News

26, December 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Biya regime announces unprecedented, wildly irrational spending binge ⁰

Of the 238.910 billion CFA francs accorded the Ministry of Defense during the recent controversial budgetary session of the National Assembly, 124.212 billion CFA francs will be spent on military hardware to combat the Southern Cameroon Defense Force.

Defense Minister, Jospeh Beti Assomo made the revelation and pointed out that Yaoundé intends to beef up Cameroon armed forces logistical, human, technical and operational aspects to “preserve the territorial integrity of the nation and ensure the safety of citizens and their property”.

“The goal is to win the war in the South West and North West regions” noted Mr. Beti Assomo. The Francophone member of government indicated that “no part of the South West and North West will be neglected and it is the question of providing appropriate answers to these two poles of insecurity in Anglophone Cameroon”.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

25, December 2017

Moscow: Bus drives into pedestrian underpass, kills 5 ⁰

Five people were killed when a city bus ploughed into a pedestrian underpass in western Moscow on Monday, traffic police said.

“A bus drove into a pedestrian underpass,” a traffic police spokesman, Artyom Kolesnikov, told AFP.

“According to preliminary information, five people died.”

There were also unconfirmed reports that some 15 people had been injured.

Footage broadcast on national television showed a bus driving down the stairs, running over several pedestrians.

The incident happened on Kutuzovsky Avenue, near the Slavyansky Bulvar metro station in the western part of the Russian capital.

This photo shows the bus which crashed into an underground passage in Moscow. (Photo by RT)

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident but Russian news agencies said that the driver had been detained.

The Interfax news agency said investigators were looking into whether the incident had occurred as a result of a technical fault with the bus.

“There are dead and wounded,” tweeted Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. “We are providing emergency aid,” he said, offering condolences to families of the victims.

(Source: Agencies)

25, December 2017

As Trump rages about Immigrants, Cameroonian sisters go to the Ivy League- New York Times ⁰

Ten years ago, a family arrived in the Bronx from Yaoundé, Cameroon, not speaking a word of English. This Christmas, they are celebrating a feat that would be impressive for any family: Three of the family’s five daughters have been accepted to Ivy League universities.

In a year in which our nativist president would have you believe that immigrants are, at best, a job-stealing drain and at worst, criminals, rapists and people with AIDS, these three remarkable sisters are worth paying attention to. Not just because they are inspiring — they are — but because they are far better ambassadors for this country and exponents of its ideals than the 45th president.

“We brought the girls to this country because there are better opportunities here,” says Flore Kengmeni, their mother, who works as a nurse. “I don’t know of another country where you can try hard, work hard and get somewhere. Where you are given the opportunity to fulfill your potential.”

“This country is built on immigrants,” Francois de Paul Silatchom, their father, a professor of economics at SUNY, starts to say, before his middle daughter, Ella, a sophomore at Yale, interjects: “Our experience as a family is what America is.”

That experience is marked by hard work, optimism, resilience and a persistent sense of gratitude even to have the opportunity.

All three girls admit it wasn’t easy. They recall sitting in class during their first year in America and not understanding what their teachers and classmates were saying. They remember being made fun of, but not really knowing why.

“Everyone spoke so fast and I guess we speak that fast now, too,” says Xaviera, the youngest of the three, who was accepted to Harvard earlier this month.

They turned to books for guidance. Their parents got the girls library cards and made reading mandatory — “Education is the most valuable asset,” the parents say repeatedly when we meet. The sisters were encouraged to read broadly, from “The Magic School Bus” to “ Harry Potter,” and they practiced English as a family in their two-bedroom apartment in the Bronx’s Pelham Parkway neighborhood.

By the end of their first year at their local public schools, the girls had learned enough English to take the state exams, and were excelling in their classes. But their parents were alarmed that they were finishing their homework during the school day and coming home bored. They asked teachers to assign their daughters more homework. But even that wasn’t enough.

“Something was wrong,” Mr. de Paul Silatchom says. “I started looking for schools that would challenge them and keep them busy. At a school fair, we learned about Democracy Prep.”

At Democracy Prep, a public charter school in Harlem where I met them one recent afternoon, the day begins at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. Longer school days, many argue, allow teachers to spend more time on subjects other than math and English, and keep students out of trouble.

Francois de Paul Silatchom, left, poses for a portrait with his daughters (Left to right,) Xaviera, 17, Ella, 19, and Chris, 20, and their mother Flore Kengmeni, center, at their church on the Upper East Side.CreditVictor J. Blue for The New York Times

Through the school’s Korean language program, the sisters were exposed to a culture completely different from their own, which sparked an interest in global affairs for all of them. Civics is a core part of the school’s curriculum, which Xaviera says showed her that, “Regardless of how disadvantaged you are in society, you have an advantage if you understand how our system of government works.”

When the oldest, Chris, now a junior at Dartmouth, got into the college in 2014, friends and family were elated, but her parents made it clear that the work wasn’t over.

“The night I got into Dartmouth, Mom asked me, ‘Have you done the dishes?’ Getting in was exciting and I knew she was proud, but it was just a regular day,” Chris says.

“They haven’t ‘arrived,’ as people like to say, just because they are into Ivy League schools,” Mr. de Paul Silatchom says. “It’s a good start and a platform of opportunity.”

When speaking, the sisters transition seamlessly between New York-accented English and French, their first language. The irony that they landed at a school called Democracy Prep after immigrating from one of the world’s least democratic countries is not lost on them.

It’s something they’ve spent a lot of time thinking about as President Trump has rolled out various cruel immigration policies, from his proposed travel ban to, in September, rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA — an Obama-era program that protected the country’s approximately 800,000 undocumented youth raised in the country from being deported.

“It’s scary to see because this is not the country we know,” says Chris, who along with her sisters, became an American citizen in 2016. “America at its core is principled on immigrants. We came to this country to improve our futures and I feel as American as anyone born here.”

“These girls are more American than Cameroonian,” their mother says. “Can you imagine being undocumented? We were very lucky,” Xaviera adds.

Watching videos of immigration agents separating families in recent months has been particularly difficult for Ms. Kengmeni and Mr. de Paul Silatchom. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like for these children who go to school in the morning knowing they might come home at the end of the day to no parents,” Ms. Kengmeni says.

This year, Christmas break involves running around to pack for Chris’s semester abroad and attending three Christmas Masses, but the family is grateful to be all together, even if it’s for just a few days. They know they are the lucky ones.

Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded or co-founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Watching Ella, Chris and Xaviera, I’d bet good money that they will join those ranks of these world-class leaders. But the question I find myself asking as I leave their school: Who are the young women the Trump administration is currently keeping out?

Culled from The New York Times

25, December 2017

Ambazonia: The body of the Chief of Nyang may have been wrapped in plastic and dumped in the Manyu river ⁰

The body of the Chief of Nyang village in Akwaya Sub Division gruesomely murdered a week ago by a militant group with ties to the Southern Cameroons Defense Force has not been found. Cameroon Concord News gathered that Chief Abang Ashu had conspired with Cameroon government forces and betrayed some of the youth in his village. The pro CPDM traditional ruler was also feeding the Cameroon army with information regarding the activities of his subjects.

A source confirmed to our Manyu bureau chief that on the faithful day the late Chief Abang Ashu had compiled a list of names of some youths and was heading to Mamfe the chief town in Manyu Division to make a report to the troops stationed in Egbekaw. The angry young men caught him in Mukoyor inside Eshobi village en route to Mamfe.

He was beaten, legs chopped off and later tied on a bike and dragged to death in Mukoyor. His remains were taken to unknown destination by the Ambazonian militants. Cameroon government soldiers have been deployed to search the area for over a week now.

We understand the family of the late Chief made preparations for his burial and dug a grave inside his residence at Mile One in Mamfe and people have been keeping wake. But government troops have still not located his body in the Akwaya forest. Some have suggested his body may have been wrapped in plastic and dumped in the Manyu river.

By Judith Fon in Mamfe

25, December 2017

Flu Shots for US troops in Cameroon ⁰

The soldiers of 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, are serving in a support role for the Cameroon military’s fight against the violent extremist organization Boko Haram.

However, “Warriors” of 1-87 IN also have to beware of foes that take the form of sicknesses or diseases like malaria or the flu.

The flu vaccination is an annual Army requirement that helps control this common contagious adversary according to Capt. Joshua Randles, the 1-87 IN physician assistant and native of Argyle, New York.

“Flu vaccination reduces the chance of getting influenza,” said Randles, “and if a Soldier happens to get influenza, the vaccine is shown to reduce the severity of the illness.”

“This is important in an austere environment where evacuation may take days,” Randles said.

All vaccinations and medicines arrive here on military flights that rotate in and out of this region. However, flights may become delayed or assigned to other missions causing a lull in deliveries.

As a result, 10th Mountain soldiers here did not receive the vaccinations until December 20.

“We have been waiting for about six weeks for the vaccinations,” said Sgt. Clayton Young, 1-87 IN medic from Rochester, New York.

The night the vaccinations arrived, soldiers lined up to receive their flu shot.

The Warrior medic team was able to vaccinate 120 soldiers in about three hours inoculating a significant number of the service members in need of the flu shot.

Source: dvidshub

24, December 2017

2 survivors after military plane crashes in Garoua ⁰

A Cameroon military plane that had on board two colonels returning from an observation mission in the National Park in Benoue has crashed. The incident occurred on Saturday, December 23, 2017 at Ngong some fifty kilometres from Garoua the chief city in the North region.

A sister publication, Cameroon Info.Net quoted military sources within the Garoua Air Base 301 that the Tetras-type ULM aircraft, registered TJ-XDA, crashed while on a mission in support of the 31st Mechanized Infantry Division (BRIM).

The plane was carrying two senior Cameroon military officials namely Colonel Tchouasseu Serge (deputy commander of Garoua Air Base 301) and Colonel Mbezele Dieudonné. The two valiant officers came out safe and sound. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that an engine stopped in full flight prompting the two officers to force an emergency landing.

Returning from a reconnaissance mission against Boko Haram, a Cameroonian army helicopter crashed on the 22^nd of January 2017 at Bogo, Diamarét Division. Four Cameroonian officers including Brigadier General Jacob Kodji, Commander of the Joint Military Region No. 4, were killed in the crash.

By Sama Ernest

24, December 2017

Exposed: Arab rulers buy lavish gifts to curry favor with British politicians ⁰

A report has exposed how certain Arab states have continued to shower British politicians with luxury gifts in an attempt to curry favor and buy their support.

Those states include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, and Oman, the Middle East Eye (MEE) news portal reported on Saturday, citing newly released UK government data.

Prime Minister Theresa May, whom Saudi Arabia has conferred with the Order of King Abdulaziz Al Saud, has received several gifts from the kingdom, including an ornament, a clock, and a medal, the report said.

Saudi Arabia “has splashed out on 20 luxury Christmas hampers for Conservative Party ministers since 2010,” the MEE further reported.

The United Arab Emirates has also been providing British ministers with various gifts.

The emirates has offered luxury Christmas hampers, rugs, and a $2,600 designer briefcase to Tobias Ellwood, Britain’s defense minister. In December 2012, the country’s government bought former British foreign secretary William Hague a rug and Alistair Burt, the UK’s Middle East minister, both a hamper and an Ipad.

British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt (Photo by AFP)

In July, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry gave Burt a Rolex watch worth nearly $8,000.

Incumbent Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was also once given a $400 box of Wagyu meat by the King Abdullah II of Jordan. Another Arab ruler gave the British minister tins of Caspian caviar, worth more than $1,000 in total, when they met the same month.

Since 2015, Britain has been providing state-of-the-art weaponry and logistical support to Saudi bombardment of Yemen, which also enlists the Emirati military. More than 12,000 have died since the bombing started.

The MEE went on to cite rights campaigners as blasting the trend of the Arab showering of the politicians with gifts as a means of influence peddling by governments, some of whom have incurred huge international outcry over the human rights abuses at home and abroad.

“These gifts aren’t being given out of any sense of generosity. They are being given to buy friends and increase influence,” said Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). “If repressive regimes and brutal dictatorships are giving gifts to MPs, then it is time for those politicians to think about the messages they’re sending out, and to stop offering such intimate political support to human rights abusers,” he added.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said, “Many of these regimes have consistently repressed democracy and violated human rights. These lavish gifts are a transparent ploy to influence the UK’s foreign policy so that it favors the regimes rather than the people of the [Persian] Gulf.”

Culled from Presstv

24, December 2017

African migrants lacerated by razor wire as they get trapped on top of Spanish border fence for hours ⁰

African migrants attempted to scale a 6-meter fence that separates Morocco from Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, early on Saturday morning.

According to local reports, the refugees tried to scale the two barriers located at a halfway point along the 8.2 km (5 mile) perimeter fence at 06:00.

Moroccan border police managed to stop the majority of the refugees, apart from a small group of 33 who could be stuck on the barbed wire barrier between the countries.

Once the Spanish Civil Guards were aware of their presence, the group were forced to retreat to the Moroccan side.

This was the third attempt at forced entry in the past 24 hours, after 700 and 300 migrants made separate attempts at the northernmost part of the border.

24, December 2017

3 killed in Boko Haram incursion in the Far North ⁰

At least three people were killed in two attacks by suspected members of terror group Boko Haram on Friday night and Saturday morning in Cameroon’s Far North region.

According to a member of the local vigilance committee, the first incursion occurred late Friday night in the Mayo-Moskota sub-division bordering Nigeria, when suspected Boko Haram members broke into the locality of Zeneme and killed two persons.

A second incursion into the same sub-division resulted in the death of a resident of the locality of Kerawa-Mafa. The Far North of Cameroon has seen a resurgence of terrorist violence in recent days towards the end of the year.

Early last week, three civilians were killed in two Boko Haram attacks in this troubled region. The Biya Francophone regime withdrew soldiers from the Boko Haram invested region and deployed them to Southern Cameroons. Cameroon government forces have reportedly killed hundreds of Southern Cameroons ever since the Anglophone uprising started last year.

23, December 2017

What is going on in Southern Cameroons is a massive, state-sponsored genocide ⁰

The genocide being committed against Southern Cameroonians has been described by religious leaders as a systematic policy but the international community has remained silent on the plight of the persecuted Anglophone minority. It is a deliberately created crisis to force Southern Cameroonians to flee from their homeland and its implementation involves all structures of the so-called democratic government of President Paul Biya, the Cameroon armed forces and the extremist French Cameroun political elites.

The ongoing crackdown against Anglophones in Manyu Division is another ethnic cleansing campaign, targeting a whole group of people, who are even being denied of their right to participate in any political process in Cameroon. The President Biya scorch-the-earth policy is succeeding as thousands and thousands of Southern Cameroonians are being driven out of their homes due to the butchering of innocent people.

The sufferings of the Manyu population who have managed to flee to neighboring Nigeria is nothing in comparison to those who have been left behind, who are unable to move [since] they’re too old or don’t have the finances to foot the transportation bills.

The United Nations, African Union and the European Union including Ecowas and the Commonwealth are all dragging their feet while people are dying in large numbers in Mamfe, Akwaya and Eyumojock Sub Divisions. Yet another Rwanda in the making

A Roman Catholic Bishop has been quoted as saying that what is going on in Southern Cameroons is a massive, state-sponsored genocide. The President Buhari administration in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has denied protecting Southern Cameroonians at the borders in Ikom and Obudu and the Nigerian government has also denied Southern Cameroonians the right of defending themselves…

It is evidently clear that the Commonwealth have received standing instructions from Paris that everyone should wait for the Biya regime to finish up the job and completely, ethnically cleanse and commit the genocide and finish it in Southern Cameroons.

The Cameroonian army recently launched yet another heavy-handed crackdown against Southern Cameroonians in Kembong village, using an armed attack on a military posts as the pretext.

Over that past one year, Cameroon government troops, apart from raping, have been committing killings, making arbitrary arrests, and carrying out mass arson attacks to destroy houses in predominantly-Anglophone villages in West Cameroon

More than 30,000 Southern Cameroonians have so far fled to neighboring Nigeria.

Source: Cameroon Intelligence Report