Cameroon’s President Paul Biya signed two decrees yesterday approving the increase in both family allowances and the salaries of public sector employees. The fist decree concerns family allowances provided by the National Social Insurance Fund and the Ministry of Finance, which the President raised to CFA4500 monthly per dependent child. This adjustment represents a more than 60% increase from the previous rate of CFA2800 FCFA, reflecting a substantial boost in support for workers’ families.

The second decree issued by President Biya enhances the basic monthly salary of both civilian and military personnel by 5%. This latest raise, coming just a year after a 5.2% increase in 2023, took effect from February 1, 2024, according to an official statement signed by Magloire Séraphin Fouda, the Secretary-General of the Prime Minister’s office.

This salary adjustment was part of a series of measures aimed at preserving purchasing power in response to a 15% hike in fuel prices in February. As a reminder, the cost per liter of super and diesel climbed to CFA840 and CFA828, respectively.

Although useful, these increases in salaries and allowances may have a limited impact on people’s purchasing power. According to a report on inflation trends in 2023 and outlooks for 2024, released on February 13, 2024, by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), fuel price increases are expected to directly or indirectly affect other prices, including transportation, foodstuffs, and manufactured goods. The national statistician predicts that the inflation rate will stabilize around 7% in 2024, while the government aims to reduce this rate to 4%, down from 7.4% in 2023.

Furthermore, these raises are expected to increase state personnel expenses. According to the 2024 Finance Law, these expenses are projected to reach CFA1,698 billion, marking an 8.1% increase over the previous year. The budget includes projected salaries of CFA1,357 billion, pensions of CFA269.7 billion, and other personnel expenses amounting to CFA71.3 billion.

Source: Business in Cameroon

There is no option left for the people of Southern Cameroons but armed Amba fighters to fight off the genocide campaign the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé is exercising in the Ambazonia homeland, says Vice President Dabney Yerima.

“The Southern Cameroons struggle has its roots in strong historic facts and faith and Southern Cameroons young men and women are now willing to make sacrifices for the complete liberation of their homeland.  The struggle will emerge triumphant,” Dabney Yerima said on Monday during a zoom meeting with some Ground Zero commanders.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader said British Southern Cameroons will be independent through sacrifices and that soon and very soon, the world will eventually witness an independent Federal Republic of Ambazonia with the French Cameroun regime wiped off its face.

The Ambazonia Interim Government official said the recent surprise Amba operation in Buea exposed the frailty and weakness of the Biya French Cameroun regime, and drove it closer to downfall.

“After more than six years, the people of Southern Cameroons are still steadfast and fighting to inflict painful losses upon the French Cameroun enemy’s ranks,” Dabney Yerima stated.

By Chi Prudence Asong

At least eight separatist fighters have been killed in a military offensive in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Southwest, security and local sources said on Sunday.

The raids were carried out from Friday to Saturday in the Ayukaba locality of the region.

The fighters had arrived at the locality and were preparing to set up a base there when the information reached the army, a military official in the region said.

“Our brave soldiers immediately entered the area and succeeded in driving them out for two days. Eight (separatist fighters) were killed, and several of their weapons and ammunition were seized,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

Officials said on Saturday that troops were succeeding in most operations in the region thanks to the cooperation of the local population.

Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

The Anglophone conflict in Cameroon is entering its eighth year with no resolution in sight. Insurgents in the North West and South West – the country’s two Anglophone regions – are still attacking government soldiers but increasingly one another as well. Civilians bear the brunt of the fighting. Killings, abductions and sexual violence are almost an everyday occurrence, while almost half the area’s schools have stopped functioning. Pro-government militias have sprung up in the Anglophone regions, spreading more chaos. Meanwhile, in the capital Yaoundé, observers worry about the country’s future. President Paul Biya, who turns 91 in February, appears to have left daily affairs to a handful of loyalists in government. As Cameroonians turn their attention to the post-Biya era, many fear a power vacuum amid the jostling over the presidential succession. The AU should put the Anglophone crisis on its peace and security agenda, throwing its weight behind efforts to reach a settlement, before political intrigue in Yaoundé makes negotiations even more difficult.

The Anglophone crisis is rooted in longstanding grievances about the dominance of Cameroon’s mostly Francophone governing apparatus. The conflict was set off by protests by lawyers, teachers and students in 2016, who pushed back against the encroachment of the Francophone legal and educational systems on their regions. On 1 October 2017, secessionists proclaimed an independent Federal Republic of Ambazonia, as they called the North West and South West regions, which had been known during the colonial era as the British Southern Cameroons. Yaoundé responded with a heavy-handed crackdown, arresting hundreds of protesters and others suspected of sympathising with the secessionists.

These events motivated Anglophone activists to form militias. Today, a loose network of armed groups operates in the area, forcing locals to comply with school boycotts and lockdowns via the barrel of a gun. Yaoundé is trying to quell the insurgency by military means, but the army has proven unable to stop the attacks. Hundreds of thousands have fled the violence, with many crammed into makeshift housing in Francophone Cameroon.

As infighting among militias worsens, Anglophone groups are seeking outside allies. In November 2023, one such militia, the Ambazonia Governing Council, signed an agreement with a separatist group in eastern Nigeria, the Independent People’s Organisation of Biafra. Signed in Finland, the alliance could see the two movements sharing safe havens in parts of eastern and south-western Cameroon under their control, threatening regional stability.

The Cameroonian government’s attempts to mollify separatist Anglophone groups have thus far struggled to gain traction. In 2018, Yaoundé launched a disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration program to coax militants away from the insurgency, but to date this initiative has had little success.58 In 2019, the government granted the two regions special status under Cameroon’s decentralisation law, devolving some powers to regional authorities.59 Though this measure could be a good starting point for broader political talks, separatists say the reforms do not sufficiently address their concerns.60Mediation has largely stalled, meanwhile. Most efforts to orchestrate talks between the government and armed Anglophone groups, including a Swiss initiative, quickly petered out. A more recent effort led by Canada showed promise when Yaoundé committed to engaging in late 2022. Yet the government withdrew after months of secret pre-talks, saying it did not want foreigners facilitating dialogue about what it considers a domestic problem.

While AU-led efforts might be productive, particularly in urging a reinvigoration of stalled diplomacy, Yaoundé does not want the AU’s involvement and has managed to fend it off for years. Its attitude does not sit well with many AU Commission officials and member state representatives. Some see the PSC’s inattention to the Anglophone conflict as misguided, given the council’s peace and security mandate. Indeed, Crisis Group has previously recommended that the PSC table Cameroon as part of a strategy of public pressure aimed at pushing the parties toward talks.

The 2024 summit will bring another chance for the AU to pay serious attention to Cameroon, with a very measured first step. As it does every year, the Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department will offer the AU Assembly an update about the state of peace and security throughout Africa. Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis is likely to be included in the report, as has been the case in prior years. The department routinely stresses the urgent need to address the crisis, as well as the importance of stability in Cameroon for Central Africa.63 This time around, the Assembly should not gloss over this part of the report, but rather use it to frame a meaningful discussion of Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, and include the results in the summit outcome documents so that they can be used as a springboard for further diplomacy.64

The AU PSC should keep focus on the crisis, with the objective of creating new momentum for a diplomatic initiative. One way forward would be to table the Anglophone conflict as an agenda item for periodic PSC discussion. It should anticipate efforts by Yaoundé to discourage this debate, but PSC diplomats should not veer away from their mandated role of ensuring peace and security on the continent. Additionally, thematic PSC discussions about women, peace and security or the proliferation of small arms, which regularly come up on its agenda, present useful opportunities to address the situation in Cameroon.

In its expanded discussions, and in consultation with Cameroonian authorities, the PSC could explore avenues for starting an effective dialogue about the Anglophone regions. The Canada-led initiative, which showed significant promise in its early stages, but seems to have stalled, is at present the most viable diplomatic track. The PSC should urge Yaoundé to resume these talks. It could also consider the option of asking the AU Commission chairperson to name an envoy for Cameroon to facilitate the process. It should ask for regular updates from the Commission chairperson about the situation, thereby sending a useful signal to Commission staff to put time and resources into monitoring the conflict. Unless and until the situation changes, all these efforts should be undertaken with the overarching goal of rekindling talks that could improve the country’s image abroad and end a conflict that has gone on far too long.

Culled from The International Crisis Group

REMEMBERING THE MASSCRE OF NGARBUH

Paul Biya’s genocidal war in Ambazonia brought and continues to bring the destruction of lives, families, and communities just as we witnessed at Nkambe central Donga Mantung County a few days ago. Today marks four years since the Ngarbuh massacre. Let us reflect on that incident which at least 22 people were killed, including 14 children, 9 of whom were younger than 5 and an unborn child, examining the profound impact it had on our nation and the broader implications it holds for humanity. This should always remind us of our collective responsibility to fight for justice and peace to return to our communities and our nation.

Our villages and cities are battlegrounds for this war of genocide, and nobody can assure the safety of our citizens because Biya’s invading military have resulted to looting, targeting civilians, civilian areas, institutions such as schools, churches, and hospitals. Among the casualties we see on daily basis form the invading military of French Cameroun are mostly young men, women, and children. The images that emerged from the scenes are always haunting: rubble-strewn homes, burnt homes with human lifeless bodes inside, lifeless bodies of the innocent strewn around our communities, some in rivers and in some cases mass graves to hide the hallmarks of genocide.

As we grapple with the aftermath of the massacre of Ngarbu today, let us reflect on the very essence of humanity. How could such senseless violence be unleashed upon those who posed no threat? How many more of such incidents will be carried out in our territory before this war of extermination comes to an end? The faces of the victims, frozen in time, haunt our dreams, reminding us of the fragility of life and the brutality of Biya’s senseless war in Ambazonia. The pain and suffering inflicted upon the innocent leave scars in us that may never fully heal.

These incidents serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need for justice and peace which can only come through dialogue, without preconditions, and addressing the root causes of the senseless war of extermination in Ambazonia. They underscore the importance of safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable during times of war and holding perpetrators of violence accountable for their actions. Furthermore, they highlight the critical role of remembrance in honoring the memories of those we have lost, preventing future atrocities to occur in our communities through the best means possible and as a people, stay focused, determined, and resilient to our quest for a free and peaceful Ambazonia.

In remembering the tragedy of Ngarbu and many that claimed the lives of our citizens in the ongoing Biya’s senseless war, we are compelled to confront the harsh realities of armed conflict, fight for justice and peace and strive for a future where such senseless violence is but a distant memory. As we honor the victims and their families, let us renew our commitment to fight for a free Ambazonia and contribute to building a world where peace reigns supreme, and the horrors of war are relegated to the pages of history.

.

God bless the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Dabney Yerima

Vice President

Federal Republic of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia

Switzerland’s appeal court has upheld guilty verdicts against six bodyguards of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya for the 2019 assault of a journalist, the Keystone-ATS news agency reported Monday.

The judges, whose ruling was confirmed by Robert Assael, a lawyer for one of the six, rejected their claims that they had immunity as they were protecting the president.

La Tribune newspaper reported that all six were ordered to pay fines, but that the punishment was suspended.

The appeal judges decided the six were outside their duty to defend Biya when they beat up Adrien Kreuze, a journalist for the Swiss public broadcasting network covering a demonstration outside a Geneva hotel.

The bodyguards injured Kreuze and took his phone and other items in the attack on June 26, 2019. The Swiss foreign ministry summoned Cameroon’s ambassador over the incident.

After the ruling, Assael still insisted that his client had been protecting the president. He said there had been violence involving Biya opponents in Switzerland and Germany in the weeks ahead of the incident.

Source: AFP

At least two people died and 20 others were injured in an explosion on Sunday in Nkambe, Northwest region, according to witnesses and local police.

The blast occurred in Nkambe, a town in the region, as school children were taking part in activities to mark National Youth Day, which has been celebrated in the country on Feb. 11 since 1966.

Many of those affected were school children.

Health workers were “working very hard” to treat many of the children who sustained “very serious” injuries, a security source in the region said.

“The death roll could increase. It is a disturbing situation but our brave soldiers have beefed up security to track down the terrorists who committed this abominable act,” the source said.

Authorities were yet to make an official statement.

Separatists had imposed a three-day lockdown to disrupt the activities in the regions where they have been clashing with government forces since 2017 in a bid to create an independent nation they call “Ambazonia.”

Source: Xinhuanet

President Paul Biya has expressed concerns about the obsession of young people in the country to emigrate.

“The growing desire of a fringe of our youths to emigrate to other climes is increasingly a cause for concern, especially when it becomes an obsession and even affects people who are well integrated into their local communities,” Biya said in a televised message geared toward the younger generation on Saturday evening.

He said Cameroon, “like many others around the world” is facing difficulties but migrating “at all costs” was not the solution.

“You should know that while you yearn to leave, many foreigners are trying to settle in Cameroon, thereby confirming that ours is a hospitable country and a land of opportunities,” he said, adding that emigration was full of “illusions and perils”.

Last month, airport security officials in the country’s commercial hub of Douala said Cameroonian civil servants especially nurses, teachers and security forces were emigrating at an “alarming” rate.

Biya’s speech came on the occasion of National Youth Day, celebrated annually on Feb. 11 in the Central African country.

Source: Xinhuanet

Many school children are feared dead in an explosion on Sunday in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region of Northwest, according to witnesses and local police.

The blast occurred in Nkambe, a town in the region, as children were taking part in activities to mark National Youth Day, which has been celebrated in the country on Feb. 11 since 1966.

Witnesses said the children had sustained “very serious” injuries.

Authorities were yet to make an official statement.

Separatists had imposed a three-day lockdown to disrupt the activities in the regions where they have been clashing with government forces since 2017 in a bid to create an independent nation they call “Ambazonia”.

Source: Xinhuanet

Fighting erupted again early Saturday in parts of Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking regions of Southwest and Northwest as armed separatists began imposing a three-day lockdown to disrupt National Youth Day activities.

Residents of Bamenda, the capital of the Northwest Region and the largest city in English-speaking Cameroon, said they heard bursts of gunfire in some parts of the city.

“The streets are deserted. People are afraid to go out. Almost all activities are not operational,” a resident of the city, who asked not to be named, told Xinhua by telephone.

Officials in both regions have assured residents of “tight” security and urged “everyone, all the youth, to come out en masse to take part in National Youth Day activities.”

On Thursday, separatist leaders announced that they will impose a lockdown in the regions from Saturday to Monday as a measure to disrupt National Youth Day activities, which will be held in the central African country on Sunday.

Separatists said the event was “illegal” in the two Anglophone regions, where they have been clashing with government forces since 2017 in a bid to create an independent nation they call “Ambazonia.”

Source: Xinhuanet