News

8, August 2017

AU and UN commit to enhancing African peace and security ⁰

The African Union and United Nations are working towards enhancing African peace and security capabilities as part of a shared interest in solving African conflicts.

Ambassador Smail Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), last month told the Council that the African Union is an indispensable partner in promoting peace and security in Africa. “Over the last decade, the African Union has mandated or authorized the deployment of more than 100 000 uniformed and civilian personnel, many of whom are deployed in some of the most high risk and volatile environments.

“This has come at a huge cost to human lives. It is noteworthy to mention here that the number of casualties by African troops in peace support operations in the last decade exceeds the combined casualties experienced in UN peacekeeping missions over the last 70 years. This is a compelling reality to demonstrate the commitment of Africans and the African Union to durable peace and stability on the continent,” Chergui said.

“Despite these sacrifices and commitment, African troops are faced with some of the most challenging situations due to inadequate force enablers and multipliers, as well as financial resource gaps,” he told the UNSC.

Last month the African Union Peace and Security Council declared that AMISOM had successfully achieved its mandate over the last decade on the basis of a recently concluded lessons learned study by the African Union Commission. “Yet, AMISOM remains the least resourced mission in comparison with other deployed regional or international enforcement missions with similar mandates.”

As a result, Chergui made several proposals to the UNSC on how best to support African peace and security. The first entails the UN and international community promoting conflict prevention in Africa, as “conflict prevention remains the most cost effective conflict management tools but yet the least resourced,” he said, with the April 2017 Joint AU-UN Framework on the Enhanced Cooperation in Peace and Security a good foundation on this.

Secondly, Chergui called for the enhancement of the operational readiness of the African Standby Force. “The African Union and its Regional standby forces have put in tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize the African Standby Force (ASF) and its Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC) as one of its conflict management tool, as enshrined in the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). This was evidenced by the declaration of Full Operational Capability of the ASF In January 2016 by the African Union (AU) Specialized Technical Committee on Defense Safety and Security (STCDSS).”

However, Chergui noted that even though the ASF has been declared operational, there are challenges with the mandating process, funding and logistics support. The Maputo Five Year Workplan on the enhancement of the ASF will go a long way to addressing these concerns.
Chergui noted that a High Level Technical Team is currently undertaking the verification of the capabilities of the five brigades of the ASF.

Chergui expressed concern about the spread of violent extremism but applauded the recent authorization of regional coalitions such the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) against Boko Haram and the G5 Sahel force. “The African Union Counter-terrorism Fund, as well as activities of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism, the Nouakchott and important coordination platforms through which the supported and in the fight against terrorism,” he said.

Lastly, Chergui said the financing of peace support operations is a perennial issue. “It is clear that Africa will not be able fund peace initiatives on its own… We, therefore look forward to further deliberation and possible decision by this Council in September 2017, on the dedicated support from the UN to all UNSC-mandated African peace support operations.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres agreed to strengthen the partnership between the AU and UN. “I firmly believe the international community needs to change the narrative about Africa and to establish a higher platform of cooperation that recognizes Africa’s enormous potential and promise.

“In the area of peace and security, the African Union and United Nations have a shared interest in strengthening mechanisms to defuse conflicts before they escalate, and to manage them effectively when they occur. “Enhancing African capacities is essentially both in the context of our collective response to international peace and security challenges as well as for the self-reliance of the African continent.

“This is why, on April 19, I joined with the Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat to sign a Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security”. The Framework includes four key action areas: first, preventing and mediating conflict and sustaining peace; second, responding to conflict; third, addressing root causes; and fourth, the continuous review and enhancement of our partnership.

Guterres pointed out it is critical that the UN and AU work together to solve disputes. “In The Gambia, for example, the strong leadership of West African nations — with the support of ECOWAS, the African Union and United Nations – contributed significantly to find a peaceful settlement to the political crisis.

“And in South Sudan, IGAD, the African Union and the United Nations are actively coordinating efforts to find a durable peace – including through a joint call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue.

“The African Union and the sub-regional organizations have deployed tremendous efforts to develop and operationalize the African Standby Force and its Rapid Deployment Capability. Under our new Framework, we look forward to further supporting the strengthening of this Force and to exploring synergies with the UN Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System,” Guterres said.

Culled from Defenseweb

7, August 2017

Consortium intensifies ghost town operation in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium have declared support for the non resumption of schools in Southern Cameroons and extended ghost town operations. In a press release signed by the Deputy Secretary General of the Consortium, Barrister Eyambe Ellias and Tassang Wilfred, the Programme Coordinator, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium stated that as from August the 14th, ghost towns will be staged from Mondays to Wednesdays.

The Consortium also called for a strict boycott of Francophone businesses operating in Southern Cameroons territory. The leadership of the Consortium further pointed out that the new ghost town policy is to enable the Southern Cameroons people to engage in civil obedience to resist recent anti Anglophone moves adopted by the Biya Francophone government.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium also appealed to the peace loving people of Southern Cameroons to avoid during ghost towns marketplaces, transportation stations, churches and mosques.

The Consortium decision came just days after the interim leader of the Southern Cameroons Governing Council noted that Southern Cameroons was at war with La Republique du Cameroun. The extension of the ghost town operation represents the beginning of the end for the regime that governed the Southern Cameroons by the force of arms destroyed its resources and looted its bounties.

Our senior political commentator opined at the time of filing this report that August the 14th must be the beginning, not the end of resistance and we must organize ourselves at all levels in order to cause a complete paralysis at all La Republque’s facilities. Other Southern Cameroons groups have supported the Consortium and said the call for intensive ghost town comes in line with its efforts to free British Southern Cameroons.

The Southern Cameroons Diaspora communities in South Africa, Nigeria, UK, Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, the US including Canada have all praised the decision to extend the ghost town and considers it unrivaled success and an initiative worthy of support and have accepted to work with Southern Cameroonians back home to ensure the success of this giant move in order to gain freedom and self determination.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium communiqué described the ghost town as an effective tool to resist the totalitarian Yaounde regime, saying the Southern Cameroons people have used it during the 1953 Eastern Regional Crisis at Enugu, Nigeria.

Since last week French Cameroun government ministers had downplayed the call for ghost town, expecting it would fail and are in missions abroad claiming to explain measures taken by the Biya Francophone regime to resolve the Southern Cameroons crisis.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
Cameroon Concord News

7, August 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Another Biya regime delegation expected in Canada ⁰

Another Francophone CPDM delegation is expected in Canada despite stiff opposition demonstrated by Southern Cameroonians against the political move by President Biya.

Since the end of last week, several members of the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government have been on mission to Europe, Nigeria, the Republic of South Africa and the US claiming to inform West Cameroonians of the Diaspora about the situation in Southern Cameroons.

The Southern Cameroons Diaspora communities have acted angrily against the action to send these Francophone surrogates abroad. The anti-Anglophone Minister for Justice, Laurent Esso and a certain Paul Ghogomu were jeered and booed in Brussels and Washington.

In a press release made public by the High Commissioner of La Republique du Cameroun in Canada, the members of the Francophone CPDM delegation will be meeting the Diaspora on Thursday the 10th of August, 2017.

By Chi Prudence Asong
Cameroon Concord News

7, August 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Minister Dion Ngute escapes beatings in South Africa ⁰

Minister Dion Ngute was forced to flee from the building hosting the Cameroon embassy in South Africa during a town hall forum decreed by President Biya. Dion Ngute who was representing the 84 year old French Cameroun dictator had traveled to the Republic of South Africa to explained the so-called actions taken by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime towards resolving the Southern Cameroons crisis.

The Francophone regime’s action was interpreted by many Southern Cameroonians in South Africa as a pretentious and mocking endeavor to tilt the situation back home and instead engage in a diplomatic mission to convince Cameroonians in the Diaspora to support the ruling CPDM crime syndicate. Dion Ngute who moonlights as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of the Commonwealth and his CPDM gang had a handful of people and other invited individuals in the hall.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands protesting Southern Cameroonians who came massively in their numbers were prevented from entering into the embassy. However, some forced their way into the embassy after bringing down the embassy gate, chanting songs of freedom and marched into the hall where the meeting was scheduled to take place.

(Southern Cameroons interim leader)

The junior Anglophone cabinet minister who hails from the oil rich Ndian constituency in West Cameroon, Bakassi Peninsula included was told to go back home, seek dialogue, free Southern Cameroons political prisoners and ensure school resumption in Southern Cameroons.

A sister publication Cameroon Info.Net reported that there was total chaos in the hall as the food, drinks and other entertainment items that were reserved for the Cameroonian delegation and their guests were completely destroyed by the angry crowd.

A frustrated Dion Ngute, attempted to engage the protesters in a conversation but was almost lynched. The humiliation suffered by the French Cameroun delegation was complete and total. He reportedly escaped unable to resist the mounting anger and pressure from Southern Cameroonians.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

6, August 2017

French Cameroun: Suicide bombing rocks Far North region ⁰

8 civilians were reportedly killed and 4 people seriously injured in an alleged Saturday attack by Boko Haram in the locality of Ouro-Kessoum, Mayo Sava Division, some few kilometers from Amchide, a neighboring town close to Nigeria.

A securing source in the Far North region that confirmed the Boko Haram suicide bombing, also said one Cameroonian service man was killed in the incident. A Cameroon military source also hinted of another suicide bomb attack carried out by suspected Boko Haram militants still on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at Waza in the Logon and Chari division that left the suicide bomber dead and 5 other civilians seriously injured.

The Far North Region of Cameroon, especially areas along the border with Nigeria, regularly experience significant violence, attributed to Boko Haram militants. While Boko Haram’s main stronghold is in Nigeria, the group has increase its attack along the Logon and Chari, Mayo Sava and Mayo Tsanaga Divisions of the Far North.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

6, August 2017

Buea: Zacharie Nkwo reaches his final resting place ⁰

Former senior football commentator, Zacharie Nkwo has been buried in a strict family ceremony in the Buea County in Southern Cameroons. His final funeral rites were staged at the mortuary of the Regional Hospital in Buea on Saturday, the 5th of August 2017 in the presence of a crowd of relatives, friends and fans of deceased including Mister Isaac Sinkot, a former indomitable lion and friend of the deceased.

After a brief stop at the family home, the long funeral procession went to the parish of St. Peter and Paul in Molyko for a requiem mass. In his homily, the Bishop of Mamfé, Monsignor Andrew Nkea, exhorted the audience to seek more the kingdom of heaven. For his part, veteran journalist, Gregory Allen, a comrade of the deceased, noted that the career of Zacharie Nkwo was rich in positivity and love for his country.

Some, like Jules Mbende, a journalist, still remembers some of the performances of the late sports chronicler, which he mimed in the ceremony before the emotional audience. Zacharie Nkwo graduated from the Yaounde School of Journalism (ESJY) in 1975 and worked at Radio Cameroon, Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) until his retirement in 2003.

He died on the 4th of June from an illness at the age of 68. With Abel Mbengue, Zacharie Nkwo whom many recognize as the precursors of this trade in our country formed a tandem of anthology. Two powerful voices (French and English) who made the glorious days of the sports desk in the 80s and 90s on the antennas of Radio Cameroun now national post of the CRTV.

By Rita Akana
Cameroon Concord News

5, August 2017

Man who criticized Obama in 2011 for playing golf, goes to golf club resort on 17-day vacation ⁰

US President Donald Trump has gone on a 17-day holiday to one of his golf resorts near New York. Trump arrived at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey on Friday for his extended break. The Trump National Golf Club occupies 535 acres of rambling countryside in central New Jersey, 45 minutes away from New York City.

The president, who had repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Barack Obama, for taking too many vacation days to play golf and even vowed during his election campaign not to go on vacation if he became president, left the White House in complete shambles.

This is his first long absence from the White House since he became president. The White House said the president’s stay at his golf resort would be a “working vacation”. “The President will continue to work over the next two weeks,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters. The White House’s faulty cooling and heating systems were cited as one of the reasons for the president’s untimely leave.

Trump criticized Obama in 2011 for playing golf and then heading to a 10-day vacation. “Nice work ethic,” Trump tweeted back then. “Pres. Obama is about to embark on a 17 day vacation in his ‘native’ Hawaii, putting Secret Service away from families on Christmas. Aloha!,” Trump tweeted on another occasion. Not only did Trump criticize Obama for his vacations, he routinely told supporters he would never take time off if he were elected because he would be swamped with work.

“I would not be a president who took vacations,” he said in 2015. “I would not be a president that takes time off.” Despite his comments, Trump has taken considerably more time off than Obama in their respective first seven months in office.

According to a Washington Post tally, by the end of August Trump will have spent all or part of 53 days at leisure during his presidency, compared with 15 days for Obama through August 2009. Trump, who is grappling with a Russia scandal, has been the target of extraordinary leaks from government officials since he took the helm.

Trump has also failed to win any major legislative scores in his first seven months in office, and is at odds with several Republican lawmakers on multiple fronts. Trump’s popularity is at an all-time low, as well. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University found that only 33 percent of American voters approve of his performance in office, while 61 percent were against him. This marks Trump’s lowest approval and highest disapproval number since elected. ‘If you are not happy, leave!’

Vicente Fox, Mexico’s former president, who is an outspoken critic of Trump, has questioned the reason for his extended vacation, saying he should leave office if he is unhappy. “[L]eaving on vacation, huh? What for? If you’re not happy with your job, just leave. After all, it was never for you,” the former Mexican president tweeted.
The tweet by Fox seems to be in reference to a former tweet by Trump in which he stated his aversion to vacations. “What’s the point [of vacation]? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job,” Trump had tweeted back in 2012.

Source: Presstv

5, August 2017

Kagame seals victory in Rwandan presidential election ⁰

Rwanda’s incumbent leader Paul Kagame has sealed a crushing victory in presidential elections that granted him a third term in office, extending his 17 years in power. Kagame has won international plaudits for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery in the Central African nation since the 1994 genocide, when an estimated 800,000 people Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

But he has also faced mounting censure for what critics and rights groups say are widespread human rights abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. With 80 percent of votes accounted for, the 59-year-old former guerrilla leader secured 98.66 percent, the National Electoral Commission’s Executive secretary Charles Munyaneza told a news conference.

“We expect that even if we get 100 percent of votes, there will not be any change,” he said. The board expected turnout to top 90 percent in the East African country of 12 million citizens once full details emerged, in elections that fielded only a single opposition candidate, Frank Habineza, and an independent.
Kagame, who cast his vote in Kigali’s Rugunga polling station on Friday, said he would work to sustain economic growth in the tiny nation.

“This is another seven years to take care of issues that affect Rwandans and ensure that we become real Rwandans who are (economically) developing,” he said in a speech broadcast live on television. He won the last election in 2010 with 93 percent of the vote and during this campaign for a further seven-year term, said he expected an outright victory.

(Source: Reuters)

5, August 2017

Torture allegations against French Cameroun troops on American base is investigated ⁰

The U.S. military has opened an inquiry into allegations that French Cameroun troops carried out torture and murder at a base where American troops were present, a U.S. spokesman said Friday.

Amnesty International last month said it had documented 80 cases of abuse by La Republique troops at their Salak base in the country’s Far North region. Amnesty alleged the abuses were carried out between 2013 and 2017 against people suspected of involvement with Nigeria-based Boko Haram extremists.

Amnesty said U.S. troops were present at several locations within the Salak base, headquarters of the Rapid Intervention Battalion. Col. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command, said a “commander’s inquiry” has been launched to determine if any U.S. troops were aware of any of the alleged abuses.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government has criticized the Amnesty report. Most of the cases investigated by Amnesty International involved men 18 to 45 years old, though the group documented the mistreatment of some women, children and people with mental and physical disabilities.

“Detainees were severely beaten with various objects including electric cables, machetes and wooden sticks,” suspended from poles and subjected to drowning, the report said, adding that many were deprived of food, water and medical attention.

Several people interviewed said they had witnessed deaths after torture. Boko Haram’s insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The countries all contribute to a multinational force to combat the insurgency.

Source: FOXNews

4, August 2017

Major Darrel Efu Egbe is installed as the new commander of the Support Battalion ⁰

Major Darrel Efu Egbe, 41, has taken over from another woman, Col. Dr Nga Owona Nkounou as Commander of the Command and Support Battalion. She was commissioned during a ceremony at the court yard of the headquarters of the First Joint Military region in Yaoundé.

The Military Region that covers the Centre, South and East Regions is in charge of protecting the administrative units of its zone of command. During the brief military ceremony void of speeches, the new commander was presented to the troops of the Command and Support Battalion with instructions to obey her orders in the line of duty, the execution of military orders and in respect of Cameroonian law.

Brigadier General Simon Ezo’o Mvondo, Commander of the First Joint Military region told the newly installed to revive the command and support battalion.

The senior military officer is a wife and mother of three. She holds a War College Diploma obtained in Jaji Kadouna in Nigeria. She is also holder of a Higher Diploma in International relations. She began her military career in 1988 in the Combine Service Military Academy. She graduated as a lieutenant as part of the Captain Lissia Matna batch.

Source: CRTV