Cameroon government forces have shot and killed a young Southern Cameroonian man and injured several others in a raid in Bamenda the chief city in the North West region, as tensions have been running high in the entire Southern Cameroons in recent months.

Our correspondent in Bamenda says the victim is yet to be identified and noted that he sustained critical wounds after being shot by troops loyal to the Francophone regime in Yaoundé on Sunday.

Cameroon Concord News gathered from eyewitnesses that the bullet penetrated the young man’s abdomen, diaphragm and aorta, and all attempts to save his life did not succeed.

The Ambazonia Interim Government described the killings going on in Southern Cameroons as French Cameroun executions and called for a UN Security Council resolution on the situation.

The bitter clashes broke out when a large number of Francophone soldiers reportedly killed nine innocent Southern Cameroons civilians in Missong, a village in the North West.

A Roman Catholic cleric said five Southern Cameroonians were also struck with live bullets on the Bamenda-Bali main road on Sunday.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government has criticized some front line Ambazonian figures for acting very poorly in defending the Ambazonian cause against French Cameroun military occupation.

Dabney Yerima made the remarks in a meeting with a group of Southern Cameroonians in the Republic of South Africa recently that saw him addressed a rally with renowned South Africa politician Julius Malema.

Vice President Yerima took the Southern Cameroons leaders to task for wasting precious time on trivial issues while the French Cameroun regime is busy slaughtering innocent Southern Cameroons civilians.

“Frankly speaking, some senior figures of our struggle particularly those in North America are acting very badly vis-à-vis the resistance and are not even willing to support Ground Zero. Some of them imagine that changing our name from Interim Government to Revolutionary Council or whatever is the way to get to Buea, this is a very big mistake,” Yerima stated.

“Their actions would bear no fruit even for the new alliance and groups they intend to create” Yerima furthered expressing hope that the people of Southern Cameroons will soon regain their independence from La Republique du Cameroun’s occupation.

Dabney Yerima hailed the oppressed but powerful Ambazonia fighters who have been preventing the Southern Cameroons issue from sinking into oblivion through their resistance and sacrifices.

By Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle

While the wrangling on who burned the hospital is still ongoing, many people of Manyu descent are already thinking of how to alleviate the pain the population of Manyu is going through. 

Many people in the town of Mamfe are still scanning the sky for hope and the future really looks bleak. However, there is hope on the horizon, as fundraising campaigns are underway around the world to rebuild the hospital, especially in Toronto, Canada, where there is already a bank account for people of goodwill to drop their donations.

There is no time to waste and the Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency, Victor Mengot Arrey-Nkongho, is well aware of this. He understands that the people of Manyu Division are in the grip of testing times and only they themselves can extricate themselves from this ugly situation.

He is therefore calling for all sons and daughters of Manyu to stand up and be counted among those who are bringing hope to their people in their time of need. 

“Dear brothers and sisters, since the arson on the Mamfe District Hospital, I have read and listened to your burning desire to do something, in short you were all calling for action. Well, it took the time it did for us to brainstorm and chart the way forward. This is no longer the time to make loud noises on different Manyu fora, it is time to stand up and be counted,” the minister said in a message to all Manyu sons and daughters. 

“Your donations are expected and of course your name on the list of those championing the descent on Mamfe came Saturday 18, June 2022. Let’s make hay while the sun shines. Be among those who contributed to put a stop to the suffering of our people and those who will be remembered by posterity. Thank you for your understanding and commitment,” he stressed. 

The minister’s message ties in well with a call earlier issued by the Executive Director of the Global Think Tank for Africa, Dr. Joachim Arrey, who had called on people of Manyu descent to act fast to preempt any disaster that might be heading to Mamfe due to the lack of a good hospital.

“We must rebuild our general hospital. Without this hospital, my siblings and I would not be alive today. It is preposterous for anybody to burn a hospital. If this hospital has been destroyed by Amba fighters, then they do not know what they are fighting for. They have stopped children from going to school and now they are burning health facilities which do serve them and their families. If it is the military that is behind this unfortunate event, then they are simply justifying why people in Mamfe should distrust and hate them. This is unfortunate, but we must not let the wicked destroy us. Our strength will be determined by how fast we rebuild our beloved hospital and not how much we speak,” Dr. Arrey said in an interview with the Cameroon Concord News Group.

“We cannot wait for our people to start dying like ants before we act. Be advised that when you have money, you have power. If we, the people of Manyu Division, can mobilize USD 1 million in a short time, we will force the government’s hands.  We have our people who are in government, and they should be telling us how to proceed. We are already working on a massive fundraising campaign and the Manyu Diaspora will have to demonstrate its love for our people in Manyu Division. I am already talking with many people, and they are willing to bring money to the table,” he stressed. 

“This is the time for us to demonstrate that love we all say we have for our beloved Manyu. We must avoid long speeches at this time. We must act if we do not want our people to perish. It is in our power to deliver our people from the disaster that is staring them in the face,” he underscored. 

The ball is rolling, and the political leadership is in place. It is up to the people of Manyu to do what others do when bad things happen in their communities.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai 

The truth about the burning of the Mamfe Hospital might never be known, as no group has taken responsibility for the disaster which has left many ill people desperate, and residents of the Division frustrated.

Mamfe is gradually losing everything, and it is obvious that the town’s infrastructure is dwindling very fast and could face another disaster soon as Amba fighters are now threatening to burn the central market and any government offices which may be open for business. Mamfe has no electricity, no water and now, no hospital. 

Residents of the town are scared that a health disaster such as cholera outbreak could hit the town soon, and this could result in thousands of deaths. Even Médecins Sans Frontières has packed out of the town and banks and financial institutions have also wrapped up operations, making it hard for retirees to earn their pension while many people now move around with large sums of money for lack of a secure place to keep their earnings. 

Threats by Amba fighters to burn more public goods are making them guilty in the court of public opinion for the razing of the hospital which has been serving some 70,000 people.

Though some members of the public clearly hold that Amba fighters have crossed an invisible red line by burning a hospital, some others hold that to know the truth, investigators should scratch beyond the surface.

Following the razing of the hospital, the Cameroon Concord News Group has deployed undercover reporters to Mamfe for the organization to shed more light on an incident which is splitting the country. 

The first findings clearly indicted the military while the second investigations conducted by speaking to victims and some members of the public which saw how the operation unfolded clearly accused Amba fighters, as some Mamfe boys were identified by nurses and some of these nurses have now left the town for fear of being killed by the fighters they identified.

Our correspondents have continued digging into the matter and they are unearthing some gory details which are clearly incriminating the military. The Cameroon Concord News Group is not passing any judgment but is simply reporting what it has uncovered.

According to sources our correspondents talked to, the Mamfe boys who had been identified were those who had earlier surrendered and are part of the government’s DDR. They are being used by the military to track and kill Amba fighters. The boys are now being taken to various locations to enforce the military’s decisions on how to destroy Amba camps or health facilities that are treating Amba fighters who have been shot by the military.

The military has, for years, been monitoring the Mamfe hospital and it had even taken away some patients they suspected were ill because they had been living in the bushes for too long. Those who had gunshot wounds were immediately arrested and later killed and buried by the military in unmarked graves.

The former Amba fighters who are now in DDR centers have become the eyes and ears of the military and it is alleged that the plan carefully hatched by the military was implemented by former Amba boys who came to the Mamfe Hospital with mattresses soaked with gasoline. The mattresses were later shot at, triggering a massive fire in seven out of the nine wards which made up the hospital which was commissioned in 1973 by the country’s first president.

The nurses who identified those boys have confirmed that the accent they heard was typical Manyu accent, but those who understand how the military operates clearly point out that those boys had been taking into DDR centers across the Southwest Region where the military is keeping a tight leash on them.

Sources close to the military have confirmed that the military uses very illegal and brutal methods in its conduct of a war that has resulted in the deaths of some 7,000 Cameroonians.

Many medical workers have been arrested by the military for treating Amba fighters and even staff of Médecins Sans Frontières have also been arrested and taken to Buea where they are being held in very tough and inhuman conditions even when the government understands that Médecins Sans Frontières has a right to treat anybody regardless of the side of the fight in which they are.

The military does not even trust local authorities and our investigations have revealed the homes of traditional rulers are constantly being searched without any justifiable reason. The palace of Chief Godson Oben, the Paramount chief of Mamfe, was thoroughly searched not long ago. The chief was surprised, and he happily allowed the lawless military officials to search his Palace and the only thing they found were costly wines which the Chief uses to entertain his visitors. Though the Chief was not very happy with such invasive searches, he however offered a bottle of expensive wine to the lawless military men which they promptly took and walked away from the Chief’s Palace. 

Cameroon Concord New Group’s team is still on the ground, and it will continue to file in its reports as it uncovers new evidence. It should be pointed out that a military officer in Mamfe has informed his girlfriend that the military is looking for Cameroon Concord News Group’s journalists and he is seeking to use his girlfriend to identify any new faces in town.  

The girlfriend, who is a strong Amba supporter, has promptly informed people who are sympathizing with Cameroon Concord News Group and the Group has used the means available to it to inform its diplomatic contacts in Yaoundé.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Kingsley Betek, John Besong and Fon Lawrence

The Southern Cameroons Secretary of the Economy Hon. Tabenyang Brado has told Cameroon Concord News that the sole solution to the Ambazonian crisis is the release of all Southern Cameroons detainees including President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides, the complete and total withdrawal of all Francophone army soldiers and gendarmes from the Ambazonian homeland and the holding of a UN sponsored referendum to be attended by only Southern Cameroonians.

Comrade Tabenyang Brado made the remarks on Sunday during a telephone conversation with our London Bureau Chief Isong Asu.

The chartered member of the Southern Cameroons war cabinet noted that the people of Ambazonia will never back down on the rights of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and will continue to resist and forge ahead with the struggle for the liberation of the Ambazonian people.

Tabenyang described the so-called Southern Cameroons CPDM elites still serving the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé as betrayals of the Ambazonian cause and added that those Southern Cameroons citizens will forever regret their action.

After decades of chafing at perceived marginalization and discrimination, Southern Cameroonians declared an independent state in 2017, triggering a crackdown by the Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

The spiral of fighting has claimed more than 10,000 lives and prompted more than a million people to flee their homes, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

Ambazonia Restoration Forces are now targeting police, soldiers, officials and schools, which they deem to be symbols of the French Cameroun state.

By Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle

The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim in Cameroon strongly condemns the destruction of the district hospital of Mamfe in the South-West region.

On 8 June 2022, suspected elements of a non-State armed group (NSAG) reportedly carried out an attack in the locality of Egbekaw and in the course of the event, the hospital was also set on fire and destroyed. All patients had to be transferred to other medical centers. The Mamfe district hospital is covering more than 85,000 people living in the area. The hospital serves as main medical reference covering medical needs of remote areas in Manyu division. Its destruction will deprive people of urgently needed care and further weaken the local health system.

There has been at least five attacks against healthcare since January 2022. The crisis in the NorthWest and South-West regions of Cameroon has seen a large number of attacks on healthcare, with health workers or patients threatened, abducted, injured or killed, as well as medical infrastructures damaged or destroyed.

Attacks on healthcare workers, patients and facilities are serious violations of international human rights law, they must be investigated and perpetrators must be held to account,” said the Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. “Health care workers are every day saving the lives of thousands of people and must be allowed to work without fear or concern for their safety or that of their patients.” he added.

The Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. in Cameroon calls on all parties to protect healthcare and refrain from hindering access to medical services. The humanitarian community remains mobilized to support affected populations in the region.

Karen Perrin, Head of Office, OCHA Cameroon, perrink@un.org

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a Federal Register notice with instructions on how to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Cameroon. The designation runs for 18 months, until December 7, 2023, and the government estimates that approximately 11,700 individuals may be eligible.

Cameroon has been designated for TPS due to extreme violence between government forces and armed separatists, deadly attacks by terrorist groups and vigilante self-defense groups, and human rights violations leading to a humanitarian crisis and economic decline.

Cameroonians who have continuously resided in the United States since April 14, 2022, may apply for TPS. Individuals arriving after that date will not be eligible. Those who meet the eligibility requirements, including demonstrating continuous physical presence in the United States since June 7, 2022, will be able to register for TPS and apply for employment and travel authorization during the registration period, which runs from June 7, 2022, until December 7, 2023.

Cameroonian students who are in the United States in F-1 status and who are suffering from severe economic hardship may be able to request work authorization, reduce their course loads, and work more hours.

Culled from The National Law Review

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government has reacted to the fire incident that destroyed the Mamfe District Hospital saying Yaoundé should stop fabricating and spreading false information on the complete destruction of the health sector in Southern Cameroons.

In a statement released late on Friday, Vice President Dabney Yerima said it was reasonable that the so-called disinformation committee established by the Biya regime deep within the Francophone military to get Southern Cameroonians away from the liberation struggle and accept the current status quo be shutdown because the Yaoundé administration is now becoming the biggest distributor of misinformation on the war in Southern Cameroons.

French Cameroun military officials and politicians are full of lies, but it is the people of Southern Cameroons who pay with their lives for disinformation made by the French Cameroun regime, Dabney Yerima said.

Vice President Dabney Yerima pointed out that the dire healthcare situation in Ground Zero has been exacerbated by continued Francophone military operations.

Yerima listed some examples, including the burning of hospitals in Kumba, Banso, Batibo and now Mamfe which is causing the death of hundreds of Southern Cameroons civilians.

The exiled Ambazonian leader noted that troops loyal to the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé often defend as legitimate operations that have killed civilians across Southern Cameroons over the past five years. 

The more the French backed Francophone regime lies, the greater support the Ambazonian Interim Government gets from Southern Cameroonians, Yerima concluded. 

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The onetime prominent South West political figure who propagated anti North West sentiments during his time as Secretary General of the South West Elites Association is currently hospitalized and critically ill in a Douala hospital.

Calvin Nnoko Mbele, who moonlighted as Mayor and later on as Government Delegate to the Kumba City Council is in the most critical of conditions and because of complications coming from political neglect by the regime in Yaoundé, he recently went into septic shock and many organs are struggling, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from family sources.

“Medics are working hard to keep him comfortable and continuously monitoring him” our intelligence officer in Douala who contributed to this report said.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the blood gas levels of the former Secretary General of the South West Elites Association have improved recently and his numbers are holding.

The news of Calvin Nnoko Mbele’s hospitalization in Douala comes after he was rushed out of Kumba due to the poor security situation in the city.

‘We are aware of Nnoko Mbele’s situation and are praying for his health and his family,’ a friend of the veteran CPDM politician said to CIR.

By Edia Peter in Douala

Once news about the burning of the Mamfe General Hospital emerged, many people started condemning the military and most people based their argument on the fact that a checkpoint had been established opposite the hospital and that those military officers at the checkpoint were supposed to have acted while the operation was going on.

While the military is not made up of saints and angels, the evidence emerging is gradually incriminating Amba fighters who, many Mamfe residents accuse of having been masterminding the destruction of the town for months now. Many point to the burning of the Mamfe Motor Park which resulted in the deaths of at least two people and there are people in Mamfe who know a lot but cannot speak because of threats and fear of possible revenge.  

According to a nurse who was on duty at the Mamfe General hospital on Wednesday when hell suddenly broke loose at the hospital and who has pleaded for her name and identity to be protected, the military checkpoint opposite the hospital had been dismantled long before the burning of the hospital.

She added that she did recognize some of the boys who are Mamfe boys, adding that she was scared of her security and was going through a depression after having known that the boys who burnt down the hospital were indeed young Mamfe boys she knew.

She explained that before the buildings were burned down, the criminals who pass off as Amba fighters had ordered every sick person to leave, but there was a lady who could not walk because she had just been operated upon. The criminals had to carry the lady to a house close to the hospital to drop her off there as if that was their home. 

When the owner of the house, Mr. Adolf Limungang, who is a businessman in Mamfe refused that the lady should not be kept there, the Amba boys kidnapped Mr. Limungang who is now in the bush for challenging the Amba boys. The criminals are now asking for a CFAF 10 million ransom if they must release Mr. Limungang who has nothing to do with the struggle and Amba boys. 

Mr. Adolf Limungang is now in the bushes and based on information from those who saw the boys, Mr Mr. Adolf Limungang also knew the boys and this may complicate things for him. While some Manyu people living abroad and out of the Division have been insinuating that those who committed such atrocities were boys coming from other parts of Southern Cameroons, the evidence is now pointing to something else, and our source is clearly urging people of Manyu to stop blaming other people for their problems.

“Brother, we cannot continue to blame other people for our stupidity. I know some of the boys who came and brunt the hospital. They are boys I see here in town all the time. They are young unemployed boys who are totally under the influence of drugs. I am simply scared to call their names and I think if I call their names, they may come after me,” she stressed. 

“We are our own worst enemy. The military only came in after the incident and the soldiers helped to carry some of the helpless patients who were in the corridor to safety. The military can be blamed for other things, but they are not responsible for this act of wickedness. I saw it with my own eyes, and it will be unfair and wrong for me to blame other people. Our own Manyu boys have ruined one big asset we had in our Division. Where will our pregnant women be going for consultations now? Not everybody has money to travel out of the Division or to go to private clinics,” she lamented. 

“Why would any normal person be burning a hospital that is helping everybody? Do Amba fighters and their families not need a hospital? The same boys have issued threats that they will burn the Mamfe Central Market and there has been a mad rush to pack out of the market on Thursday. Traders have taken their products out of the market and most shops will be closed for days. How is the ordinary man going to cope with this unhealthy situation that Mamfe boys are creating for their own people. Inflation is already killing us. Why are we doing this to ourselves?” he regretted.

“I have lost my job. Like most nurses, I just wanted to help the sick. I liked seeing people recover from their illnesses. If the hospital cannot be rebuilt in a few months’ time, then I might be heading out of the town to look for a different job. Let us not try to pin this on the military. Mamfe boys are responsible. I saw them and I know them, and I know where their families are. A friend of mine who was also on duty is now going through a depression. She is already in Kumba and she might not be coming back to Mamfe. None of us ever thought Manyu boys would destroy their own hospital,” she said.

Many people have been asking and will continue to ask why Amba fighters will burn the Mamfe General hospital, but the answer is also a question. What do they gain by stopping children from going to school for five years? What do they gain by undressing young girls who only want to study? The videos are out there and those who undressed those young girls and boys were not soldiers.

What do they gain by chasing students from schools in rural parts of Southern Cameroons? Are they Olympians who just want to be running? Even if they want to represent a country at the Olympics, which country will they be representing? Why practice for Olympics with young schoolboys and girls who simply need knowledge in order to be ready for a future which will be knowledge-based?

While investigations are still underway, it is wrong to dismiss the role Amba fighters are playing in the destruction of infrastructure in a region which is infrastructure deficient.

The initial objectives of the struggle were noble, but with time, they have morphed into something many people no longer understand. Many young men who pass off as Amba fighters are now very destructive and their objective is to make money – be it by crook or by hook.

It is good to support struggles, but it is wise to support a struggle that is well coordinated and under the control of responsible leaders. The Amba struggle is off its rails and those holding guns are intent on destroying than promoting the well-being of their people.

In villages today, Amba fighters have become judges and lawyers, with many imposing stratospheric amounts on people who have not committed any crime. Many innocent people have lost their lives not because the military killed them, but because gun-toting Amba fighters hold that they have the right to determine who has to die and who has to live. 

A revolution is not supposed to make things worse, but the one in Southern Cameroons is destroying the very people and properties it is supposed to protect. It is time to revisit the struggle and to redefine new objectives, if only the leaders have any control over the Amba fighters.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Kingsley Betek, John Besong and  Fon Lawrence