for 120 days.

Robart’s decision came after Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit to invalidate key provisions of Trump’s executive order.

A file photo of US District Judge James Robart

The judge questioned the Trump administration’s use of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the US as a justification for the travel ban. He said no attacks had been carried out on American soil by individuals from the seven countries affected by the ban.

For Trump’s order to be constitutional, Robart said, it had to be “based in fact, as opposed to fiction.” The judge’s ruling was welcomed by groups protesting the immigration order.

Presstv

4, February 2017

80% of Cameroonian men die 5 years after they retire ¹

Experts have revealed that 80% of Cameroonian men die 5 years after they retire from active service. The study also pointed out that they die because of poor preparation of their retirement. To put an end to these so-called early deaths, a program of the Retired and Pre-Retirement Support Center (CARE 4) has been launched in Yaounde

In the ceremony that held at Hotel La Falaise under the direct supervision of the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance, Gregoire Owona, the Coordinator of the scheme, Benjamin Kisso observed that, “The ambition of this program is to return the “old” to the center of society, or at least to the center of their families. CARE 4 is a structure created to answer this problem.”

The special representative of Minister Grégoire Owona, noted that it was a commendable initiative that will help improve people’s lives on a day-to-day basis.” The Secretary General in the Ministry of Labor added that “Cameroon hosted from the 27^th to 29^th of July 2016 the very first international forum on retirement in the area of the Inter-African Conference. This means that retirement is at the heart of our concerns. “

CARE 4 is a structure that allows retirees to take charge. It has programs such as CARE 4 health, CARE 4 training, CARE 4 house. “We are now proposing 6 new accompanying programs,” said Benjamin Kisso.

By Fru James

3, February 2017

Open Letter to so-called South West Elites ²

Dear Elites,

It was with great displeasure that I watched pictures of the meeting that was called and chaired by former Prime Minister, Peter Mafany Musonge, in the Southwest regional capital of Buea. I acknowledge that as a region we have to work together and be vigilant so as to preserve whatever little assets we have. However, yesterday’s meeting was baseless and it clearly demonstrated that those who claim to represent us are out of touch with reality. The current situation in West Cameroon has nothing to do with the famous southwest-northwest divide that you, the so-called southwest elites, have been promoting for years for your own parochial and personal interest.

The people of West Cameroon have been victims of marginalization for many decades and they are expressing their disappointment with a system that has reduced them to sorry spectators of events in a country that is supposed to be theirs. I hold that instead of seeking to fan the embers of division – which is your favorite sport – it will be smart of you to carry the people’s complaints to the appropriate quarters for a speedy resolution. The people of the southwest region are not on the same wavelength with you the so-called elites. You have been living an alternative reality that is at variance with what the people have been experiencing. While you have access to the state treasury which has given you and your children a beautiful and privileged life, the overwhelming majority of South-westerners have been languishing in abject poverty which has robbed them of their dignity and happiness. If you think you represent these people, you should be listening to them with a view to understanding the challenges blighting their lives. On the contrary, you seem to have lodged yourselves in an imaginary ivory tower wherein you require these same people to come and bow to you just like angels do to God. The people are sick and tired of this unpalatable drama which clearly belongs to another epoch and they want to put an end to a political and an economic dispensation that has turned out to be an earthly paradise for a few.

The contemptuous indifference and deafening silence of the hard-working and intelligent people of the southwest region should clearly inform you that the resolutions of your hastily organized meeting do not cut any ice with them. They don’t reflect their thoughts and they will never identify with such a comedy of helplessness. They need new and innovative ideas that can create wealth and opportunities for them and their children. They need leaders with sterling qualities; leaders who understand their pain; leaders who are capable of skillfully articulating their ideas in the corridors of power; indeed leaders who will make their problems and the development of their region key priorities. You don’t seem to understand this and that is why the people are walking away from you.

The people of the Southwest region are an educated people. Many are soundly schooled. Isn’t it preposterous to always think that they can be easily manipulated by you for your selfish interest? Why would you always give the impression that these people cannot figure out things for themselves. Why do you think North-westerners are always to blame any time south-westerners want to express their frustrations? Have you ever sought to have alternative ideas when you sit in those your meetings? Claiming that North-westerners are the prime suspects in this matter sounds like all of us, regardless of our sound education, are good for nothing. If you stop laying claim to the monopoly of wisdom, you will be able to find sound and sustainable solutions to some of the issues facing our region.

One of the many things shocking many south-westerners is your indifference to the arrests of some of our children during the peaceful strikes that took place in the University of Buea. Today, you want the university to resume while many of those kids are still in jail for peacefully asking for dialogue with the vice chancellor of the university. In which world are you living in? That our daughters get raped and all what is important to you is your political career? I guess you have seen the videos which clearly portray how our children were made to sleep and roll in raw sewage. Some were even made to drink this dirty water. You have never condemned this irresponsible behavior and no commission of inquiry has been set up to investigate such an important case of power abuse. These are the issues you should be dealing with and not seeking to deceive the people into thinking that they are being manipulated by external forces. If you show your people respect, they will reciprocate, but when you treat them with disdain and contempt, they will seek to find alternatives that can address their problems.

If the southwest has to seek its own way, then there must be unity and clear objectives. You cannot only talk about unity when it suits you. There are many cases that could have enabled us display our unity of purpose, but when such moments come, you sink into indifference and behave as if nothing is happening. What have you folks done so far to secure the release of Ayah Paul, a Supreme Court judge and an eminent son of the south-west region, who was arrested in a manner that was far from being fair and democratic? We can only work together if you stop thinking of manipulating others and giving the impression that your personal interests are above the interest of the region. You should be using your positions – if they are even respected by the government – to solve real problems instead of chasing shadows. Your people have rejected you. You must acknowledge that and then seek ways to rebuild that relationship. This is not a tough job. It can be done if only you change your mindset. We all want our kids to go back to school, but not in circumstances that will perpetuate their status as second-class citizens.

Our people are suffering. They are unemployed. They need jobs so as to put food on the table. They want to raise their children in dignity. You folks have never really been there for them. You have fallen short of their glory. Even when there are opportunities in the southwest, you prefer to let other people take those opportunities. What happened to SONARA? While being a national asset, this oil refinery has not really served the south-westerner and this is one issue that is bothering our people. If Cameroon is one and indivisible, how come we do not have a fair share of the benefits SONARA is spinning? Most of the jobs are given to people from other regions, especially to Francophones while our people watch helplessly from a distance. Are North-westerners to blame for all of this? Are North-westerners to blame for Ndian Division, where our oil deposits are located, not having tarred roads? Is securing jobs for our people not what a so-called elite should be doing? I think you people are fighting the wrong fight. You have to be strategic when fighting. Our people need lucrative opportunities like those offered by SONARA. That should be one area you should be focusing on.

I look forward to a change in mentality so that we can work together as a strong and united people. Consider this letter as wake up call. You have been sleeping on your brains for too long. We don’t have to wash our dirty linen in public, but if you fail to create the right forum for us to talk and understand each other, then we will have to bring that dirty linen to the public. Your effort to divide the people by pitting south-westerners against north-westerners will not work this time around. It’s time to change strategy. The people are sadder but wiser now.

Sincerely,

Joachim Arrey.

About the Author: The author of this letter has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.

3, February 2017

AFCON 2017 Final: Lions to clash with the Pharaohs of Egypt ⁰

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon have qualified for the finals of the 2017 AFCON after beating the Black Stars of Ghana 2-0. The first goal that made Cameroonian fans far and near shouting victory came around the 72nd minute by Michael Ngadeu Ngadui. The second goal at extra time was scored by the agile Bassogog leaving the score board at 2-0 in favor of the boys of Hugo Broos.

The numerous efforts by the Black Stars were fruitless as Cameroon’s goalie, Fabrice Ondoa stopped any shot directed to his goalpost. The highly contested match between the two big names in African football comes after nine years that Ghana stopped Cameroon from grabbing the highly solicited cup.

As the standings read, Cameroon will face the Pharaohs of Egypt at the finals come February 4. It is worth recalling that Cameroon has recorded four cup titles at the AFCON while Egypt counts seven. In the meantime fans from both countries are blowing trumpets already for their teams to win, but who bears the weight of 2017’s biggest football jamboree in the continent will be known on Sunday February 4.

Culled from CRTV

3, February 2017

Trump says ‘Nothing is off the table’ in response to Iran’s missile test ⁰

US President Donald Trump says “nothing is off the table” in terms of a response to Iran’s ballistic missile test. Trump made the comment on Thursday in response to a question by a reporter about whether he would consider military options to respond to Iran, a day after his national security adviser Michael Flynn put Tehran on “notice.”

The White House also said Thursday it would respond to Iran’s ballistic missile test. “We will have further updates for you on those additional actions, but clearly (Flynn) warned to make sure that Iran understood that they are on notice that this is not going unresponded to,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

The remarks about Iran by the new Republican president echoes the warnings made repeatedly by former President George W. Bush who on several occasions said he would not take the military option off the table. Former President Barack Obama also threatened military action against Iran before the nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers in 2015.

Presstv

3, February 2017

The Buea CPDM Declaration and the demands of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium ⁵

The demands of the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium highlighted the fundamental fallacy underpinning the Cameroon state. While some of the demands appear even-handed and altruistic, any authentic eye witness would detect the selfishness that binds the South West elites and their failure to forge a diverse polity that can deliver greatness. Cameroon’s crisis of development, however, is located firmly in its distorted unitary form of government; correcting it is the only guarantee of lasting peace with Southern Cameroonians.

Cameroon’s fiscal system identifies it as a Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo state pretending to be One and Indivisible. The reality is stark. Cameroon Common Law Lawyers, Anglophone Teachers Trade Unions and the Southern Cameroons business community under the aegis of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium called upon the Yaoundé regime to stop the marginalization of the West Cameroonians by adopting a two state federation.

The Francophone dominated action instead encouraged a kind of devastating vandalism and sabotage of the peaceful process initiated by the Consortium. For a country that is at war with the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram, the numerous armed groups in the Central African Republic and in the midst of a recession, and partly dependent on oil and whose prices have fallen by 50 per cent, the impact of shutting down the internet services in the Anglophone regions has brought the economy to its knees.

The Buea Declaration by the so-called South West political elites is a form of criminal activity that has conflated with politics, corruption and the divisive tendencies of the key ethnic segments of the state of Cameroon. The Anglophone Roman Catholic Bishops and the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon have all identified widespread alienation of Southern Cameroonians from the centre as providing a fertile ground for violent extremism and demonstrations.

Having so far failed to put down the strike action and the civil disobedience campaign since 2016, the dialogue option was an opportunity for both sides to correctly diagnose the root causes of the problem and proffer lasting solutions. But the Francophone regime arrested the leaders of the Consortium including prominent Anglophone personalities. The Peter Mafany Musonge gangs passing for elites have turned a blind eye to the numerous rapes, arrests, torture and extra judicial killings currently going on in the Anglophone regions.

It is evidently clear that the North West/South West divide and rule tactics has outlived its usefulness and the South West people like those of the North West are now reading from the same script and the two Anglophone regions including their religious leaders support the call for true federalism and have urged that the Francophone Government should treat the matter expeditiously.

Unlike the North West region, the South West CPDM group lacks visionary leaders. Their emphasis on painting the strike action and the ghost town operations on the North West people are self-serving. SONARA has never cleaned up its waste that has been killing slowly but surely hundreds of Bakweris. All what the Francophone government claims to have done for the people of Ndian particularly those of the Bakassi communities ranges from plain fiction to the most absurd. The People of Akwaya ever since independence have never been linked by road to the rest of Manyu. The Kupe Muanengubas only exist during CPDM conferences. The Lebialems have nothing to show the world that they belong to a region that has produced top political elites like Musonge. To be sure, because the South West and North West CPDM elites have over the years been ineffective, Southern Cameroonians have replaced them with the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. Biya and his Francophone political elites must sit and talk with the new leadership of Southern Cameroons.

The recent pronouncements by men like Chief Tabetando, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Peter Mafany Musonge and the Chief Atem Ebako has justified why Cameroon has found itself faced with a national crisis as CPDM gangs of criminals take on the state, hiding behind regional agitation. The first wave of the strike action in 2016 did not feature bombings, kidnapping, robberies and pitched battles between Southern Cameroons freedom fighters and government forces. However, the arrest of prominent Anglophone personalities and judging from the Buea Declaration, it is evident that Musonge and his CPDM elites no longer have legitimate authority.

Several Anglophone leaders and innocent citizens are suffering in Francophone jails. The trial of the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium will provide the spark for a return to this time around an armed conflict. There can be no end to this cycle unless Cameroon is governed as a proper federation. Fiscal federalism is the solution, not an aside, as the Yaoundé regime appeared to suggest. The Biya regime no longer has the luxury of taking resources from one part of the country and dispensing crumbs to the indigenes.

The People of the South West region are now aware that the Musonge gangs of political elites are made up of a few millionaires created by the Biya Francophone government who have left the mass of the people further pauperized. Other federations, such as Canada, India, Malaysia, Switzerland, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, provide worthy templates of resource control that Cameroon should emulate. As the strikes continue, every region will soon join the clamor for fiscal federalism to avert a bloody conflagration in our increasingly wobbly unitary contraption. The Buea Declaration is therefore null and void and Anglophones will continue to listen to the Consortium.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai