28, February 2024
African Union candidate for the next UNGA Session: What does the French Cameroun pick mean to the Ambazonia struggle? 0
In a realm plagued by corruption, deception, extortion, arbitrary arrest, and indiscriminate killings by the invading genocidal military of French Cameroun in Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, Paul Biya’s government disguises its malevolence with a facade of benevolence. They manipulate media, suppress dissent, and exploit propaganda to portray themselves as saviours while committing genocide in Ambazonia and oppressing the citizens of French Cameroun. Behind the scenes, they prioritize personal gain over citizen’s welfare, sacrificing ethics for power, using the genocidal war in Ambazonia for their personal gains and exploiting their citizens with high cost of fuel and livelihood to retain in power the nonagenarian naked emperor Paul Biya and his government.
Here are a few of the massacres carried out under the orders of Paul Biya in Ambazonia. 25 May 20018 (Menka) at least 30 civilians massacred, 12 July 2018: Tiben Village (Batibo) Massacre. At least 20 killed, 7 August 2018: Pete-Bakundu Massacre. At least 12 killed, 17 October 2018: Bafia-Muyuka Massacre. At least 15 killed, 10 October 2019: Mutengene Massacre. At least a dozen killed, 14 February 2020: Ngarbuh Massacre. At least 30 killed, 1 March 2020: Babanki-Tungo Massacre. At least 20 killed, 19 August 2020: Tiko Massacre. About 10 killed, 24 October 2020: Mother Francisca Bilingual Academy Massacre in Fiango Kumba. About a dozen killed, 27 November 2020: Mavas Village (Manyu) Massacre. About 10 killed, 11 January 2021: Mautu Village Massacre. At least 41 killed, 2023: Egbekaw (Manyu) Massacre. About 40 killed. It should be noted that in every case the victims of the massacres included men, women, and children.
These statistics provided above are the minimum numbers since it is difficult to get an accurate count of all those massacres especially because of fear on the part of the local people to come out and declare that their relatives or neighbours have also been killed; and also, because the French Cameroun killers and their affiliate actors always conceal some of the bodies or otherwise dispose of them in mass graves. No independent investigator has been allowed to investigate these massacres and ascertain their full extent. However, the minimum numbers provided come from the body counts of those which could not be hidden. Most of those massacred were shot point blank range. A few others later succumbed to gunshot wounds they had received.
The French Cameroun government’s actions are poison to its people, leading to a society driven by fear, disillusionment, and poverty. There are no jobs, the country’s infrastructure is collapsing, and the population is without drinking water which are the basics that a responsible government must provide to its people. There is no hope and future for the country’s youths because of the sleepy, tired, septuagenarians, octogenarians and nonagenarians who are ruling French Cameroun with impunity.
French Cameroun is presenting the African Union’s vote for its candidate as a victory for French Cameroun and that its candidate will indeed chair the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) in September. Apart from developments in that failed state that could prevent this from happening, there are two other points to bear in mind.
French Cameroun did not beat South Africa in any vote. What happened is that South Africa withdrew. South Africa withdrew because it concluded that a South African candidate may not be voted in the General Assembly by states angered by the fact that it instituted genocide proceedings against Israel. Another reason could be French Cameroun used what it knows best using boxes of cash and taking advantage of South Africa’s case against Israel to lure their candidate to withdraw.
The African Union agreeing on the candidate of French Cameroun is not the end of the selection of the chairperson of the next session of the UNGA. And it is not a foregone conclusion that Philemon Yang will be the chairperson come September. There is still a vote to be conducted within the UNGA itself. Although the Assembly had decided that the chair would this time come from Africa, there would still be a secret ballot on an African candidate. The vote could demonstrate that Philemon Yang is not suitably qualified, in which case the African bloc would be requested to propose another candidate. Also, another African country could propose a candidate who would then compete with Yang and probably win. Although there is an African Union-approved candidate, nothing prevents some African countries at the United Nation from voting differently, especially if they think there is another African country with better and stronger credentials.
But, why Philemon Yang from Bui County like me? Remember that Philemon Yang performed so badly as French Cameroun’s ‘ambassador’ for 20 years in Canada and he was the laughingstock within the diplomatic community. He was Biya’s errand boy in Canada. He was so inefficient and so ineffective; a dismal standard he continued to display when Biya made him assistant Secretary General at the Presidency, with the rank of minister, from 2004 to 2009, so-called prime Minister. Yang’s under-performance is so well known that it’s very unlikely the UN will allow itself to be inflicted the agony of such an under-performing man to preside a session of the UNGA and pretend and push the narrative that Cameroun is one and indivisible. But we have never been one. We are two states of equal status.
Apart from Yang’s legendary mediocrity, there is also the fact that Biya is universally despised, even in Africa. He is despised because he is a crooked old man. He has a history as a serial murderer and abuser of power. He revels in deep corruption, violence, disrespect for the law and the rule of law. He is notorious for egregious human rights abuse. He leads an extravagant life at the expense of his wretched compatriots. He is fake and fraudulent.
Why must our country be bound in some way or another to French Cameroun? French Cameroun did not respect the federation between our two countries and it made it clear that they saw it only as a stepping stone to the annexation of Southern Cameroons. Every and any agreement between the Southern Cameroons and French Cameroun is like an agreement between a sheep and a wolf. Only a miracle will make a wolf to respect the sheep. Should we continue to voluntarily place ourselves at the mercy of the cruel and uncivilised barbarians of French Cameroun? Are we constitutionally defective that we cannot even see our own betterment and fight for it since freedom is not given but taken? In the beauty of our diversity, the willing amongst us, the never again generation are making this happen.
French Cameroun has made its agenda clear, which is the eternal enslavement of the people of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia through annexation and assimilation. French Cameroun’s political leaders like Kamto use the same playbook. So, anyone proposing anything that requires an agreement for the Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia to have some link with French Cameroun should let us know when French Cameroun renounces its agenda of annexation and assimilation and how would we get French Cameroun to live by any agreements.
Elites, some Ambazonians businessmen and scholars use their own money and minds to buy slavery for themselves. Should we let the Foncha and Muna syndrome to continue? The never again generation will never be afraid of owning our own country or afraid of our freedom. We will sing our own anthem, (Ambazonia Land of Freedom, we will live in plenty meeting our needs, our children shall be like the stars…) We will live under our own laws, flying our own flag, being the owners of our own destiny.
God Bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.
Dabney Yerima
Vice President
The Federal Republic of Ambazonia
28, February 2024
Yaoundé: opposition hopes for a renaissance 0
The opposition in Cameroon has had a worrying trajectory since it was legalised in 1990.
Things looked positive at first. Vibrant parties emerged, such as the Social Democratic Front (SDF), led by the charismatic Ni John Fru Ndi. It won more than half of the seats in the National Assembly.
While President Paul Biya secured re-election, he beat Ndi by only 4%, and everything changed. Understanding how close he was to defeat, Biya clamped down. Repression became more intense, and restrictive measures such as bans on meetings and demonstrations were introduced.
Worse, Biya’s efforts to divide and rule the opposition by sponsoring some groups and co-opting others has led to damaging fragmentation. Today there are more than 300 opposition parties; none can compete with Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement.
But Biya is not the only problem. A lack of common vision, underpinned by ethnic divisions, has prevented the emergence of a more coherent challenge to the ruling party’s hegemony. The SDF has also struggled to replace Ndi, and has suffered from the conflict in the English-speaking regions of the country, which has made it difficult to campaign in its stronghold.
Taken together, these challenges explain why the opposition holds only 28 out of 180 seats in the National Assembly and has no senators at all. Even the decision of Maurice Kamto to form the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) in 2012 failed to deliver political change.
Despite considerable fanfare, Kamto was controversially given only 14% of the vote in the 2018 presidential election.
Even in the darkest moments, however, there is hope. Having boycotted legislative and municipal elections in 2020, the MRC will take part in the 2025 polls.
Opposition parties have also started to draw together to promote a mass voter registration drive and form a coalition around the Alliance for Change. Biya remains in control, but opposition supporters can now dream of a renaissance.
Culled from the Mail & Guardian