Cameroon

Bamenda: Consortium declares secret Ad Hoc Committee meeting with CATTU null and void

21, January 2017

Bamenda: Consortium declares secret Ad Hoc Committee meeting with CATTU null and void 0

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has sounded a note of caution to some members of the teachers trade union known as CATTU currently holding a meeting in Bamenda with the defunct Ad Hoc Committee who entered the North West regional capital like a thief in the night. The Consortium leaders have stated that the meeting is null and void and only aims at marginalizing Southern Cameroonians.

Cameroon Concord News understand the Ad Hoc Committee was dissolved and a public announcement to that effect was made by its Chairman Paul Ghogomu Mingo. Events took  a dramatic U-turn when the leaders of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government pulled out of dialogue, banned the Consortium and arrested its leaders.

The Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo who attempted bribing the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium leaders, signed a ministerial order immediately after the government’s crackdown and extended the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee.

A lot of under-the-table talks have been going on ever since the Fame Ndongo decision on the Ad Hoc Committee that was created by the Prime Minister and Head of Government, Philemon Yang. With age telling on Biya, it is hard to say who is really in charge in Yaounde.

Today’s Bamenda meeting is in line with what the ministerial order signed by the anti Anglophone Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fama Ndongo that the Ad Hoc Committee will begin dialogue with legalized teachers trade unions. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has warned that West Cameroonians will not tolerate any betrayals coming from the much respected CATTU leadership.

CONSORTIUM DOKI

By Sonne Peter

Southern Cameroons unprecedented ghost town protest begins on Monday

21, January 2017

Southern Cameroons unprecedented ghost town protest begins on Monday 0

Paul Biya has reportedly ordered the so-called Anglophone CPDM political elites to brave the bad roads to Southern Cameroons and lure parents to send their children to school.  The Francophone government recently changed its track and arrested the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium in a move that was aimed at sending the revolution underground.

Francophone schools in both the South West and the North West regions have been accorded military surveillance and security guarantees to open their doors this coming Monday.  The Biya Francophone regime has shut down internet services in Southern Cameroons as a strategy to stifle the communication department of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Senior Anglophone leaders including the Roman Catholic Bishops of Southern Cameroons are currently being bullied by the secret service. Southern Cameroons’s economy that revolves around farming and remittance from the Diaspora is completely grounded following the closure of all internet services in British Southern Cameroons.

Anglophone lawmakers many of whom were handpicked by the political elites at the time are presently helpless in the face of the killings, rape and torture going on in West Cameroon. The militarization of the entire Southern Cameroons territory by troops from La Republique du Cameroun has prompted West Cameroonians to be more anxious about security and the outlook for a transitioning economy.

 In a sign of change, one of the Southern Cameroon’s most powerful religious figures, the Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon has called for the resistance to continue. Some traditional leaders have backed the Consortium and are calling for foreign intervention.

“There’s a line in the sand that has to be drawn,” revealed a prominent Anglophone elite based in Buea in the South West region.  The Consortium is urging Southern Cameroonians not to send their children to school and to respect the civil disobedience campaign which begins on Monday the 23rd of January.

The African Union has expressed concerns through its human rights commission on the situation in Southern Cameroons.  In a statement released late last night, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium called on those in the Diaspora to make at least a phone call to their family members back home not to allow their kids to go to school.

By Rita Akana in Buea

Anglophone Uprising: Francophone government threatens to Gag media

21, January 2017

Anglophone Uprising: Francophone government threatens to Gag media 1

The Francophone Government of Cameroon has just revealed its ugly face in the ongoing struggle by Teachers and Common Law Lawyers to fight for the restore of the Anglo Saxon system of education and Common Law practice by using brutality and all measures to mute protesters.

After shutting down internet connection last Tuesday in the North West and South West regions without explanation from any of the mobile Telecommunication companies, the President of National Communication Council who was appointed by Presidential decree, Peter Essoka has just made another step forward in gagging the Press.

Newspapers such as Le Massager, The Times Journal, The Guardian Post, Cameroon Post; Television Channels such as Equinoxe TV, Canal 2 and Spectrum TV have been warned to desist from given rooms to people who talk of Federalism or secession which according to Mr Essoka will undermine the integrity and unitary nature of the country.

The National Communication Council has promised to shut down such media houses if they continue to broadcast such. Observers hold that Peter Essoka in his release did not sound like an instructor teaching his pupil new things, his choice of words was a perfect indication that the regime is bent on seeing into it that the Anglophone struggle crumbles especially gagging the Press which for now has stood as a means of information. The NCC boss used words like anti-democratic which observers see as a leeway to tell the media that they are not free to cover such events because their closure will be eminent.

Anglophone so-called political elites in Yaounde passing for Biya emissaries have been crossing towns in North West and South West regions to lure parents send their children to school next Monday. The Leaders of the Consortium, Tapang  Ivo and Mark Bara have called for ghost towns beginning on Monday the 23rd and runs through Tuesday and Wednesday.  The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium stated that the three-day ghost town operation shall be observe for a period of one month before further instructions on the struggle will be made public.

Cameroun Info.Net

 

 

Consortium confirms Ghost Town to resume on Monday, MTN, CAMTEL, NETTEL to face boycott action

20, January 2017

Consortium confirms Ghost Town to resume on Monday, MTN, CAMTEL, NETTEL to face boycott action 0

Since Tuesday January 17, 2017 the English speaking regions of Cameroon partitioned by the Francophone regime as North West and South West have been cut off from the internet world. Internet connection was shut down late Tuesday shortly after the government arrested the main leaders of the now outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Businesses have been grounded in both regions. Several Money transfer agencies are unable to operate, banks are inactive and mobile telephone operators who deal with internet have had their businesses closed. The leaders of the Consortium have announced a continuation of the civil disobedience campaign beginning on Monday the 23rd of January. The seat of the Consortium has also been moved to an unnamed European country and Southern Cameroonians have been called to listen to the Consortium.

The ghost town operation starting next week will be staged every Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Schools will remain closed and Anglophone parents have been cautioned not to end their children to school. The Consortium is aware that the Yaoundé regime has ordered Francophone schools in Southern Cameroons to open their doors this coming Monday.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the Consortium considers the Yaounde position as an act of provocation. The interim leaders of the Consortium have announced that they are discussing plans with the Southern Cameroons business community to develop a strategy for a complete and total boycott of  CAMTEL, MTN, ORANGE and NEXTTEL.

The shutting down of internet was intended to make communication difficult for locals of these two regions who have been using the internet as fast means of disseminating information to one another. Denizens see this as a failure by these companies to risk their businesses by forgetting the Customer King philosophy and allegedly working with the government.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

Justice Ayah releases statement says the Anglophone struggle must continue till the end

20, January 2017

Justice Ayah releases statement says the Anglophone struggle must continue till the end 2

Justice Ayah Paul Abine released a statement via his Face Book page detailing an arrest attempt made on his person in Yaounde yesterday the 19th of January 2017. The Judge of the Supreme Court of Cameroon is reportedly wanted by the Francophone regime for his pro Anglophone stance and support for the civil disobedience campaign. Contrary to what was announced late yesterday, the Anglophone Judge will appear before a Francophone army colonel today Friday the 20th 2017. Attached to this report is the Justice Ayah Statement:

ARREST ATTEMPT: UNPERTURBED

A worker of the Supreme Court rushed into the office some 90 minutes ago to inform Ayah Paul Abine that some persons were asking to know the location of his residence. The man said he had replied that Ayah was either in a hotel or at Buea… The informant had hardly finished talking when two persons smashed into Ayah’s office. They required Ayah to sign that he had received a summons (“convocation”) to appear before a colonel at the gendarmerie (SED) at once or get arrested…

Ayah told them that, by law, he could only be served through his departmental head. After lengthy exchanges, including telephone calls by the persons in question, it was settled that Ayah would report to the gendarmerie tomorrow, January 20 at 11 AM.

But when the colonel explained that Ayah would have to make a statement, Ayah explained that he would report only by way of courtesy and not to answer to accusation. So it is because, Ayah explained, any investigation about or against him as a serving magistrate must comply with Section 629 of the Criminal Procedure Code…

Detentions of Anglophone figures continue as ghost town returns on Monday

20, January 2017

Detentions of Anglophone figures continue as ghost town returns on Monday 0

Several Francophone government officials have downplayed the ghost town operation and non resumption of schools in Southern Cameroons describing the Anglophone strike as a non event and nonsense. Large segments of Southern Cameroonians have already engaged in a three-day civil disobedience campaign called by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium to protest the recent rapes, killings and militarization of the Anglophone regions of the country by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

Southern Cameroons activists launched a wide electronic campaign to mobilize West Cameroonians to engage in the second phase of the civil disobedience action starting Monday the 23rd and to run through Tuesday and Wednesday the 24th and 25th of February 2017.  Opposition forces and groups have expressed support for the general one month strike called by the detained leaders of the Consortium and Southern Cameroonians including those in the Diaspora and their affiliates are expected to play an active role to ensure its success.

This week, the 83 year old dictator, Paul Biya who has been in power for 34 years boastfully told one of Cameroon Intelligence Report’s informant at State House that his government wouldn’t be overthrown by “WhatsApp” and Face Book including Twitter pointing he wouldn’t hand over the country to a new leader but arrest and jail any Anglophone activists hiding behind the “keyboards”. The Minister of Communication and the Francophone government spokesman, Issa Tchiroma told reporters last night that the outcome of the previous ghost town operations in Southern Cameroons was zero and the upcoming one would be a big zero since the presidency has shut down all internet and telephone services in the British Southern Cameroons territory.

Issa Tchiroma accepted that his government was holding many Southern Cameroons political detainees including the Chairman and Secretary General of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, Barrister Agbor Nkongho Felix and Dr. Neba Fontem. We got intelligence that the leader of the Anglophone teachers trade union, Wilfred Tassang has seek refuge in the American embassy in Yaoundé and the whereabouts of Barrister Bobga Harmony is still unknown. Commenting on the recent crackdown including rapes and extra judicial killings going on in the Anglophone regions of the country, the Minister of Communication said the Yaoundé authorities have the right to take all the necessary measures to maintain the security and stability if there is any security threat to the country.

Boko Haram is now a thing of the past as the Francophone dominated Intelligence and Security Services has recently intensified crackdown on journalists for publishing news reports and articles on the Anglophone Problem. Radio stations and newspapers houses have been forced to close down. With the world turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Francophone regime in Southern Cameroons, the Yaoundé government launched a large arrest campaign and has detained senior Anglophone officials including attempts at arresting Justice Ayah Paul of the Cameroon Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has said the civil disobedience could be extended beyond February with the sole aim of paralyzing all economic and academic activities in Southern Cameroons. Southern Cameroons youth have been called to join a telephone campaign to increase participation in the ghost town operations and the Anglophone struggle.  At the time of filing this report, Consortium forces announced more detentions among its members across Southern Cameroons as Monday the 23rd 2017, the date of the civil disobedience approaches.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

Yaounde: Leader says the international community will not turn a blind eye to the plight of West Cameroonians

19, January 2017

Yaounde: Leader says the international community will not turn a blind eye to the plight of West Cameroonians 1

The Chairman of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and Vice President of the Bar Association, Barrister Agbor Felix Nkongho have told a sea of Francophone army generals and judges from the military tribunal in Yaoundé that the international community will not turn a blind eye to the plight of British Southern Cameroonians. The Anglophone leader urged the United Nation, the European Union and the governments of the United States and Great Britain to unite in support of the persecuted minority in Cameroon.

Barrister Agbor Balla Felix made the remarks as he was being interrogated by highly placed Francophone military officials today in Yaoundé.  Balla Felix further condemned the Biya regime’s handling of the Anglophone problem observing that the Consortium has made genuine recommendations to Yaoundé over the matter. The Leader also censured the killings and massive arrest going on in Southern Cameroonians and called on Etoudi to focus on getting a swift solution to the crisis gripping West Cameroon.

We gathered that in the presence of Barrister Ben Muna, the Francophone interrogators attempted to put a charge on terrorism on the Leader including what they described as the Leader’s trade in hate speech. Barrister Agbor Balla Felix pointed out that West Cameroonians have been deprived of their inalienable right to citizenship while facing systematic discrimination, violence and hatred from the political elites of Francophone Cameroun.

British Southern Cameroonians are dying appalling deaths and the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime is not anywhere near to end its crackdown on the Anglophone community.  The Leader made a short submission at the tail-end of the interrogation stating that “West Cameroonians have suffered appalling deaths, and those that have lived through Francophone military atrocities have witnessed or endured unspeakable cruelty.”

Southern Cameroons is one of the most persecuted minorities in Africa. Tens of thousands of its citizens are asylum seekers in Europe, the US, Canada and the Middle East. The Francophone government has constantly denied full citizenship to the Anglophone Cameroonian and imposes some form of restrictions on their movement. For instance, the Republic of Cameroon has four international airports and none of them is located in the Anglophone zone. Hydro electricity power dams in the Anglophone region were shut down and the Anglophone communities now rely on power from dams in the Francophone areas.

Since 2016, the Francophone dominated army has carried out many operations in Southern Cameroons using air power that claimed the lives of many Southern Cameroonians. In recent days, there have been numerous reports of arbitrary killings, rapes and other atrocities against British Southern Cameroonians. Thousands have fled to neighboring Nigeria in the face of the crackdown.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Bamenda: Many feared dead as Francophone troops clash with civilians

19, January 2017

Bamenda: Many feared dead as Francophone troops clash with civilians 2

The Francophone Army has reportedly killed civilians today in Bamenda in a clash between soldiers and some residents of the city. The regime in Yaoundé has shutdown internet and telephone services in the Anglophone region of the country making it difficult for our cream of reporters to send live pictures of the prevailing situation.

Cameroon Concord News understands the incident started earlier today at 2.00 a.m. when troops loyal to the Biya Francophone government stormed the residence of a prominent Southern Cameroons activist and arrested him and his partner. The 31 Artillery Brigade of the Francophone Army presently stationed in Bamenda, the capital of the North West region intervened when the population came out massively to clamor for the release of those arrested.

Our North West bureau is yet to establish a tally of those who have been killed and arrested by the joint police and army operation.

By Sama Ernest

Leader says the Anglophone Problem is real and legitimate

19, January 2017

Leader says the Anglophone Problem is real and legitimate 0

The Chairman of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society and Vice President of the Bar Association, Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho has said that a return to federalism is one of the solutions to the ongoing crisis in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon.

On January 17, 2017, René Emmanuel Sadi, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (MINATD) signed a decree banning the activities of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) and the presidency of the republic ordered his arrest some few hours later.

Felix Agbor Nkongho hinted that “If you look at the memorandum of May 9, 2016, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society used the words” federalism or nothing.” The Chairman of the Consortium also revealed to a French tabloid that the Consortium has no hidden agenda since the genesis of the crisis.

“Lawyers had addressed a memo to the Minister of Justice, the Prime Minister, the Senate and the National Assembly; you will see that federalism was there. So it’s not a hidden agenda as some people want to believe. The people in the Consortium are simply helping the state of Cameroon to survive. In other words, the debate among Anglophones is changing because of the government’s repressive actions.”

Reacting to his arrest in Buea, Chairman Agbor Balla said “No one wants to undermine the power of Yaoundé. It has never been said that Paul Biya has to leave. And then it’s not Paul Biya’s English problem. What is more, we have decided that no politician should be among the members of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, so that no one can direct these claims towards their political agenda. The Anglophone problem is both real and legitimate.”

By Rita Akana

Consortium uncovers the deployment of thousands of “secret service” personnel in Bamenda and Buea

18, January 2017

Consortium uncovers the deployment of thousands of “secret service” personnel in Bamenda and Buea 0

Biya has ordered the deployment of thousands of undercover military personnel in Bamenda and Buea, a source at the presidency of the republic has hinted. Our informant added that the special forces acting as secret service officials have been given directives to arrest any West Cameroonian citizen exhibiting any sort of violence, be it throwing stones, stopping another person from opening his/her store, burning the flag, carrying the southern Cameroon flag, or simply yelling at someone for not obeying the strike.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands these military men and women are dressed in civilian attire to blend well with the local population.  They have been told to show up in churches to spy and arrest those militating against the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

Information also filtered that many of the members of the elite force appear in torn trousers or shirts or native attire looking like a villager.  The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society has issued a warning to all Southern Cameroonians to be extremely careful and exercise non-violence in whatever they do. The Consortium recently revealed that If West Cameroonians see any suspicious person they have never seen before around their neighborhood or church, they should know that the said individual is an undercover military personal.

At the time of filing this report, we gathered that many Southern Cameroonians have been arrested and tortured by the members of the new secret service force created to stifle the Anglophone uprising.  The presidency of the La Republique has also sent personal threatening letters warning the Anglophone Roman Catholic Bishops not to send out another memo in support of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has again announced that strikes and the civil disobedience campaign will go ahead until our Southern Cameroon demands are met. In a statement, the Chairman of the Consortium called on “West Cameroonians not to allow the selfish ones among us to destroy our struggle.” It is vital to include in this report that ghost town operations will begin next week and will hold on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Southern Cameroonians are called upon to listen to leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

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