Headline News

15, January 2017

Scores of refugees feared dead off Libya coast ⁰

Scores of people are feared dead in an incident involving a boat that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea while carrying 110 asylum seekers. The Italian coastguard said four people had been rescued in the waters between Libya and Italy, where the incident occurred, media reported on Sunday. A spokesman for the coastguard added that 13 bodies had so far been recovered from the boat, which capsized around 50 kilometers off the coast of Libya. Italian, Spanish, and French naval and merchant vessels as well as a plane and a helicopter were involved in rescue operations, the spokesman said.

According to the Italian government, 181,000 asylum seekers arrived in Italy last year, all of them having departed from Libya. The refugees, desperate to leave and thus at the mercy of human traffickers, are often loaded onto rickety vessels in the waters of the Mediterranean. Countless incidents of boats capsizing have occurred and hundreds have perished as a result. In 2016, 5,000 asylum seekers died during the perilous crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The exodus of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East has also led to a refugee crisis in Europe, their desired destination. In reaction to the crisis, European countries have mobilized resources to reduce refugee arrivals and deport those that do arrive to other countries. Tougher border controls, strict refugee policies, and deals with countries to return asylum seekers are part of the measures enforced by European authorities to cope with the crisis. This is while analysts believe Western policies are the root of the crisis, as those policies fan the flames of wars and conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and force locals to leave their homes.

Presstv

15, January 2017

Southern Cameroons ghost town operation begins tomorrow ¹

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC has declared that tomorrow Monday the 16^th of January 2017 and Tuesday the 17^th be observed as days of civil disobedience. The much respected members of the Consortium have also hinted of the possibility of extending the ghost town operations indefinitely if Yaounde fails to hold an immediate referendum in West Cameroon. The information is contained in a statement released after the two day meeting held with members of the Francophone Ad Hoc Committee put in place to continue to deceive Southern Cameroonians to remain with La Republique du Cameroun.

The West Cameroon leaders stated in the release that talks with the French speaking Cameroonians were cordial and some Francophone government ministers showed signs of good faith. The leaders revealed that all 18 points tabled were properly examined. But added that federalism which is a key factor in the on-going Anglophone uprising was avoided by the Francophone political elites. The Francophones however opined that federalism can only be discussed in the Francophone dominated National Assembly in Yaounde.

At the close of the Bamenda meeting which ended in a deadlock, the Southern Cameroon leaders announced a major ghost town operation beginning tomorrow. The leaders pointed out that the civil disobedience campaign is a counter to the Francophone government’s continuous militarization of West Cameroon, the excessive use of force by La Republique’s security apparatus on unarmed Anglophone civilians and the deliberate silence on the part of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime to seek lasting solutions to the Anglophone problem. Southern Cameroon leaders also called for the unconditional release of all youths arrested in the defunct North West and South West regions.

Cameroon Concord News Group has deployed a cream of reporters to bring to our readers updates on the ghost operations beginning tomorrow.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Bamenda

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

15, January 2017

Nigeria:Gunmen have abducted 5 students, 2 teachers and a Turkish national ⁰

Unknown gunmen have abducted five students and two teachers, including a Turkish national, from an international school in southwestern Nigeria, police say. The incident occurred on Friday evening when some unidentified gunmen gained entrance through the back fence of the Turkish Tulip International School, located in the Isheri area of Ogun State and took the students and teachers away at gunpoint on the school premises, said Ogun police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi on Saturday.

“We have deployed police operatives and are making serious efforts to release the victims unhurt and bring the culprits to book,” Oyeyemi further said, adding that the kidnappers had not made any contact with police or school authorities so far and no arrest has been made. Other reports maintained that the kidnappers came in a white Hilux pickup and fled through a swamp. No group or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions, but It is unlikely for the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group, which is active in the northern and northeastern parts of Nigeria, to have been involved in the raid. Thus, local criminal gangs, which kidnap people for ransom, may be to blame.

On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from their secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok in Borno. About 80 of the girls managed to escape afterward or were swapped for a number of Boko Harm prisoners, but the fate of the rest remains unknown. On September 8, police announced that they had managed to rescue two Chinese nationals, a week after they had been kidnapped by unknown gunmen, in the town of Odeda in Ogun. On October 6, unidentified gunmen also invaded Lagos Model College in the town of Igbonla in Epe area in the southwestern state of Lagos, abducting four students, a vice president and a teacher from the school.

Presstv

14, January 2017

Common Law Lawyers vow to support the Consortium ⁰

Cameroon Common law Lawyers have on January 13, 2017 met in a General Assembly meeting in Kumba in Southern Cameroons to examine problems faced by lawyers and advance possible solutions to the current Anglophone crisis.

During the GA heavily attended by all Common law Lawyers Associations, the Lawyers decided to dissolve the Common Law Lawyers Council and created the Common Law Bar Association with steering Committee members put in place to pilot the activities of the Association. They also supported the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and called on all to follow their instructions’

Full Declaration

KUMBA

JANUARY 13, 2017

Proclamation

CONSIDERING the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948;

CONSIDERING the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966;

CONSIDERING United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1608 XV of 21st April 1961;

COGNIZANT of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers Conference Resolutions of the 9th day of May 2015;

COGNIZANT of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers Conference Declaration of the 13th day of February 2016;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions of the Constituent Assemblies of the four Common Law Associations (FAKLA, MELA, MALA and NOWELA) of the 6th of October 2016;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions of the Constituent Assemblies of the four Common Law Associations (FAKLA, MELA, MALA and NOWELA) of the 15th October 2016;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions of the Constituent Assemblies of the four Common Law Associations (FAKLA, MELA, MALA and NOWELA) of the 28th October 2016;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions of the Constituent Assemblies of the four Common Law Associations (FAKLA, MELA, MALA and NOWELA) of the 4th of November 2016;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions of the Constituent Assemblies of the four Common Law Associations (FAKLA, MELA, MALA and NOWELA) of the 15th of November 2016;

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Resolutions of the Constituent Assemblies of the four Common Law Associations (FAKLA, MELA, MALA and NOWELA) of the 30th of December 2016;

Meeting in Kumba, this 13th day of January 2017, we, the Common Law Lawyers of Cameroon do hereby agree and Proclaim as follows:

1- That we ratify and approve all actions and or engagements undertaken by the Presidents and executive of our various Associations on behalf of Cameroon Common Law Lawyers between the 13th of February 2016 till date.

2- That the Cameroon Common Law Council is this day dissolved and the following members unanimously elected as the steering Committee of the Cameroon Common Law Bar Association:

– Harmony Bobga

– Agbor Balla

– Sopseh Emillien

– Eyambe Elias

– Kemende Henry

– Ebah Ntoko Justice

– Mbokeh Divine

– Njualem Charles

– Sone Ngole Edward

– Mbah Eric

3- These elected Officials are designated our sole representatives in the various Committees set up and or contemplated by the Government to seek lasting solutions to the grievances contained in our different Memoranda.

4- That we remain resolute on the attainment of all the objectives contained in our previous Resolutions and Declarations.

5- That in this regard, proposed draft bills shall be presented to the Government on the Amendment of the Constitution to accommodate the demands including a call for a Referendum reserved exclusively for those who voted (South West and North West Regions) in the United Nations supervised plebiscite of 1961 on the form of Government that will best suit their aspirations and way of life this day.

6- We reiterate the demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons arrested from the beginning of our sit-strike and carted away to Yaoundé and other destinations (not ascertained by us for now).

7- We call on ALL Common Law Magistrates to examine their consciences and join this struggle instead of sitting and determining Suits in the absence of Lawyers and in process occasioning gross injustice to Litigants by violating their rights to fair trial.

8- We applaud the support of the Common Law Lawyers and the Constituent Assemblies for the Monday 9th January 2017 “Ghost Town” called by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and encourage all to continue to lend their support to the coordinated actions of the said Consortium.

9- A Commission for the drafting of a Federal Constitution to revisit a two State Federation is hereby created and the following members elected thereto:

– Sonkwa Victorine

– Tifuh Ochard Nkeng

– Mokom Jude

– Buriya Atuabo Unuase

– Ntuiabane John

– Pascal Nanje Meloko

– Nalowa Bih

– Mbuya Gladys

– Ajong Stanislaus

– Molongwe Imoh

– Legenju Vitalis

– Forbishi Edward Ndikum

– Pende Eddie Nelson

– Tchana Anthony

10- That we shall reconvene in April 2017 in Mamfe to assess the level of implementation of this Proclamation.

And the Strike Continues

Done at Kumba, this 13th day of January 2017.

OBENSON GREG

Chairman

14, January 2017

Mamfe: Roman Catholic Bishops of Cameroon directs Christians on marriage ⁰

MESSAGE OF THE BISHOPS OF CAMEROON

On the occasion of the 40th Seminar

Held in Mamfe from 07 to 14 January 2017

———————–

To the People of God in Cameroon;

To all persons of good will

May the Grace, Love and Peace of the Lord be with you, members of the Church, the family of God Cameroon!

We, the Bishops of Cameroon, gathered together in Mamfe for our 40th Seminar, address this message to you on the joy of love, a joy which, lived in families, is also the joy of the Church. (Amoris Laetitia No.1).
After the two Synods of Bishops held in Rome in 2014 and 2015 on “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization”, Pope Francis gave the Universal Church, on 19 March 2016, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation: AMORIS LAETITIA.

This exhortation highlights the pastoral attitude to adopt in the face of the many challenges confronting the family today.

Among these challenges are: the attack on the dignity of Christian marriage; the weakening of love between spouses; the growth of single-parent families; the promotion of “gender ideology”, which risks putting men and women in conflict; the distortion of human love; the promotion of same-sex marriages, the legalization of the destruction of the family, the commercialization of the female body, divorce and remarriage, the legalization of abortion, etc.

Faced with these challenges, we invite you, following Pope Francis, to a true path of conversion in the context of the New Evangelization. This implies on the part of pastors an attitude of welcome, discernment and accompaniment of fragile individuals and families. It is no longer a question of presenting rules and regulations, but:

– To propose to you values and offer couples motivation for this courageous and lasting stake that marriage is. (Amoris Laetitia No. 201);

– To approach families with a humble understanding, and to accompany them so that they can discover the best way to overcome the difficulties that they encounter daily. (Amoris Laetitia No. 200).

“To find the right language, arguments and forms of witness that can help us reach the hearts of young people, appealing to their capacity for generosity, commitment, love and even heroism, and in this way inviting them to take up the challenge of marriage with enthusiasm and courage” (Amoris Laetitia No. 40).

Concretely, we commit ourselves in each of our particular Churches to reinstating the family at the heart of our pastoral care by reorganizing the preparation for marriage and the accompaniment of couples during and after the celebration of the sacrament.

The preparation of fiancés for Christian marriage will henceforth be done through the structure of an interdisciplinary team for the pastoral care of the family, composed of well-prepared priests, lay persons and couples, at the levels of basic Christian communities, mission stations, parishes, deaneries and dioceses. The experience of the Pastoral Institutes shall be of great help here.

Within the framework of this pastoral task of closeness, the Church in Cameroon is aware of the values embedded in our cultures about marriage and the family that should be respected in accordance with the Gospel. This same attention will be directed towards cases of great delicateness such as: the divorced and remarried, women in distress, orphans, etc.by setting up, for example, structures of Counseling.

We admit that the service of accompanying couples after marriage has been inadequate. But with the advent of Amoris Laetitia, this post-sacramental accompaniment becomes urgency and a pastoral priority today. We will therefore seize all the opportunities offered by the life of the Church, such as recollections, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, baptisms, death celebrations, etc.(Amoris Laetitia No. 208) in order to consolidate the newlyweds in their matrimonial commitments.

In this respect, we will incorporate these orientations into the National Directory for Pastoral Care of the Family that is being revised and in the Pastoral Plans being drawn up in our dioceses.

Finally, we recommend that you welcome Church Teaching on Marriage and the Family as the application of Divine Teaching and Divine Mercy to the people, couples and families that suffer one weakness or the other.

We urge couples and pastoral agents, and the faithful to read and meditate on Amoris Laetitia.

The infinite Mercy of God requires from each Christian a discernment and a true personal conversion.

To you, members of the Church, the family of God in Cameroon, in your respective situations, of joy and of sorrow, we urge you to open yourselves to the Mercy of God and to contemplate the face of the Merciful Father, Jesus,our Savior.

On this path of welcoming the joy of love, we look unto the merciful eyes of the Holy Mother of God, for it is she who is the first to showus the way and accompany us in experiencing love. (Pope Francis)

14, January 2017

Consortium says it will not negotiate with Yaounde until all detainees are released and a referendum organized without further delay ¹

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium says it will not negotiate with the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government until all Anglophone detainees are released and a referendum organized without further delay so that Southern Cameroonians can effectively return to a two state federation.

The decision was made public earlier today Saturday the 14^th of January following the failure of a meeting grouping the Consortium and the so-called Ad Hoc Committee dominated by Francophone members of government. The Anglophone leaders have announced a massive civil disobedience campaign from Monday the 16^th of January to Tuesday the 17^th 2017.

The Yaoundé regime observed that it was ready to begin a dialogue with stakeholders in Southern Cameroons, a region which has suffered persistent Francophone militarization and marginalization ever since reunification in 1961. Since 2016, the Francophone government of President Paul Biya which has carried out a spate of attacks on Southern Cameroon citizens announced to the international community that it was involved in some kind of negotiations with British Southern Cameroonians.

However, the government has continued its campaign of arresting and torturing West Cameroonians many of who are been ferried to jails in East Cameroun. A senior officer in the Francophone dominated police institution confirmed on Wednesday that many Anglophones arrested in Muntengene and Mile 16 in Buea have been transferred to Douala and Yaounde. A source hinted our Yaounde bureau chief that military operations could resume if Southern Cameroonians did not respond to requests made by the members of the Francophone Ad Hoc Committee.

The two-week negotiations between the Consortium and the Ad Hoc Committee was such that all academic establishments in British Southern Cameroons could reopen in the region. With no breakthrough recorded so far in the process, the Anglophone leaders have decisively acted as demanded by the population and ghost town operations will begin again on Monday the 16^thof January.

The Francophone regime launched its first attack on Southern Cameroons in 2016 killing many in Kumba, Buea, Bamenda and Kumbo. The Biya regime appears to have support from the French embassy in Yaounde which is campaigning against secession of British Southern Cameroons. Southern Cameroons existed as an independent state with a Prime Minister immediately after the Eastern Regional Crisis of 1953 in the Federal Republic of Nigeria before reunification with French Cameroun.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana and Sama Ernest

14, January 2017

Iran says it won’t allow reopening of new nuclear case ⁰

A senior Iranian official says the country’s landmark nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries is non-negotiable and Tehran will never allow any new nuclear case to be opened against it. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e Ravanchi made the remarks on Friday, adding that it was “not only Iran’s stance but also that of all the P5+1 member states.”

The nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was clinched between Iran and the P5+1 group – the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – in July 2015. As per the accord, which came into force in January 2016, the six world powers committed to lifting nuclear-relation sanctions against Iran and the Islamic Republic agreed to limit its nuclear work in certain areas.

Takht-e Ravanchi’s comments were made after recent provocative remarks by US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who had said he would call for a “full review” of the JCPOA. The Iranian diplomat further said that at a recent session of the JCPOA oversight committee, known as the Joint Commission, all participants stressed that no country would be allowed to affect the deal’s implementation.

The need for all relevant parties to fully honor their obligations under the nuclear accord was stressed in the joint statement released following the meeting, Takht-e Ravanchi added. The main agenda of the meeting was to discuss Washington’s controversial extension of its so-called Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for yet another 10 years, which Tehran views as a violation of the JCPOA. The law, which authorizes the US president to re-impose bans against Iran, was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program and its support for anti-Israeli resistance groups.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry official went on to say that the US delegation also pledged that the sanctions law would have no “executive effect” on the JCPOA implementation. The sixth meeting of the commission, held in the Austrian capital Vienna on Tuesday, was called by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini following a request by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Following the talks, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi, who headed Tehran’s delegation, said the country “explained its concern on the extension,” adding, “I think the joint commission took Iran’s concern very seriously.”

Presstv

14, January 2017

Confederation of African Football: Issa Hayatou won’t step down ⁰

With age telling on him, the President of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou has announced his intention to run again for the prestigious presidency of the African Football governing body, CAF. The French speaking Cameroonian made the pronouncement after having repeatedly declared his wishes to retire.

Issa Hayatou has headed CAF for 29 years and still wants to remain in power at least for the next mandate which runs from 2017 to 2021. Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from highly placed CAF sources in Libreville, Gabon that everything will be made possible behind the scenes for Issa Hayatou to win again.

However, this time around, the football dictator will have to face a challenger coming from Madagascar and whose name is Ahmad. The latter, according to the Executive Committee of CAF, fulfilled the conditions of eligibility.

Culled from CIR

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