Headline News

12, December 2024

Unity Palace: Goodbye Rear-Admiral Joseph Fouda ⁰

After a heated argument with First Lady Chantal Biya, Rear-Admiral Joseph Fouda was drummed out of the Unity Palace accused of fraud.

He headed no unit of the Cameroonian armed forces, nor did he even grace its highest ranks, let alone did he earn President Paul Biya’s eternal gratitude by rescuing him from some plot or other, but Rear-Admiral Joseph Fouda was the most important military man of the last 20 years – nearly half the President’s time in power. Now, he is gone.

For more than two decades, he helped the 91-year-old President Biya to resist the intrigues and internal quarrels that undermined the presidential entourage. Through him, Biya avoided pitfalls and dodged cheap tricks.

Rear Admiral Joseph Fouda was indeed a very loyal aide-de-camp to Paul Biya and remains one of the oldest and closest collaborators of the head of state – a unique link that was forged in the corridors of power. Fouda is now a thing of the past.

Rita Akana with files from Africa Confidential

11, December 2024

Cameroon Concord Person of the Year 2024: Longue Longue, the musician ⁰

In this year’s razor-thin Cameroon Concord News Group contest, singer Longue Longue received the nod over Samuel Eto’o. According to our Yaoundé Bureau Chief, Cameroon Concord readers decided that Longue Longue is the one to receive Cameroon Concord News Group’s annual distinction.

So, we of the Cameroon Concord News Group are today announcing singer Simon Longkana Agno, aka Longue Longue as our annual Person of the Year.

We were preparing to publish a headline “Men of the Year” rather than “Person of the Year” as Samuel Eto’o was reportedly neck-to-neck with Longue Longue. But Eto’o’s boycott of the veteran’s international friendly against Brazil was indeed counterproductive for the man who was one of the world’s best strikers in the 2000s, and who was elected president of the Cameroonian Football Federation on December 12, 2021.

Longue Longue narrowly defeated Samuel Eto’o for the Cameroon Concord Person of the Year title, which recognizes the person who, for better or worse, has had the most impact on the year’s events.

On fighting for human rights in Cameroon, Longue Longue remains a study in resoluteness and mastery.

Cameroon Concord People voted for Longue Longue for midwifing a new human rights order and a new quest for justice in Cameroon that has had a decidedly favorable impact on the course of events in Yaoundé and in Paris.

Longue Longue singlehandedly remade and united the Cameroonian nation by exposing the evil perpetuated on innocent citizens by the regime in Yaoundé.

Longue Longue’s amiable demeanor tapped into a desire to liberate the entire Francophone Africa with his songs earned him huge support from our readers all over the world particularly from the diaspora in Europe and North America.

Longue Longue, renowned for making hits about bad governance in Cameroon, colonialism and other social ills was seen in a video recorded in a Douala gendarmerie station, hands cuffed behind his back, sitting on the floor in his underwear as the soles of his bare feet are beaten with a flat machete.

The ruling CPDM crime syndicate said in a poorly worded statement that they have “opened an investigation into the Longue Longue incident.”

Longue Longue went through all of this for the Cameroonian people and for his freedom of thought.

Cameroonians watched Longue Longue in panic with his underpants underneath a chair!

Cameroonians watched a leg standing on Longue Longue’s knee!

Cameroonians watched the arrest of Longue Longue in 2019 after posting a video saying that the 91-year-old President Biya had rigged the 2018 election and that Maurice Kamto of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement was the rightful winner of the polls.

Longue Longue’s torture video is indeed a reminiscent of the horrific treatment Cameroonian opposition figures, journalists, Southern Cameroons activists including Roman Catholic clerics are facing under the 42-year- old Biya regime.

The renowned Barrister Akere Muna said Longue Longue’s treatment was a “stark reminder of the depths of depravity to which humanity can descend”.

More than three decades after he left Yabassi to Douala on the back of a truck for a job that eventually gave him nothing; Longue Longue won the Makossa Best Artist Award after his huge success with the album “Ayo Africa”.

He told the Cameroonian people to always wait for God’s time. “There is nothing to do but wait” he said instead of rushing to consult witch doctors to be successful in life.

He is the first Cameroonian singer to get a majority of the Cameroon Concord News vote. Only Archbishop Andrew Nkea had done that in all of our history.

We of the Concord Group are proud of his work as a singer and also as an activist, singing against injustice and fighting for human rights in Cameroon. We today congratulate Longue Longue for the richly deserved recognition accorded him by a tremendous majority of Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report readers. 2025 will bring more success stories to the Cameroonian nation.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group

11, December 2024

Ban on NGOs: Rebecca Enonchong weighs in on Atanga Nji’s performance ⁰

Despite Paul Atanga Nji’s continued stay in office as Minister of Territorial Administration, his recent suspension of several NGOs is now being branded a disaster by many including renowned businesswoman Rebecca Enonchong.

Biya regime suspended the activities of several NGOs and associations for three months, and banned two other entities. The decision was defended by Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration, who justified it on the grounds of suspected illicit financing, money laundering and terrorist financing.

The organisations targeted by this measure include the Charitable Socio-cultural Association of Cameroon (ACSCC), Reach Out Cameroon (ROC), the Réseau des droits humains en Afrique centrale (REDHAC) and the L.M Nanje Foundation INC. The suspensions and bans were issued without prior notice, sending shockwaves through the human rights community.

On social network X, Rebecca Enonchong denounced the measure. ‘Suspending human rights groups by an administrative measure, without due process, is pure provocation. Defending these organisations is our duty. We cannot allow our common rights to be flouted with impunity’ noted the businesswoman.

Atanga Nji, the conman par excellence had told his bosses in Yaoundé that if accorded the territorial administration portfolio, he would end the crisis in Southern Cameroons given that he knew the terrain and was an Anglophone.

The man with very limited formal education is now seeing the end of the massive scam that his government has put in place and has decided to destroy the civil society.

By Rita Akana

10, December 2024

Israel’s Netanyahu takes the stand in historic corruption trial ⁰

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes the stand on Tuesday in his long-running trial for alleged corruption, setting off what’s expected to be a weeks-long spectacle that will draw unwelcome attention to his legal woes as he faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes and the fighting in Gaza continues.

It is the first time an Israeli prime minister is testifying as a criminal defendant, an embarrassing milestone for a leader who has tried to cultivate an image as a sophisticated and respected statesman.

Netanyahu arrived at the packed courtroom ahead of his testimony, appearing at ease and shaking hands with members of his Likud party who were in attendance. Before taking the stand, Netanyahu’s lawyer laid out the defense’s case, and attempted to poke holes in the indictment.

Netanyahu will answer during his court appearances to charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

He is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cigars and champagne from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for assisting him with personal and business interests. He is also accused of promoting advantageous regulation for media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage of himself and his family.

Netanyahu, 75, denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased legal system out to topple his lengthy rule. His testimony caps years of scandals that have swirled around him and his family.

“Eight years I’ve waited for this day. Eight years I have waited to present the truth. Eight years I am waiting to knock down once and for all these deluded and absurd charges against me,” Netanyahu said defiantly on the eve of his testimony. “These investigations were born of sin. There was no offense, so they found an offense.”

Dozens of people gathered outside of the court in Tel Aviv, some protesting against Netanyahu, including family members of hostages held in Gaza, and also a group of his supporters. A banner draped in front of the court read: “Crime Minister.”

Under Israeli law, indicted prime ministers are not required to step down. But the charges against Netanyahu cleaved deep divisions in Israel, with protesters demanding he resign and former political allies refusing to serve in government with the Israeli leader, triggering a political crisis that led to five elections in less than four years beginning in 2019.

Netanyahu’s supporters view the charges as the result of the justice system’s bias and overreach.

Despite the pressure, the polarizing Netanyahu has rejected calls to step down and has used his position as prime minister to lash out at law enforcement, media and courts.

The testimony, set to take place six hours a day, three days a week for several weeks, will take up a significant chunk of Netanyahu’s working hours, prompting critics to ask if he can capably manage a country embroiled in a war on one front, containing the fallout from a second, and keeping tabs on other potential regional threats, including from Iran or the recent fall of Bashar Assad in Syria.

An Israeli court rejected a request by Netanyahu’s lawyers to reduce the expected testimony hours, as well as several other requests to delay the start of the testimony, which they said were necessary because of the prime minister’s busy schedule and the country’s significant challenges.

Source: FRANCE 24 with AP

10, December 2024

Biya’s live facial recognition project still trying to identify a banker ⁰

The President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, last week directed his government to source for money from a Chinese bank for the partial financing of a national video surveillance project with live facial recognition.

The move comes weeks after another Chinese partner, China Construction Bank Corporation (CCBC), decided to discontinue negotiations to offer the government a loan of FCFA 33 billion (approximately US$52 million).

In a decree signed on December 2, the president asked the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, to sign a loan agreement with the Shenzhen branch of China Citic Bank Corporation Ltd worth $52 million for the partial financing of the project’s second phase.

At the close of September, Cameroon’s debt management company (CAA) disclosed in a public debt report that CCBC had decided to withdraw from the deal. Although the CAA’s report didn’t mention CCBC by name or the reason for the withdrawal, it is clear that an authorization had been given in 2021 to contract a loan with the bank for the project, as reported by Business in Cameroon.

In March this year, the government also got presidential authorization to secure another loan from the Hong Kong branch of Banco Santander for the same project.

The funding from these two banks, when obtained, will enable the government to start the second phase of the facial recognition project which will see the construction of command and data centers in each of the ten regional capital of the country, installation of base stations, and the inter-connection of police services for more efficient crime detection.

Phase I of the project has already been completed with hundreds of CCTV camera planted in the two largest cities of Yaounde and Douala, as well as in other regional cities. This phase has already seen the construction of two major command centers, the second of which was inaugurated last year in Douala.

Apart from capturing crime scenes, the system is meant to record traffic accidents, disruption of road traffic such as through violation of traffic lights, or any other form of urban disorder that warrants prompt police intervention.

It is being implemented by the General Delegation for National Security (DGSN) in partnership with Cameroon’s state-owned telecommunications company (CAMTEL) and Chinese tech giant Huawei. Huawei supports similar video surveillance projects in other African countries in what appears to be a growing trend across the continent.

The video surveillance projects, despite the advantages touted by governments, have faced criticism from digital rights advocates over concerns related to privacy and human rights.

Source: Biometricupdate

9, December 2024

Francophone-Anglophone education systems: Nalova explains Baccalaureate pass rate harmonization ⁰

The passing grade for the francophone general baccalaureate in Cameroon was set at 10 out of 20 to ensure “equity” between the francophone and anglophone education systems, Minister of Secondary Education Nalova Lyonga told lawmakers.

“In previous years, students in the francophone subsystem were admitted to exams with an average score below 10, whereas those in the anglophone subsystem had to achieve a score of 10 or higher,” Minister Nalova Lyonga said during a December 4 appearance before the National Assembly’s Finance Committee. This decision was necessary to “harmonize the two subsystems,” she explained.

This harmonization led to a dramatic decline in the 2024 francophone baccalaureate pass rate, which fell to 37%, the lowest in 20 years.

The Ministry of Secondary Education did not provide an official explanation for the poor results, which were released in July. However, teachers interviewed said that unlike in previous years, there were no post-correction deliberations in 2024. These deliberations had previously allowed candidates with scores below 10 to be “rescued” by examination boards. As a result, only candidates who achieved a final average of 10 or higher after the exam grading were declared successful.

This policy is expected to continue. In September, during the start of the school year, Minister Lyonga announced in Bafoussam that there would be no further “rescues” for candidates scoring below an average of 10.

Source: Business in Cameroon

9, December 2024

Barrister Tamfu Affair: Beti Assomo says gendarmes entitled to self-defense ⁰

Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo spoke out on the actions of gendarmes who assaulted lawyer Richard Tamfu on November 27 in Douala, while appearing before the Finance and Budget Committee on December 3.

The minister, while defending his ministry’s 2025 budget, confirmed an investigation had been launched into the incident but emphasized his condemnation of “insults and incivility by citizens against gendarmes and military personnel,” stressing their right to self-defense if attacked.

This defensive stance aligns with findings from an investigative report obtained by SBBC. The report, from the National Gendarmerie, accuses barrister Tamfu Ngarka Tristel Richard of “violence against public officials, rebellion, destruction of military property, obstruction of justice, and insults.” It states that five gendarmes assaulted Tamfu in response, and they now face charges of abuse of office, causing minor injuries, and violating orders.

Source: Business in Cameroon

9, December 2024

2025 presidential election: Who will run? ⁰

As 2025 approaches, many Cameroonians are concerned about the future of their country. Cameroon is at a standstill both politically and economically. The country is in dire need of an overhaul and many analysts have opined that the 2025 presidential election might reshape the country’s future.

However, though the presidential election is less than ten months away, Cameroonians are not yet aware of the candidates in the race for the Unity Palace as some political parties have not yet revealed their candidates to the public and this is indeed a cause for concern.

Despite the suspense, some candidates are already working hard to make their presidential ambitions known and their programs are out there for people to appreciate.

First to inform Cameroonians about his presidential ambition is Barrister Akere Muna, a world known Cameroonian lawyer who has made his country proud. At the international level, Akere Muna is known for his unrelenting effort to stamp out corruption from many international organizations and from his native Cameroon. It is not in error that he is known as Mr. Glencore, a name given to him after his commendable efforts to ensure that Cameroonian officials which took money from Glencore, get punished according to the law.

Though his efforts in that regard have not produced anything meaningful, Barrister Muna is not throwing in the towel and his determination to become the president of Cameroon only increases by the day as he wants to stamp out corruption in high places in Cameroon.

Barrister Muna is not a new face in the race. He understands the challenges and many Cameroonians think that he is capable of changing many things in the country. Many Cameroonians are looking up to him and this explains why his endorsement by some opposition parties as their candidate caused some excitement.

Although he has not yet openly declared that he will be in the race, many Cameroonians hold that Prof. Maurice Kamto will be a key player and could even be the favorite.

He was in the 2018 presidential race where he claimed victory and ended up in custody for eight months. Despite that setback, Prof. Kamto still has his eyes on the big prize. A law professor who brought fame and Bakassi to Cameroon, Prof. Kamto is seen by many as the man who is capable of beating the incumbent who has been in power for over four decades.

His MRC party has won hearts and minds across the country and many hold that if given an opportunity, Prof. Kamto’s party might help address some of the economic and political challenges that have bogged down the country.

Though the ruling CPDM is trying very hard to characterize MRC as a regional party, Prof. Kamto has continued to develop and position his party as a national party which will unite the country after the Biya era which has made divide and rule its cardinal objective.

Prof. Kamto has always drawn the world’s attention to the disaster playing out in the country’s two English-speaking regions and has promised to meet with separatists leaders if he becomes the president of Cameroon. He believes in federalism and has always stated that he would not preside over the balkanisation of his beloved Cameroon.

Also expected to be in the race is the SDF chairman, Josua Osih, though he has not yet openly declared his candidacy. Mr. Osih is currently a parliamentarian. Serving as a parliamentarian has given Mr. Osih a lot of experience which will surely come in handy when and if he wins the presidential race.

The SDF is currently not the chief opposition party in Cameroon and its influence has diminished following the demise of its premier and iconic leader, John Fru Ndi, who gave the current president, Paul Biya, a run for his money in the 1992 presidential election. The SDF is capable of staging a massive comeback and many observers hold that Mr. Osih’s low-key and collaborative leadership approach might deliver a massive surprise in the 2025 polls.

The 2025 presidential polls cannot be discussed without mentioning the incumbent’s name. Mr. Biya who has been in power for 42 years has the benefit of incumbency. His total control of the country’s treasury gives him certain financial advantages which other parties may not have.

However, his long stay in power might be a huge disadvantage as many Cameroonians are of the opinion that he has overstayed his welcome. His age and failing health could also be some of the annoying inconveniences which might mar Mr. Biya’s campaign.

However, some analysts say he might not run as his age has diminished his mental and physical ability. The analysts hold that he might manage the transition to ensure that his successor comes from his party to ensure that his family and collaborators get the protection they need when he leaves power.

Mr. Biya has been a fixture on Cameroon’s political landscape having been thrust into power by the country’s first president, Amadou Ahidjo, who resigned in 1982. Ahidjo saw the young Biya as an asset to the country and thought that Mr. Biya was capable of steering the country to better shores.

Unfortunately, things have not turned out as planned. The country’s economy has been in shambles for more than three decades, with unemployment reaching alarming levels. Many young Cameroonians are frustrated and thousands have left the country to try their luck somewhere else. Cameroon has not been the eldorado Ahidjo thought it would become under Mr. Biya.

Nepotism and corruption have become the country’s hallmarks. The massive, dysfunctional and corrupt civil service is full of Biya loyalists and tribesmen and this is a tough challenge the next president will have to deal with.

Currently, the government is bleeding money and in a bid to raise more money, the government is instituting more annoying taxes. The 2024 finance bill has just been passed and it is not good news to struggling Cameroonians. The new taxes will trigger a further escalation of living cost and most Cameroonians who are already in the throes of a severe crisis will have to look for creative ways to survive if they must not be rolled into an early grave by high prices.

The 2025 polls are an opportunity for Cameroonians to reshape their political destiny. The lineup of candidates is impressive. Will they vote for continuity or will they design a new path by walking away from the ruling party which has made corruption a way of life?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

8, December 2024

Syria’s Assad in Moscow, given asylum by Russia ⁰

Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president of Syria, has reportedly arrived in Moscow along with his family after his government fell to militants.

Citing a source in the Kremlin, several Russian media outlets reported on Sunday that the Russian government has granted Assad and his family asylum.

“President al-Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian presidency about his whereabouts.

Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he had not spoken with Assad since Saturday. Jalali said that he would stay in Syria and was ready to work with whomever the Syrian people choose as their leader.

Militants, headed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), declared a curfew in Damascus on Sunday until the following morning, after seizing the capital following a lightning offensive launched last week.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the HTS commander, said Sunday that Syrian state institutions would be supervised by Jalali until a transition of power takes place.

The HTS said it would work with the prime minister and called on Syrian military forces in Damascus to stay away from public institutions.

President Assad reportedly departed Syria on an airplane earlier in the day, bringing an end to more than five decades of his family’s rule over Syria.

Source: Presstv

8, December 2024

Ghana: Historic election comeback for John Mahama ⁰

Former president John Mahama, Ghana’s main opposition leader, tried twice before to win back the country top post.

Now he has secured a huge comeback on his third attempt for the presidency after tapping into the country’s economic frustrations to win Saturday’s election.

His win marks a historic victory, making him the first president in the three decades of Ghana’s Fourth Republic — since the 1992 return to multi-party democracy — to reclaim the presidency after being voted out.

Mahama, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, beat out Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who represented the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and who conceded defeat on Sunday.

The economy became a major election issue after Ghana defaulted on its debt and entered into a $3 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Mahama, 66, who served as president from 2012 to 2017, promised to “reset” Ghana, renegotiate parts of the IMF deal and introduce a “24-hour” economy to create jobs, a major concern for many younger voters.

– Writer and music fan –

A writer and devotee of Afrobeat music, Mahama wrote in his memoir “My First Coup d’Etat — And Other True Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa” that he was changed by his boyhood experiences during a 1966 military coup.

He was born in northern Ghana as a child of privilege, his house being the only one in the village with a diesel generator.

His father, who served as junior minister, was briefly detained and interrogated by the 1966 coup leaders but was later released unharmed.

Mahama was also a Member of Parliament and chairman of the West Africa Caucus at the Pan-African Parliament in Pretoria.

On corruption, Mahama says he will create a new office tasked with scrutinising government procurement above a $5 million threshold.

He says unchecked procurement processes are a major source of corruption.

Mahama voiced support for the anti-LGBTQ bill passed by Ghana’s parliament in February but which is yet to be signed into law and has sparked international criticism.

But Mustapha Gbande, a spokesperson for Mahama’s campaign, had expressed confidence in the candidate’s chances.

“People are looking for change and they trust Mahama to steer the country in a better direction,” he said.

But Mahama’s tenure as president was marred by a severe energy crisis that led to persistent power cuts, known locally as “dumsor”, which dented his reputation.

Corruption allegations also plagued his administration, although no charges were formally filed against him.

Mahama’s campaign sought to counter criticism by emphasising his experience in international leadership, including his role in combating the Ebola crisis as chairman of regional West African bloc ECOWAS.

Source: AFP