Headline News

6, April 2024

BEAC withdraws CFA63bn in a week to curb CEMAC inflation ⁰

The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has successfully withdrawn a total of CFA63 billion from the banking system in two operations. This move is part of the central bank’s efforts to combat monetary inflation, which accounts for 20% of the inflation in the region.

The first withdrawal operation took place on March 28, when the central bank targeted CFA50 billion through the issuance of 14-day BEAC bonds at a 2.5% interest rate. However, it only managed to attract an offer of CFA15 billion, resulting in a relatively low demand coverage rate of just over 30%.

On April 2, BEAC launched another operation for CFA230 billion but only one bank participated, allowing the central bank to withdraw CFA48 billion at an interest rate of 1.25%. In total, the central bank managed to collect CFA63 billion from commercial banks in a week.

Let’s note that the escalation of liquidity withdrawals, including increasing the amounts sought by the BEAC and issuing BEAC bonds, are among the strategies employed by the CEMAC central bank to fight soaring inflation within the region. In addition to these measures, the BEAC has recently increased its key interest rates multiple times to slow down the refinancing pace of commercial banks and has suspended its liquidity injection operations into the banking system.

The central bank’s goal is to drain the banks and thus restrict economic agents’ access to credit. According to the BEAC, injecting significant financing into economic circuits contributes to inflation, especially in countries like those in the CEMAC region, where most goods and services are imported.

Source: Business in Cameroon

6, April 2024

2 Cameroonians killed in a truck accident in southern Mexico ⁰

Three migrants died in a highway accident in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca, authorities said Thursday.

At least two of the dead — a man and a woman — are from the African nation of Cameroon, and the identity of the third is being checked. Five more migrants were injured and are being treated at local hospitals.

The country’s National Immigration Institute did not immediately identify the cause of the crash, or provide information on the condition of those injured.

Oaxaca is a key route for migrants seeking to cross Mexico to reach the U.S. border, and accidents involving migrants there are common.

In March, the bodies of eight Asian migrants were found after a boat accident along Oaxaca’s Pacific coast.

One survivor, an Asian man, was located. The bodies were found near a beach in the town of Playa Vicente, which is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

In 2023, at least 16 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti died in a bus crash in Oaxaca.

There has been a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants traveling toward the U.S. border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks.

Last year, 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others were seriously injured after a freight truck they were riding in crashed on a highway in the neighboring state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala.

The National Immigration Institute said all of the dead Cuban migrants were women, and one of them was under 18.

The Institute said the driver of the vehicle had apparently been speeding and lost control of the truck, which was carrying 27 migrants at the time. The driver fled the scene.

Mexican authorities generally prohibit migrants without proper documents from buying tickets for regular buses, so those without the money to hire smugglers often hire poorly-driven, poorly-maintained buses that speed to avoid being stopped. Or they walk along the side of highways, hitching rides aboard passing trucks.

Last week, a truck flipped over on a highway in Chiapas, killing two Central American migrants and injuring another 27. And two Central American migrants died last week after trying to board a moving train in the state of Coahuila near the Texas border.

Source: WRALnews

4, April 2024

Cameroon and Chad government troops free scores of hostages ⁰

Troops from Chad and Cameroon have freed scores of civilians who were kidnapped for ransom or to fight with jihadist groups on both sides of the two central African states’ border.

Military officials from both countries say the number of civilian kidnappings has increased along the border, with several hundred people still in captivity.

Cameroon’s military said Tuesday it received five civilians — a 54-year-old man and four people between 17 and 24 years old — from Chadian government troops.

The five men, who were escorted to the office of the governor of Cameroon’s Far North region on Wednesday, were abducted this year from villages around Kousseri and Logone Birni, towns on the border with Chad, Cameroon government officials said.

Victor Boukar, one of the former hostages, said heavily armed men chained their legs every night and tied their hands with ropes during the day. He said they were tortured regularly and were given only one meal per day during their 70 days in captivity.

Boukar said captors regularly forced 35 captives, including seven women, to move to different localities on both sides of the Cameroon-Chad border to avoid government troops trying to rescue them.

Hostages whose families paid a ransom were abandoned in the bush, he said, adding that armed men have representatives who collect the ransom money in border towns and villages.

Last week, Chad said its troops launched attacks on border villages in Mayo Kebbi East and Mayo Kebbi West provinces where several hundred people were held hostage by armed gangs and jihadists. It said soldiers freed scores of civilians. Cameroonian nationals were returned to their home country, while Chadians were reunited with their families after receiving medical care.

Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the Far North region, said Chad and Cameroon are reuniting to fight rebels and bring peace along their porous, 1,100-plus kilometer (680-mile) land border.

He said Cameroonian border troops will arrest or kill armed men and jihadists hiding in local towns and villages, and Cameroon is allowing Chadian troops to cross the border in hot pursuit of Boko Haram militants and armed gangs.

General Ahmat Kogri, a military adviser to Chad’s transitional president Mahamat Idriss Deby, told Chad’s state TV on Wednesday that Boko Haram militants have renewed attacks and abductions to acquire supplies, after their fire power was drastically reduced in battles with the Multinational Joint Task Force.

Kogri said forces fighting to restore peace have taken note that Boko Haram and its splinter jihadist groups are again attacking people and seizing goods. He said civilians should report all strangers in border towns and villages to government troops.

Boko Haram attacks began in Nigeria’s Borno state in 2009 and spread to Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The United Nations says the Islamist insurgency has left more than 37,000 people dead, mainly in Nigeria, and displaced more than 3 million.

Source: VOA

4, April 2024

Battle for the Unity Palace: ANNOUNCEMENT! ⁰

THIS IS TO ADVISE THAT A COALITION OF THE BRAVE IS LOOKING FOR YOUNG CAMEROONIANS IN THEIR 40s AND EARLY 50s WHO ARE POLITICS-SAVVY AND WOULD BE INTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2025 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN CAMEROON.

THE CHOSEN CANDIDATE WILL BE ARMED WITH THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES NECESSARY TO ENABLE HIM OR HER PUT UP A GREAT FIGHT DURING THE CAMPAIGN.

THE COALITION WILL SOON COMMENCE CAMPAIGNING USING SOCIAL MEDIA AND PERSON-TO-PERSON CONTACTS TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN IN LINE WITH THE LAWS OF THE LAND.

PLEASE INDICATE YOUR INTEREST BY CONTACTING THE CHAIRMAN, CAMEROON CONCORD NEWS GROUP.

FOR

THE CHAIRMAN, THE COALITION OF THE BRAVE

3, April 2024

Biya regime risks FIFA sanctions after bypassing FECAFOOT to appoint coach ⁰

The Cameroonian Government has appointed Marc Brys as the new head coach of the national men’s football team without consulting the country’s football federation (FECAFOOT).

The surprise announcement, made by Sports Minister, Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, on Tuesday, has left FECAFOOT blindsided and threatens to spark a conflict that could potentially lead to Cameroon facing sanctions from FIFA.

FECAFOOT released a statement expressing its “great surprise” at the unilateral decision, stating they had learned about Brys’ appointment at the same time as the general public. The Federation emphasised that this act came despite their agreement to cooperate frankly to find a beneficial solution for the Indomitable Lions following Rigobert Song’s dismissal in February.

The development underscores the delicate balance FECAFOOT President and former African Footballer of the Year, Samuel Eto’o, must strike. While striving to assert the Federation’s independence, he will be required to also tread carefully in a nation where matters concerning the national team are of high priority to the government, often overseen by long-standing President Paul Biya himself.

However, interference from governments in the affairs of football Federations has remained a sensitive issue for FIFA, with the world governing body frequently imposing bans on countries where such meddling occurs. Kenya and Zimbabwe are recent examples of countries in Africa that have faced suspensions, only recently being readmitted after resolving their respective crises.

Source: The Will

3, April 2024

Daughters of Manyu Ireland: Some takeaways from a great celebration in Dublin ⁰

Thousands of eyes all over the world were on Dublin, but what message did Daughters of Manyu Ireland send out about their home constituency in Cameroon-The Manyu Division?

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group knew this would be a real spectacle, but from an ekpe front row seat at Anus Kitchen Glen Abbey, I watched Daughters of Manyu with all their pomp on show- Moningkim, flamboyant Manyu robes and ekpe regalia.

There were so many old Manyu traditions that were displayed. But who knew, until March 30^th that Manyu Seseskous and traditional leaders could interpret sound messages? The Daughters of Manyu Ireland event is what distinguishes Manyu Division in Cameroon from the rest of Africa.

We witnessed in Glen Abbey in County Dublin the inclusion of many other African communities and representatives of the Irish society and Mgbe Manyu UK were involved in a ceremony out of their jurisdiction for the first time ever. Daughters of Manyu Ireland sent out a message of diversity and inclusion never known in the history of the Great Manyu Division.

Another first were the Moningkim ladies. Their dancing thrilled the sell-out crowd. Afterwards, Chief Ebot Agbor of MECA Ireland told this reporter that “you will never see Moningkim that well performed ever again in Europe.”

For hours on that Saturday, DJ Takeaway from Great Britain kept Anus Kitchen filled with simply wonderful music.

Thousands of Manyus saw the live broadcast on Face book; live streaming online, clips turned around on social media and Smartphones made those who answered present photographers.

Daughters of Manyu Ireland is the oldest Manyu women association in Western Europe that has held the hopes of the Manyu people in quite the way that the late Mami Arreyngang did with Glee Club some three decades ago in Mamfe the chief town in Manyu.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Dublin

3, April 2024

Douala: police tear gas residents fighting eviction near airport ⁰

Police in Cameroon fired tear gas on Saturday morning as they clashed with residents fighting eviction from a neighbourhood adjacent to Newton Airport in the country’s economic capital Douala.

An official said inhabitants of the informal settlement, known locally as Fret Aeroport, were illegally occupying government land and that they would not be compensated.

Some residents, many of whom have lived next to the airport for decades despite repeated attempts by the authorities to move them, said they were given less than two days to move out.

“This is airport land, the airport has its land title here, and these populations have settled anarchically,” said Hector Eto Fame, a local government representative.

“People who illegally occupy the private domain of the state do not deserve, according to the law, compensation.”

Riot police fought pitched battles with people throwing stones as they went from house to house, creeping through streets choked with furniture, mattresses and tear gas. A barricade of burning tables was seen blocking one road.

Elsewhere, women and children cried as they watched a large excavator tear down buildings amid a wasteland of concrete and crumpled metal roofing.

It’s the second time people have been evicted from the neighbourhood this year. In January almost 200 families were forced out of their homes, according to local rights groups.

The government has said previously more than 100,000 people were living within the airport perimeter, and it was necessary to move them to prevent people crossing the runway and to protect aircraft.

“We were given the formal notice less than a day before the destruction. I’m overwhelmed,” said Daïkolé Mama, a resident.

“We were not told anything about the motivation for the destruction. I have been living in this neighbourhood for 30 years.”

Source: Reuters

3, April 2024

Francophonie: FECAFOOT surprised at naming of new national team coach ⁰

Cameroon’s football federation (FECAFOOT) did not know about the appointment of a new national team coach and were surprised by the sports ministry announcement naming Belgian Marc Brys.

Cameroon Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi said 61-year-old Brys was taking over as coach of the Indomitable Lions following the dismissal of Rigobert Song in February.

But the federation said on Wednesday it was taken aback by the news, setting up the potential of conflict between the sports ministry and soccer federation which could lead to a ban for one of Africa’s footballing heavyweights.

“The Cameroonian Football Federation has learned, at the same time as all Cameroonians, the appointment to positions of responsibility for the national senior men’s football team. FECAFOOT expresses its great surprise at this act,” the statement said.

“This unilateral decision comes at the same time as FECAFOOT agreed frank cooperation to achieve a beneficial solution for the future of our dear Indomitable Lions.

“FECAFOOT intends to seek an explanation on this regrettable situation,” it added.

Normally, the football federation would appoint and pay its coaches but in some African countries this is done by the government, especially when federations are cash-strapped.

FECAFOOT is headed by former African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o, who had a storied career playing in Europe.

Eto’o has tried to assert some independence but has also had to tread carefully in a country where matters around the football team are high priority for the government.

Long-standing Cameroon president Paul Biya has often weighed in on team affairs, famously demanding that 38-year-old Roger Milla be included in the squad for the 1990 World Cup.

The veteran striker went on to score key goals as Cameroon became the first African country to reach the quarter-finals.

Cameroon have qualified for eight World Cup tournaments, more than any other African country, making the Indomitable Lions one of the country’s major assets.

World soccer’s governing body FIFA has frequently banned countries when governments interfere in the football federation’s affairs. Kenya and Zimbabwe are two African countries who have only recently had such a ban lifted.

The much-anticipated announcement of the new coach was made on Cameroon television on Tuesday.

Brys has coached clubs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, but this is his first national team appointment.

Source: Reuters

3, April 2024

Indomitable Lions: Biya appoints Marc Brys as new head coach ⁰

Belgian Marc Brys has been appointed Rigobert Song’s replacement as Cameroon’s national team coach, the country’s sports ministry announced on Tuesday.

The 61-year-old has coached 15 clubs in his career, in Belgium, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

His last job was a three-year stint with Leuven.

Brys’ assistant coach will be former Cameroon forward Francois Omam-Biyik, who scored 26 international goals between 1985 and 1998.

He takes over a team who were dumped out of the recent Africa Cup of Nations by Nigeria in the last 16.

Cameroon are currently top of Group D of African qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, following a win over Mauritius and an away draw with Libya.

Song’s contract was not renewed by Cameroonian football federation president Samuel Eto’o after the AFCON exit.

Source: AFP

2, April 2024

Replacing Biya: What else do French-speaking Cameroonians want? ⁰

Cameroon is going down the drain and only Cameroonian citizens, especially French-speaking, can end the mess playing out in the country.

They claim they are scared of soldiers because Mr. Biya’s military is wicked and trained to kill. But this is not totally true. There is an issue of courage in this whole situation.

English-speaking Cameroonians have proven that the so-called well trained army is a myth. The soldiers are simply armed scouts in military fatigue.

At the height of the Southern Cameroons war of independence, Ambazonians slaughtered the country’s military like fouls and goats, sometimes chopping off their heads, limbs and hands in front of a camera. Some of the soldiers were even robbed of their manhood as a way of telling them that they were in the wrong territory.

When arrested by brave Ambazonian fighters, Francophone soldiers cried like babies, sometimes pleading with brave Amba fighters to forgive their sins as if Amba fighters were Roman Catholic priest to whom they had to confess.

More than four thousand Cameroon government soldiers have been killed during the fierce fighting, with more than three thousand scarred both mentally and physically.

Some of those so-called soldiers even walked away from the war front, screaming and crying for mercy as brave Southern Cameroonian fighters pursued them.

Many of those Biya regime soldiers even had to bribe their bosses for them not to be sent to the war front.

Stories told by their colleagues who survived Amba onslaughts rang in their minds and many simply deserted and left the country. Amba fighters have succeeded to strike fear in the minds of those La Republique du Cameroun scouts who are erroneously known as BIR soldiers. Even the Rapid Intervention Squad (BIR) has been kicked out of Southern Cameroons with their tail between their legs.

So, what are French-speaking Cameroonians still waiting for? They want the entire country to disappear for them to understand that the solutions to the mess playing out in the country are in their hands?

It is time for young French-speaking Cameroonians to muster courage to face the armed scouts in their country. If they think someone else will bail them out of their predicament, then they will have to wait forever.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai