Two prominent judges of the Military Tribunal have been removed by the 91-year-old President Biya in a move described by many as an unexpected blow to the reputation of the judiciary.

The dismissal of the two Francophone judges in Yaoundé has sparked fierce debates around the conditions under which judges’ work.

The Biya decision to sack the judges caught the attention of the media because both were involved in the Martinez Zogo murder case.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that Biya fired Colonel Sipa Didier Dongmo, the Director of Military Justice and Lieutenant Colonel Sikati II Kamwo Florent Aimé the investigating judge at the Yaoundé Military Court after it was revealed that they received bribes from members of the gang that murdered journalist Martinez Zogo. Both men were replaced by Colonel Djiofack Sylvestre Pascal and magistrate Lieutenant-Colonel Nzie Pierrot Narcisse respectively.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sikati, the investigating judge at the Yaoundé military court as he then was, signed a decision ordering the release of business tycoon Jean Pierre Amougou and the disgraced spy Chief Maxime Eko EKo. But less than 24 hours later, the same judge made public another decision denying the release of Amougou Belinga and Maxime Eko Eko.

Moving the goal posts is not illegal in Cameroon but doing so in a matter that involves the Beti-Bulu ruling clan is considered a serious act of misconduct that undermines public confidence in the judiciary. Dismissal was seen as a necessary punishment for the two military judges whose love for money raised questions about their impartiality.

There is no appeal within Cameroon’s disciplinary procedure or a judicial review challenge when President gives you a P45.

It is also not known whether any of the two Francophone judges have disputed Biya’s claim.

By Staff man Alain Tabot-Tanyi

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government (IG) says the will and determination of Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces to fight French Cameroun occupation outweighs Biya’s appointment of some few Anglophone elites in the French Cameroun government.

Comrade Dabney Yerima made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Cameroon Concord News London Bureau Chief on Monday, during which he discussed the reasons behind the Ambazonia Interim Government’s support for “kontry Sunday” that was launched by President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

Vice President Dabney Yerima said the most significant factor Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces possess is that they are fighters with a right and a just cause and fighters who believe in the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and are ready to sacrifice for it.

Yerima noted that Biya and his French Cameroun political elites cannot destroy the Southern Cameroons struggle and all Yaounde’s attempts to destroy the Federal Republic of Ambazonia will fail.

Dabney Yerima emphasized that the Ambazonia Interim Government is the legitimate leadership body of the Southern Cameroons people both at home and in the diaspora and the IG will continue to fight and stand against the Biya French Cameroun brutality with will and determination. 

Dabney Yerima concluded that Amba fighters will carry out self defense operations this December that will surprise and shock La Republique du Cameroun.

By Alain Tabot-Tanyi

As of September 2023, Eneo reveals receivables from the public sector, including the government and other public entities, totaling CFA234.5 billion, based on an internal document read by Business in Cameroon. Although CFA43.1 billion has been paid this year, CFA 131.7 billion is still owed by the central government, CFA55 billion by public enterprises, and CFA47.8 billion by other public entities.

Eneo claims that the amounts owed by the Cameroonian government have increased by CFA38.5 billion since the letter sent on April 14 to the Cameroonian Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, by Actis, the majority shareholder of Eneo (51% of the shares). In this letter signed by David Grylls, a partner at Actis, the British investment fund estimated the debt of the public sector to its local subsidiary at CFA186 billion.

The Cameroonian government promptly contested this sum, leading to the establishment of commissions to determine the public sector’s debt to Eneo. However, according to the communiqué released after the electricity company’s board meeting on December 7, 2023, in Yaoundé, this process remains unfinished several months later. The communiqué states, “Management has been urged to persist in dialog with the regulator to address outstanding matters, including the acknowledgment of Eneo’s investments, tariff compensation, and public lighting.”

Compensation and public lighting billing have always been the subject of fierce negotiations between Actis’ subsidiary and the government. To better understand, it should be noted that tariff compensation (consumer subsidy supported by the state, representing the difference between the actual cost of the kilowatt-hour and what the consumer pays) depends on several factors, including the level of investment made by Eneo, the evaluation of which is still the subject of lengthy negotiations with the government. Moreover, in cities without a modern public lighting network, consumption is estimated based on the number of identified street lamps. However, municipalities and Eneo still struggle to agree on the number of functional street lamps over a given period, often requiring counter-expertise.

Year-end celebrations with power cuts

Eneo estimates tariff compensation as of the end of September 2023, at CFA75 billion and the public lighting bill at CFA68.8 billion. This means that out of the CFA234.5 billion claimed by the electricity company from its reference shareholder (44% of the shares), only CFA90.7 billion is already consolidated. Uncertainty continues to weigh on an amount of CFA143.8 billion, or more than 61.3% of the total amount.

For several months, discussions between Eneo and the government have been ongoing to settle part of the public debt owed to the electricity company. The issue, presented as an “emergency,” was at the center of the board meeting on December 7. “The directors were assured of the government’s full support in finding rapid solutions to the sector’s urgent payments,” reads the press release signed by Séraphin Magloire Fouda, Chairman of Eneo’s Board of Directors.

But, according to our information, nothing concrete has been achieved to date on this issue. The structuring of an operation to monetize part of the state’s debt to Eneo is mentioned to allow the company to settle part of its debt to its suppliers. Especially since “nothing concrete on the amount and timing of the monetization operation is determined,” independent power producer Globeleq, which claims up to CFA107.7 billion from Eneo, has stopped its 304 MW installed capacity plants for the second time since December 1, 2023, causing power cuts lasting more than six hours.

The financing of the monetization operation is one of the sticking points that is blocking the operation. The Actis subsidiary, which has borne these charges representing between 7 and 8% of the amount to be raised, now refuses to do so. And on its side, the state does not seem willing to bear them either. Hence the deadlock, which should maintain tension in the country’s electricity supply during the year-end celebrations. Sources close to the matter revealed that the situation will worsen during the dry season. For example, at the peak of the low-water period, the Memve’ele hydroelectric plant, with an installed capacity of 211 MW, often produces zero watt-hours at certain times of the day, due to the lack of water flow to turn its turbines.

Source: Business in Cameroon

At least six people were killed and several others injured in a road accident in the Southwest region, according to local police and authorities.

The accident occurred early Thursday in the Tiko locality of the region. Local police said a commercial motorcyclist accidentally ran into a truck that was parked along the road. As some of his colleagues gathered to rescue him, another vehicle ran over them, killing five on the spot. Another person died in the hospital.

The police have launched formal inquiries into the tragedy.

According to the police, fatal accidents are common in Cameroon due to reckless driving, dangerous overtaking, drunk driving, and poor state of the road.

The Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in Cameroon.

Source: Xinhuanet

Over 2.9 million people in Cameroon face food insecurity due to conflicts and poor production, according to a report published by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

For the October-December 2023 period, 2,940,807 people, or 10.6 percent of the population, in Cameroon are in “acute food and nutrition insecurity,” Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Gabriel Mbairobe told a press briefing Monday night to officially present the report.

He said 10 of Cameroon’s 58 administrative divisions are facing food insecurity, mainly due to climate change and insecurity in the Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest, where an armed separatist insurgency is in progress, and in the Far North region, where the Boko Haram terror group continues to attack civilians and soldiers.

The report estimates that the number of people facing food and nutrition insecurity will drop to 2.5 million between June and August next year.

The government will adopt new policies, such as enhancing import substitution and providing support to small-scale farmers, who account for 80 percent of food production, to alleviate the food crisis, Mbairobe said.

Source: Xinhuanet

As of Dec. 11, fuel shortages may persist nationwide through at least mid-December due to supply disruptions attributed to stranded cargo ships.

The scarcity has prompted increased demand and price hikes at available fuel stations, including Yaoundé, Douala, and Bafoussam, among other affected locations.

While officials announced that additional means had been deployed and forecasted a return to normalcy by Dec. 12, panic buying may prolong the scarcity.

Increased demand at available fuel stations may prompt congestion on nearby roads. Fuel shortages may affect business operations and transport services. Related protests remain possible, notably if fuel scarcity persists.

Source: Crisis 24

In just three years (2015–18), kidnappers in North Cameroon collected ransom money of around €3-million (CFAF 2-billion), according to Garoua police. This crime has soared despite government measures such as military deployment and the creation of vigilante committees.

Kidnappers are from different African countries and cross borders to capture or hide their victims — making this a complex transnational crime and difficult to contain.

On 2 September, four Forests and Environment Sector Programme employees were kidnapped on the Mayo Djarendi-Madingring road in the country’s Mayo-Rey department. The abductors demanded CFAF 40 million to release them. On 22 October, at least 40 people of Chadian and Cameroonian nationality were abducted near Touboro in North Cameroon.

Kidnappings for ransom have increased in the context of North Cameroon’s active agricultural and animal husbandry economy. These activities generate significant revenue, adding to border trading, which is particularly lucrative.

Mayo-Rey, Bénoué and Mayo-Louti, on the border with the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and Nigeria, are the departments most targeted by kidnappings for ransom. Persistent issues of weapons possession and trafficking in these countries, partly driven by sociopolitical crises and rebellions, provide kidnappers with the means to carry out their activities.

Sources in North Cameroon told the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) how hostage-takers cross these long and porous borders to find targets. They subdue their victims and sow fear among civilians, rendering them more vulnerable. They usually target farmers, cattle breeders, shopkeepers and humanitarian workers, chosen for their perceived ability to respond to the ransom demands due to their apparent financial capacity.

The phenomenon is spreading beyond the northern and eastern regions (Far North, North, Adamawa and East) to neighbouring areas in Chad, the CAR and Nigeria. It also involves various nationalities, as evidenced by ex-hostages. In Garoua, one informant, who requested anonymity, said his abductors were Nigerian. Another was certain that some came from Sudan. This cross-border dimension reveals a connection between the Sahel, East Africa through Sudan and Central Africa.

Source: Institute for Security Studies (ISS)