Life

3, September 2019

Ambazonia threats scuttle school reopening in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Empty schools in the English speaking region of Cameroon marked the opening of the academic year due to tensions in the region.

Residents have either fled or are hiding in their homes as the Anglophone separatists battle with government forces.

The rattle of gunshots in the north and southwest regions meant that whiles students in other parts of the country went to school, the situation was different in parts of the two regions.

The state-owned CRTV on the first day of reopening (September 2) admitted that classes had began in areas of the northwest but amid tight security. Separatists had warned they will disrupt any attempts to reopen schools.

As at today (September 3), CRTV reported that reopening of schools in the northwest had been timid but encouraging. Local newspapers are reporting a mixed reopening day.

Whiles one led with “Top départ” referring to the reopening day boom, another led with “Black to school” instead of “Back to school.”

Gustav Okuyu, resident of Bamenda told reporters why his kids had not gone to school: “My children have not gone to school, because… Look, one: my house has been burnt. Some of them are in the bush. Where will I take the other ones?

“I don’t even have money to send them to school. That’s why my children have not gone to school… I don’t even have a house and the others have run. I am an IDP (internally displaced person).”

After two years of conflict, a solution to the war between those calling for independence of the region and the government seem far from being found.

“The government has to bring eveybody to the table, so that everything can be OK. Many people have said it, France has said it, America has said it: to the dialogue table. What is the problem with dialogue? Everybody wants dialogue, who doesn’t want peace in his house?” Gustav quizzed.

Tensions have risen following the sentencing of the separatist leader Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and others to life in prison by a military court sitting in Yaounde.

Naseri Paul Bea, a governor of the central region in an interview with CRTV said schools in his region were a little overwhelmed especially because of IDP students.

He added that upgrades on facilities and other plans by government will help ease the burden. He also said his outfit were yet to ascertain exactly how many IDPs had enrolled.

Source: Africa News

30, August 2019

Keep schools open, Cameroonian bishops tell Ambazonia Interim Gov’t ⁰

Some bishops in Cameroon have urged Anglophone separatists to allow schools to reopen, after militants abducted a bishop and two priests for condemning the school shutdown campaign.

“All children deserve the right to education and a good future wherever they decide to spend their lives,” said members of the Bamenda provincial bishops’ conference.

“Many parents have been consistently deceived about their children’s education, while arguments about a lack of security are used to frighten and prevent them sending [children] to school.”

The three-page open letter was published on August 24 after independence fighters in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions called for a new school shutdown.

The bishops said separatists had burned schools and killed teachers who had defied past boycott demands and should now “approach the issue of schools with reason more than emotion.”

However, the letter also called on the government to “exercise more vigilance” over military units and ensure they remained “as far from schools as possible.”

“Schools are not barracks, and [soldiers] should not enter them unless invited by competent authorities,” the bishops said.

“Every state has a right to employ its military to protect citizens and defend its territorial integrity. However, it is also known that some military have used exaggerated force against innocent civilians and sometimes committed horrendous crimes against children,” they said.

The letter was published as Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo was freed by abductors on August 24, five days after two of his priests were released by separatists.

Journal du Cameroun said all three had been detained in apparent retaliation for an August 15 homily by Bishop Nkuo, who condemned the school closures as a “crime against humanity and a great exploitation.” He called on Catholics to resist “the evil dragon of violence, torture and kidnappings.”

Separatist leader Mark Bareta denied the bishop had been kidnapped and told the same newspaper Aug. 26 his fighters were “civilians and Christians,” and had sought “a conversation with their bishop.”

At least 2,000 people have been killed and 400,000 displaced during three years of army deployment in the Anglophone regions, where separatists declared an independent state, Ambazonia, in October 2017 after protesting the encroachment of French-language controls.

Church leaders and human rights groups have condemned atrocities by both sides in the territories.

Other senior Catholic clergy have also been abducted, including Archbishop Cornelius Esua of Bamenda, who was detained briefly in June after attempting to pass a separatist roadblock.

In an Aug. 27 statement, Unicef estimated 4,400 schools had been closed and 74 burned, leaving more than 600,000 children without education in northwest and southwest Cameroon. Journal du Cameroun said a “mass exodus” was now underway to avoid the separatist shutdown.

Source: Catholic Herald

27, August 2019

Boston pays Homage to Pa Willy George Etchu Tabi (1948-2019) ⁰

Dear friends,
Last weekend was memorable not just because one of my heroes was sent to rest, but the nature to which my best and childhood friend ( Stanley Tabi), demonstrated his utmost respect, humility, dedication, and character since the passing of his Dad(Pa Tabi). Family members, friends , and well-wishers swung through the streets of Boston to celebrate the life of Pa Tabi . To his memory, I wrote this tribute :
**My Tribute to Pa Willy George Tabi-Etchu**
Pa Tabi, today we mourn you as we pay tribute to you. On a personal level, he called me “ALILI,” He was always willing to help and offer advice where necessary. Pa Tabi always considered me one of his sons because of the close nature in which we interacted amongst ourselves. Our families shared a common desire to be there for each other at any time in every way. I remember the last ‘heart-on-heart’ conversation I had with him a few years ago here in Boston. He told me his biggest concern was his health. I said, “Pa do not worry that much, it will be okay.” He replied, “I hope so too.”
I still wake up every morning, hoping this is a dream, and it hurts knowing you are gone forever. It hurts because, within a year, I have lost two close members in our family. Sesseku, Engineer- John Njang Ayuk and our English Literature Tutor – Mr. Tabi Willy George. The coincidence is that they both passed just four days after I visited them in hospice. The difficult part for me to bear is that, before his passing, I seem to be the last person he could slowly call by name or recognize. As if it was not touching enough, Pa Tabi died on my birthday. Indeed, we all have a final destination, and Pa Tabi happened to get to his destination a little sooner. In this light, the old cliché resurfaces; what exactly is life?
As a family, we are at the acceptance stage, and as we mourn Pa Tabi’s passing, my heart goes all out, especially to the wife and children. However, what we, as a family must remember is this, he is in a better place, and although we have lost an inspirational member of the family, God works in mysterious ways. Togetherness is absolutely needed, and through that, we should revere the priceless moments we all enjoyed with Pa Tabi. His perseverance, integrity, and people-loving nature are just a few qualities that continue to inspire us. Pa Tabi, even as you take your final rest in Besongabang, I will not hesitate to state that a gap has been left; you left a dear friend, student, and Son in whom your teachings endeared you into his heart.
Nevertheless, be assured I am in safe hands. Your call for me not to forget our family values still lingers in my mind. While we mourn today, we also take comfort in the fact that your mission on earth has been fulfilled. We thank the Lord for your life and bid you farewell until we meet again.
Rest in peace, Pa Tabi; we will definitely miss you…
Eyong Ebot –
Moh Kukouri

27, August 2019

What is the British Council doing in Africa? ⁰

From the southern tip of the black continent to West Africa and the Horn of Africa, the British Council is actively promoting British interests through ostensibly “cultural” and “educational” programmes.

But why does the British Council have such a strong interest in the African continent and how does it go about using “soft” power to realise both avowed and disavowed British foreign policy objectives in the black continent?

Cultural outreach, or cultural penetration (depending on the reader’s perspective), constitutes a core British Council activity. It is the Council’s bread and butter work.

But whereas the British Council frames its cultural outreach programmes as part of a broader narrative centred on local “empowerment”, the reality is that the Council seeks to identify and manipulate emerging cultural trends with a view to creating political and economic spaces for British interests.

Take East Africa as an example, where the British Council has been exceptionally active since the dawn of the twenty first century.

A recent British Council document entitled “Scoping the Creative Economy in East Africa” gives much insight into the thinking of the Council’s leadership, and by extension, the leadership of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Describing the “creative economy” in a primarily sub-national context, the document essentially calls for interventions at local or community levels in order to effect the greatest change.

The document identifies Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda where the “creative economy” offers the greatest potential. Conveniently, these are also the countries which Britain has aggressively targeted as part of post-Brexit trade deals.

On a trip to the African continent in August 2018, the former Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced that Britain had secured its first post-Brexit trade deal in Africa.

Writing in the Guardian on September 04, 2018, the British-Ghanian writer and broadcaster, Afua Hirsch, heaped scorn on May’s sweeping statements and assumptions in relation to the African continent.

Hirsch wrote: “If Britain wants to be a friend to Africa, it needs to stop looking to the continent to boost its self-esteem – “the shared history and cultural ties” of which May talks allude to Britain’s imperial domination – and its coffers”.

The British Council is also highly active in West Africa where, in recent years, it has aggressively promoted the English language. This strategy is set out in detail in a 2013 British Council document entitled: “The English language in Francophone West Africa”.

The aggressive promotion of the English language in fragile nation-states, beset by ethnic and cultural divisions, comes at a high political cost.

Take Cameroon for example, where a rebellion in the country’s western Anglophone regions has resulted in the deaths of nearly 2,000 people since October 2017.

Last week a Cameroonian military court sentenced 10 Anglophone separatist leaders to life imprisonment on wide-ranging national security charges, including terrorism and secession.

Source: Presstv

19, August 2019

Chinese medical team provides free treatment in rural Cameroon ⁰

In early August, on the eve of the arrival of a medical team with free services, villagers gathered in groups of twos and threes, buzzing with tales of the wondrous Chinese doctors.

“Without them, I would have been dead” said Christophe Ndi Owona, the 76-year-old chief of the southern Cameroonian village of Ngat-Bane.

Before Chinese doctors came to his village, Owona had been suffering from severe headache for years. “Everybody thought I would die.”

The team gave him medicine and advised him to stop drinking alcohol, Owona told his folks. “Thanks to the Chinese, I am now as healthy as a baby.”

Ngat-Bane, like many other Cameroonian villages, has abundant wildlife and dispersed thatched huts, but zero hospitals. Villagers are often troubled by such health problems as rheumatism, typhoid, malaria, but most of them cannot afford medical services in Mbalmayo, the nearest town.

The next day, in the heartland of Ngat-Bane, a good number of patients from nearby villages gathered in a makeshift, but free and comprehensive clinic, lining up to see doctors from various departments, who are here as members of the 19th Chinese medical team to Cameroon.

For the first time in almost a year, 69-year-old Liliane Mfoumou felt relieved from her back injury after an acupuncture treatment. Before this, the mother of six had visited doctors several times in Mbalmayo, a major city in Cameroon’s Central Province.

“Medical checkups and treatments in hospitals are quite expensive, and I can’t afford them again,” Mfoumou said, expressing gratitude to the free clinic.

A Chinese acupuncturist inserted fine needles in Mfoumou’s skin at specific points. Thanks to this traditional Chinese method, which is applicable to many health conditions, Mfoumou said she “now can feel my back and legs.”

Michel Ndi has insomnia and heart problems, making it difficult for the 59-year-old to trek to his farm. He consulted almost all the specialists and was offered free treatments, including medicine, for his multiple conditions.

“Their kind and friendly manner heals you even before you start treatment,” said the father of 10 children, “I am sure that in the next two or three days, I will be able to go (to) the farm without difficulties.”

A total of 100 patients, aged from 20 months to 98 years, received diagnosis and treatments worth 1,500 U. S. dollars.

The free clinic ran for more than five consecutive hours, after which the folks offered the Chinese medical team a local dish called Kpem, a traditional meal made from cassava leaves.

China started to dispatch medical teams to Cameroon in 1975 and hundreds of medical professionals have worked in Cameroon since then.

Source: Xinhuanet

18, August 2019

Poems From Ambazonia: Has Anyone Here Seen Them, Our Leaders ⁰

Do you know anyone here

Who has heard of our president Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe

A man of our great revolution

Who spent his life fighting for freedom

Shaming the French and evil neocolonialist

And was abducted from Nera Hotel

Can you tell me what you know about him

For I just went to sleep and he was gone

He stood for a lot of good, equality and justice

As it seems the good and brave get abducted early

Does anybody here

Know of anyone who knows Fidelis Nde Che

A brave warrior, patriot and nationalist

Who courageously said no to demonic France

As they refused to leave our beloved land

Making a sham of what they called independence

Placing their stooges to plunder our land

Chasing and silencing our national hero

Fighting courageously even to abduction

And yet before I was to look around

He was abducted and a monument of my memory

As it seems the good and brave get abducted young and early

Has anyone here

Seen or heard of our friend and comrade Nalowa Bih

Before I could call her she was taken from us

Deprived from joining her nationalism spirit

And her determination to keep la republique out

Caging the betrayals of political stooges

Who sold the nation for neocolonial games

She bravely fought for our independence and freedom

But before we could turn around she was gone

To became an imprint in our national psyche

As it seems the good and the brave get abducted young and early.

Has any body here

Seen my good old friend and brother Nfor Ngalla Nfor

He stood for and fought many good causes

For our freedom, our justice and our integrity

But before I could hold his hand he was gone

Taken from us just when we needed him most

Can someone please tell me where he’s gone to

For it seems the good and the brave are abducted early.

Has anyone here been to Nigeria

Did you see our hero Wilfred Tassang

Was he looking happy or sad

He stood for and fought many good causes

Same as those at the Nera hotel

But before I could turn around to put facts together

That he is the new father of our revolution, he was gone

Taken away from me holding his hands to say I know

The tricks of the real devil and the devils in sheep clothing

For I know now only the good and brave are abducted young and early.

Has any of you here heard of our brave ones

Cornelius Kwanga, Prof Awasum, Henry Kimeng

Eyambe Elias Elango, Ojong Okongho, Ogork Ntui, Blais Beriyuv

Do you know anyone who has seen them

Our brave warriors, patriots and nationalists

Who courageously said no to demonic France and la republique

As they refused to leave our beloved land

Making a sham of what they called independence

Placing their stooges to plunder our land

Chasing and silencing our national heros

Fighting courageously even to abduction

And yet before I was to look around

They were abducted leaving thoughts in our revolutionary psyche

As it seems the good and brave get abducted young and early

Has any body here

Seen me seeking for the brave and good ones

Who amongst us will take the mantle to lead

To wear the amour of goodness and bravery

Of Julius Ayuk Tabe, Nfor Ngalla Nfor, Nalowa Bih

Orgork Ntui, Blaise Benriyuv, Cornelius Kwanga, Prof Awasum

Henri Kimeng, Wilfred Tassang,Eyango Elias Eyambe

And ofcourse Fidelix Nde Che, Ojong Okongho

Who here would not love the things they stood for

Did they not try to find and do some good

For you, me, us, our nation, our people and our world

As they started out to set us and our land free

and from their works and memory and sacrifices

we will be free soon and someday when we choose

and I thought I saw them holding hands over fako mountain

with Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe leading the team in

Singing and praying for us not to forget their sacrifices

As they have just been inconvenient and are watching over us

As it seems the good and brave get abducted young and early

By Christmas Ebini

13, August 2019

Two new drugs offer hope against Ebola in DR Congo ⁰

Two experimental Ebola drugs being tested in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a yearlong outbreak has killed more than 1,800 people, have succeeded in raising the survival rate to around 90%, health authorities said Monday.

Scientists are a step closer to finding the first effective treatments for the deadly Ebola haemorrhagic fever after two potential drugs showed survival rate of as much as 90% in a clinical trial in Congo.

Two experimental drugs – Regeneron’s REGN-EB3 and a monoclonal antibody called mAb114 – were both developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola infection.

The treatments are now going to be offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

They showed “clearly better” results in patients in a trial of four potential treatments being conducted during the world’s second largest Ebola outbreak in history, now entering its second year in DRC.

The drugs improved survival rates from the disease more than two other treatments being tested – ZMapp, made by Mapp Biopharmaceutical, and Remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences – and those products will be now dropped, said Anthony Fauci, one of the researchers co-leading the trial.

The agency said 49% of the patients on ZMapp and 53% on remdesivir died in the study. In comparison, 29% of the patients on REGN-EB3 and 34% on mAb-114 died.

Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters in a telebriefing the results were “very good news” for the fight against Ebola.

“What this means is that we do now have what look like (two) treatments for a disease for which not long ago we really had no approach at all,” he said.

The agency said of the patients who were brought into treatment centres with low levels of virus detected in their blood, 94% who got REGN-EB3 and 89% on mAb114 survived.

In comparison, two-third of the patients who got remdesivir and nearly three-fourth on ZMapp survived.

Ebola has been spreading in eastern Congo since August 2018 in an outbreak that has now become the second largest, killing at least 1,800 people. Efforts to control it have been hampered by militia violence and some local resistance to outside help.

A vast Ebola outbreak in West Africa become the world’s largest ever when it spread through Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from 2013 to 2016 and killed more than 11,300 people.

The Congo treatment trial, which began in November last year, is being carried out by an international research group coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies program, said the trial’s positive findings were encouraging but would not be enough on their own to bring the epidemic to an end.

“The news today is fantastic. It gives us a new tool in our toolbox against Ebola, but it will not in itself stop Ebola,” he told reporters.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, also hailed the success of the trial’s findings, saying they would “undoubtedly save lives”.

“The more we learn about these two treatments, …the closer we can get to turning Ebola from a terrifying disease to one that is preventable and treatable,” he said in a statement.

“We won’t ever get rid of Ebola but we should be able to stop these outbreaks from turning into major national and regional epidemics.”

Some 681 patients at four separate treatment centres in Congo have already been enrolled in the Congo treatment clinical trial, Fauci said. The study aims to enrol a total of 725.

The decision to drop two of the trial drugs was based on data from almost 500 patients, he said, which showed that those who got REGN-EB3 or mAb114 “had a greater chance of survival compared to those participants in the other two arms”.

(REUTERS)

12, August 2019

Infection Prevention and Control Guide for Health Care Professionals Released ⁰

Health care providers have a legal and ethical duty for the care of their patients and are required, therefore, to provide care in a safe way and a harm-free environment. Routine clinical practice is expected to be based on knowledge, skills, judgment, and attitudes needed for safe patient care.The field of infection prevention and control for, example, isan area where the expectations are high as the field is characterized by guidelines and standards, and failure to comply with recommended guidelines will mean a failure to meet the appropriate standard of care.

Infection prevention and control practice has evolved significantly over the years and health care professionals need to stay abreast with the new scientific literature to adapt to changing guidelines. This is particularly important as the threat of emerging infectious diseases like Ebola, SARS, avian influenza and multidrug-resistance are on the rise.

The skill sets required for the effective application of infection prevention and control is therefore indispensable for safe and quality patient care amidst enormous clinical challenges. For example, environmental surfaces and equipment frequently become contaminated with germs and can serve as an indirect source of transmission to patients and staff. Surgical procedures may result in secondary infections from contaminated devices with either endogenous or exogenous microorganisms. Needle stick injuries may result in blood borne infections such as HIV, hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. Gaps in vaccination coverage for vaccine-preventable diseases may result in an outbreak. Natural or man-made disasters may also increase the burden of communicable diseases. Also, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infection, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and surgical site infections together referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs)are increasingly prevalent inpatient care environments. These HAIs often result from gaps in the application of aseptic techniques and standard precautions.

Besides the problem of HAIs, the prevalence of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms is also on the rise. The problem of antimicrobial-resistant infection is further compounded by the following: the continuous reluctance of pharmaceutical companies to invest in the search for new antimicrobials because of fear of the potential development of resistance; regulatory difficulties faced by public health bodies to effectively control access and proper use of antimicrobials and fundamental challenges in antimicrobial stewardship programs. Consequently, considering that every infection prevented is one that needs no treatment, infection prevention and control is undoubtedly an attractive way to mitigate the spread of infections and reduce the global burden of infectious diseases.

Despite the need and relevance of infection prevention and control in quality patient care, the day-to-day application is sometime overlooked or missed by health care professionals,partly because of knowledge gaps, negligence, or busy shifts. Continuous education and training is necessary to reawaken awareness and improve compliance.

The purpose of this guide is to provide health care professionals and their organizations with a practical resource for infection prevention and control.Contained within the guide is an introduction to infections including HAIs and infections caused by multi drug-resistant organisms, how they are transmitted, methods to control the spread, antimicrobial stewardship, standard precautions, transmission precautions, emergency response, the environment of care, and equipment reprocessing.

Without proper training on how infections are transmitted, including infection prevention and control standards, health care professionals may unconsciously fail to adhere to standard precautions and guidelines and this may enhance the transmission of pathogens. Therefore, health care workers need adequate knowledge of the infectious process and the application of both standard and transmission-based precautions along with an optimum environment of care. To maintain quality in practice, health care professionals must seek to continuously improve their knowledge in infection prevention and control, as well as remain constantly vigilant to emerging microbial threats.

I encourage all health care professionals to take advantage of this professional development opportunity to enhance their competency and improve patient care.

The book is available on Amazon in both paperback and kindle eBook format .(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W81LM1B?pf_rd_p=2d1ab404-3b11-4c97-b3db-48081e145e35&pf_rd_r=GRA6XJ4YENM757J22ZCP)

About the author

Dr. Ayukekbong holds a Ph.D in medical science and is a board-certified infection preventionist (CIC). He is the founder and chief infection preventionist at EpiTech Public Health, Canada and also an instructor at Algonquin College, University of Ottawa. Through his organization, he has led the training of hundreds of health care professionals on infection prevention and control. His primary research interest is infectious disease surveillance and has published several papers within this field. He is a member of Infection prevention and control (IPAC) Canada and the Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN). He is a guest editor to the Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Virology and AIDS, and also serves as an expert reviewer to several international scientific and public health journals.

9, August 2019

Murder of WHO Cameroonian doctor: Congo medics arrested ⁰

Three Congolese medics have been detained over the murder of a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor who was fighting an Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, a military prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Cameroonian doctor Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung was shot dead on April 19 in an attack on a hospital in the eastern city of Butembo.

The arrested doctors will be prosecuted for “terrorism” and “criminal conspiracy,” Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Baptiste Kumbu Ngoma, military prosecutor for Butembo in North Kivu province, told AFP.

The three are accused of holding meetings on April 14 to plot the assassination of Mouzoko, he added.

The WHO said Mouzoko had been deployed as part of a medical team to help rein in the Ebola outbreak which started last August in North Kivu.

The prosecutor said the doctors were “among the moral authors” of the attack on Mouzoko. He said one more doctor was being sought in the case.

In a letter to the mayor of Butembo, the local doctors’ association expressed indignation at the arrests and said they would go on strike if their colleagues were not released within 48 hours.

But the military prosecutor dismissed their demands as “out of the question”.

“It’s a delicate situation. As a man has died, we absolutely have know the truth about what happened,” the coordinator of the fight against Ebola in the DR Congo, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, told AFP.

More than 1,800 people have died from the virus in the past year.

The outbreak is the second deadliest on record, after the epidemic that struck West Africa in 2014-2016, which killed more than 11,300 people.

Efforts to roll back the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever have been hampered not only by fighting but also by resistance within communities to preventative measures, care facilities and safe burials.

Attacks on health workers have had a devastating effect, with seven murdered and more than 50 seriously hurt, according to an unofficial tally.

After the killing of Mouzoko in April, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “We will not be intimidated… we will finish our work.”

Source: AFP

7, August 2019

Why Biya is desperate for school resumption in September ⁰

For about a month now, there has been more than ever before an intense campaign for school resumption in September. The local Ambazonian media have been given millions to join the campaign. CDC workers have been paid a month’s salary out of some one year of arrears owed them to ‘prepare for school resumption’.

Prominent Southern Cameroonians and social groups have also been paid huge amounts of money to plead to parents to send their children to school. Some French Cameroun government ministers who hail from Southern Cameroons like the Kupe Manueguba thug, Elong Paul Che and fraudster, Paul Tasong of Lebialem have also mobilized CPDM elite of their constituencies and accompanied by tight security, braved it to Southern Cameroons to hold meetings with parents.

The principal reason for the frenzied campaign is to prove to the world before the United Nations Security Council meets in September that school resumption is evidence that the situation in Southern Cameroons has ‘normalized’. The Biya Francophone regime is planning to use a successful back to school to oppose any possible United Nations intervention.

Ironically, it is the government itself making it impossible for effective resumption of schools. Several schools in Southern Cameroons have been transformed into French Cameroun military barracks. Many others have been burnt by Francophone Beti-Ewondo army soldiers while most teachers in Ambazonia have vamoosed into safety areas in La Republique du Cameroun.

A visit to the Kumba market by our Cameroon Concord News Group Meme County correspondent last week indicated that parents are not preparing for the traditional “back to school”. Unlike in the past when markets at this time of the year were clustered with school bags, uniforms, books and other didactic materials and parents hustling to buy, there is no such scenario. Kumba market is not an exception as reported by our correspondents across the entire Southern Cameroons.

Field reports by our reporters also indicated that both the Southern and Northern Zones of the now Federal Republic of Ambazonia are for the most part controlled by the Ambazonia Self Defense Forces with military jeeps plying occasionally. In the Southern Zone, only Kumba central, Limbe, Mutengene, Tiko and part of Buea are in the control of the French Cameroun government in Yaoundé.

It is because of the insecurity in Buea that the renowned Sasse college on the periphery of the Ambazonia historic headquarters has been moved to Tiko which is relatively save and children there who braved it to school last academic year did so without wearing their uniforms.

In the Northern Zone, the Ambazonia Restoration Forces are in command with the exclusion of Nkambe Central and Bamenda. Educational officials in the territory say over 80 percent of colleges have been closed down and teachers afraid to be kidnapped are nowhere to be found.

Schools that have not been burnt or destroyed are covered in grass one month to resumption and no teachers are there doing the enrolment. The military are still camping in many others. The war is flaring up and who is that parent who will send their kids to learn under such perilous conditions? Cameroon Concord News Group has challenged those doing the campaign for school resumption including Barrister Agbor Balla, Minister Elong Paul and Minister Paul Tasong to set an example by openly enrolling their kids in institutions in Southern Cameroons. No one has done that.

In that light, back to school in Southern Cameroons shall just be another fiasco of the Biya regime, like the botch hosting of the 2019 African Cup of Nations. For effective school resumption in their so-called one and indivisible Cameroon, President Biya who declared the war against his own people should call a ceasefire and convene an inclusive dialogue with all issues on the table as nations; international organizations and people of goodwill have been telling him. Or the UN should send in peace keeping force as it meets in September to prevent the barbaric violations of human rights driving refugees and asylum seekers into neighboring countries including Europe and America.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-in-Chief

Cameroon Concord News Group