Macron and Biya put aside their differences to talk about resolving violence in Cameroon.

The presidents of France and Cameroon “agreed on the need for an impartial inquiry” into the violence perpetrated in Cameroon’s Northwest Province during a phone conversation between the two heads of state on Sunday, 1 March.

Emmanuel Macron’s controversial remarks that set off a firestorm on 22 February when he promised to exert “maximum pressure” on Paul Biya to bring “Cameroon’s intolerable violence” to an end are but a distant memory. The French authorities are now evidently looking to calm the diplomatic spat.

The terse communiqué released by the French president’s press office expresses France’s evident resolve to de-escalate tensions between Yaoundé and Paris after they had mounted in the week leading up to 1 March.

Accordingly, during the phone call, Biya and Macron “agreed on the need for an impartial inquiry in response to the violence perpetrated against civilians in Ngarbuh village in the Northwest Province.”

Hardly a concession for Yaoundé given that it recently ordered the opening of an inquiry.

Significant support

The very same communiqué also indicates that “both presidents agreed to keep in touch to follow up on the political initiatives resulting from the Major National Dialogue,” without ever mentioning the issue of political prisoners or negotiations with secessionists, two taboo subjects for Cameroon’s government.

However, Macron had previously assured the leader of the Brigade anti-sardinards (BAS) activist group, Calibri Calibro, who had questioned him on the matter, that he would speak with the Cameroonian president about the crisis.

“I’m going to call President Biya next week and we’re going to put as much pressure as possible to bring an end to the situation,” the French head of state had said regarding the Ngarbuh massacre.

Does Macron’s return to diplomatic norms have something to do with the Cameroonian authorities’ strong reaction to his comments, with the government using every means at its disposal to convey its discontent? It is hard to say for sure.

What is certain is that the chants shouted by the “young onlookers” who took to the streets to denounce Macron’s remarks outside the French embassy on 24 February reached the highest French officials via a detailed report which, according to our sources, was sent to the Quai d’Orsay, the site of France’s diplomatic headquarters.

In light of Macron’s tempered stance, Yaoundé is expected to retain France’s support in the endless crisis pitting Anglophone separatists against Cameroon’s government. Yaoundé is trying to negotiate with international players that seek to open a direct dialogue with the currently incarcerated leaders of the separatist movement. The violence continues to take a heavy civilian toll.

Source: The Africa Report

President Paul Biya of Cameroon is, in many ways, your bog-standard African “authoritarian ruler”, or, as diplomats don’t say, “dictator”. He has held on to power for almost forty years and is now in his seventh term as head of state, the oldest and longest-standing ruler in Africa. In 1983, as sole candidate, he won 99.98 per cent of the votes. He followed the example of other one-party states in the 1990s, allowing opposition parties to emerge and simply rigging subsequent elections.

At present, his troops are committing atrocities against an embattled English-speaking minority. They are rampaging through English-speaking villages in a French-speaking country whose economy is de facto controlled by French companies (over a hundred in almost all sectors including off-shore oil).

Cameroon has a civil war on its hands. Anglophone grievances came to a head in 2016, when the Francophone-dominated regime imposed French-speaking judges on Anglophone courts and Francophone teachers in Anglophone schools. Swiss and Commonwealth representatives have tried to mediate but President Biya thinks he can solve his problem militarily and has told both, in no uncertain terms, to go away.

Until 1960, there were two Cameroons. The larger territory was governed by France using the French legal and education systems and language. But in the smaller south and west territories, English common law took precedence, with English judges and English school exams. The present conflict dates back to decolonisation in 1961, when a UN-backed independence referendum offered the Anglophones the choice between joining Nigeria or joining French Cameroon. Thus 20 per cent of the population were not even offered the option of self-determination.

Under President Biya, the Francophone-dominated government, based in the capital of Yaoundé, has marginalised the mainly Anglophone northwest and southwest regions. Only one of 36 cabinet posts is held by an Anglophone. Since 2017, despite the constitution guaranteeing human rights, reputable human rights organisations have recorded the repeated use of force against Anglophone demonstrations. Journalists are arrested and tortured. Government troops, notably the Rapid Intervention Force, have been burning down English-speaking villages, with the result that 656,000 people have fled, between 35,000-50,000 of them into Nigerian refugee camps. Meanwhile, secessionist militias have become increasingly violent. Banditry is rampant. Civilians — including Catholic priests — have been kidnapped, some tortured. Catholic-run schools and clinics have closed, with 800,000 children deprived of schooling. Casualties on both sides have mounted: some 2,000-5,000 have been killed in the violence.

By October 2019, Biya was talking about a “major national dialogue”, but the Anglophone leadership was by now flying under the flag of a “Government Council of Ambazonia’, its name for the two secessionist regions. A paper promise of “special status” on the Quebec model for the two Anglophone regions was refused; few Anglophone leaders were willing to attend the talks while the repression continued, and “special status” left real power centred on the largely Francophone capital, Yaoundé. Biya is France’s man. He is housing 350,000 refugees from the Central African Republic and Nigeria, while deploying Cameroonian troops to fight Boko Haram. He is useful.

But what is France’s role? France never really left Cameroon. It has never shed a certain chauvinistic pride in the merits of its language, so Cameroon with a majority speaking French is an asset. The French Foreign Legion is dotted around the region.

I remember a high-level exercise in “entente cordiale” on Africa in the early 1990s when John Major was Prime Minister. It was held in one of the grand reception rooms of the Quai d’Orsay, resplendent with the decorative arts of the Second Empire, the ornate home of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The British delegation comprised the FCO, Dfid and international developmental NGOs. We were duly impressed. The French fielded staff from quite different government directorates, notably their intelligence services and military plus a lonely anthropologist. That also spoke reams.

An international group of Catholic bishops, brought together by the Toronto-based — non-partisan — Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon, has recently signed an open letter to President Biya. They call on the president to join Swiss-led negotiations to address Anglophone concerns and claims. Increased international pressure is necessary if this is ever to happen. But Biya rejects what he claims is foreign interference in a domestic issue, insisting on a “home-grown peace initiative only”.

As the bishops wrote: “When the international community ignores escalating atrocities of the kind happening in Cameroon, it often ends up paying a massive bill. Sooner or later, we must fund refugee camps and peacekeepers, host negotiations, accommodate thousands of migrants seeking asylum, and then help rebuild shattered nations. It makes more sense to use diplomacy to stop the violence at an early stage, finding a political solution to a political problem through inclusive peace negotiations”.

Europe, including Britain, remains distracted by Brexit, but the US has begun to apply pressure, distancing itself from the Biya regime by reducing military aid and removing favourable trade status. It is time for another visit to the Quai d’Orsay and for a little more entente cordiale.

Source: The article.com

Cameroon will hold a legislative election in parts of the country’s conflict-ravaged English-speaking regions on March 22 after the first attempt last month was annulled, the presidency said Friday.

Voting in 11 electoral districts in the anglophone North-West and South-West would be “convened on Sunday, March 22 in order to continue the election of MPs to the National Assembly,” a decree signed by President Paul Biya said.

The two anglophone regions have been rocked by deadly violence as armed separatists campaign for independence from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking.

Separatist fighters had called on people in the two regions not to take part in nationwide municipal and legislative elections on February 9, issuing threats to anyone who planned to vote.

Clashes between the separatists and the army multiplied, according to several NGOs, though only one incident — in the North-West region — was reported on election day.

Cameroon’s constitutional council said on February 25 that the vote would have to be rerun in several parts of the two anglophone regions.

Results from the election released late last month showed Biya’s party retaining an absolute majority, winning 139 out of 167 seats on a turnout of almost 46 percent. Opposition candidates won only 16 seats, with the remainder going to allies of the ruling party.

The March 22 vote will determine who holds 13 outstanding seats.

The conflict in the Central African country’s English-speaking regions has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced nearly 700,000 in less than three years.

Source: AFP

As more and more civilians have been killed by the Cameroon government of Paul Biya, absentee president for 37 years, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has largely been silent.

Inner City Press was informed by sources in Guterres’ own 38th floor office that Guterres had made a deal with Biya’s UN Ambassador Tommo Monthe as chair of the UN Budget Committee for administrative favors in exchange for silence on the slaughter or “subduing” of the Anglophone minority.

Others are speaking up, in their way:

 “The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) call upon all parties to the conflict in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon to uphold international human rights and international humanitarian law and cease all attacks on civilians without delay.  The crisis destabilizing the English speaking parts of Cameroon has taken a worrying turn, with an increasing number of reports of targeted attacks against civilians, property and violations of the humanitarian space.

More than 700,000 people are displaced, nearly 1 million children are out of school, and the humanitarian needs are mounting.  Survivors have shared testimonies of gruesome attacks that have left children orphaned, people homeless, and limited or cut off access to public facilities such as hospitals and schools. “I have been out of school for two years. The boys stopped us from going to school. They would beat you if you tried,” said Charlene, a 23 year-old single mother. “My teacher wanted to give us private classes so we could sit our exams, but they took and tortured him”.

 The conflict would take even more from Charlene when her home was burned down by the military. “There was fighting and the boys hid in our corridor. The military set fire to the house to catch them. We became homeless. We lost everything.”

Reports indicate that an incident on February 14 in Ngarbuh Village, North-West Cameroon, left 24 killed, most of whom were women and children. This is only one of several incidences of disturbing attacks, many of which remain undocumented and impact directly the civilian population.  NRC, the IRC and partners have also witnessed attacks on civilians during humanitarian distributions.

 “We cannot silently witness defenceless civilians, who are already suffering from extreme deprivation, being attacked while seeking lifesaving assistance,” said Maureen Magee, NRC Regional Director for Central and West Africa. “People in need of humanitarian assistance must be allowed to access necessary support, without having to fear for their lives.”

On February 16 Inner City Press from its sources in Cameroon reported on the killing of more than two dozen civilians including children in Ngar in NW Cameroon.

Before 10 am on February 17 Inner City Press in writing asked Guterres, his spokespeople Stephane Dujarric and Eri Kaneko about the killings. 

There was no answer, and with Dujarric on vacation in Orlando, Florida, Eri Kaneko fielded only two questions at a ten minute long noon briefing on February 17 that Inner City Press was banned from entering and asking at.   Since then Guterres, Dujarric and Melissa Fleming have refused to answer daily questions from Inner City Press on what has become their genocide in Cameroon.

 Now one of the witnesses who exposed the Biya government’s mass killing at Ngarbuh, Mallam Danjuma has been killed and dumped in Bui by government forces in Kikaikelaki. And from the UN of Guterres? Nothing. This is Guterres’ genocide.

Source: Inner City Press

President Biya has reportedly ordered the Central Committee of his ruling CPDM crime syndicate to begin the process of replacing the Speaker of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril who Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered is in a critical condition in a hospital in France.

The name Cavaye Yeguié Djibril is still on the list of 167 candidates proclaimed elected in the last counterfeit parliamentary elections of February 9, 2020. But with reliable information suggesting that his ancestors are calling, Biya has secretly informed the political bureau of the CPDM to look for a suitable replacement for the man who has led the so-called Lower House for 28 years as Speaker.

Our chief intelligence officer in Yaoundé hinted that Cavaye Djibril has been in intensive care for about a month.  His supporters have been putting pressure on medics attending to him for Cavaye to be allowed to return home and seek re-election to the presidency of the National Assembly. That way, he could return for further treatment.

From every indication, a new speaker will be elected next week from the ranks of the ruling party. There are already under-the-table talks that the choice of a new speaker will pave the way also for a new prime minister and head of government.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

TWILIGHT DAYS OF 38 YEARS OF TYRANNY

BY PENN TERENCE KHAN

PART ONE

” The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world “
The second coming
William B. Yeats
1865-1939

Following the Ngarbuh Massacre of February 14,2020 where more than 22 women and children were murdered in cold blood and burnt in their sleep, this has sparked off international condemnation from both the United Nations Human Rights Council, Bishops around the globe, the civil Society and other world leaders including former Ghanaian president, John Jerry Rawlings. In each of these outings, they demanded that an investigation be opened to look into the case where the first accused being the Cameroun Military has been blabbing. The Ambazonian leadership headed by Vice President Yerima Dabney did not mince words telling the United Nations that Cameroun being a party to the conflict and the first accused cannot be asked to carry out an investigation into the assassination of 22 women and children in Ngarbuh,a village in Donga Mantung( Illaria Alegrozi of Humans Rights Watch put the number of deaths at 21). Yerima Dabney called for a United Nations to send into Southern Cameroons an Independent Fact-Finding Mission to ascertain the culprits behind these heinous crimes which have been going on since October 2016 in the Former UK Territory of British Southern Cameroons.

Speaking to DW Africa, a German Media House,the Cameroun army spokesperson Colonel Cyrille Atonfack denied that Cameroun cannot and will never allow any UN Fact-Finding Mission into it’s territory because Cameroun is not a failed state.
In his own words,
“Cameroon is not a failed state to allow an international investigation into the deaths of civilians last week”
Colonel Atonfeck also refuted allegations that government troops are responsible for the deaths of the civilians, but rather said it was an accident that happened during a crossfire with the Ambazonian Fighters.

WHAT IS A FAILED STATE?

A failed state is a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly. A state can also fail if the government loses its legitimacy even if it is performing its functions properly. For a stable state it is necessary for the government to enjoy both effectiveness and legitimacy. Likewise, when a nation weakens and its standards of living decline, it introduces the possibility of total governmental collapse. The Fund for Peace characterizes a failed state as having the following characteristics:

• The appearance of refugees and the involuntary movement of populations,
• Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
• Inability to provide public services such as pipeborne water, health, education and electricity
• Wide-spread in corruption and criminality,
• Sharp economic decline, and foreign military intervention can occur.
  -Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force therein

The above indicators of a failed state are very visible in Cameroun as she engages in a military confrontation with the people of the former UK Trust territory of Southern Cameroons seeking the restoration of it’s statehood lost in 1961 following the non implementation of UNGA Resolution 1514 of December 14,1960 and UNGA Resolution 1608 of April 21,1961.

A) THE APPEARANCE OF REFUGEES AND THE INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE

Since the Ambazonian War of Independence began as far back as October 2016 when the Anglophones initially took to the streets to decry wanton assimilation tendencies and marginalization of a people, talk of independence for “Cameroun’s Anglophone regions” was limited. Protesters were driven by a range of everyday grievances; They were frustrated with the inflexible school curriculum that privileged Cameroun’s French-speaking majority and kept English speakers at a disadvantage, and they were tired of a legal system that made justice harder to get for English speakers because it was dominated by Francophones.

That changed in late 2017, when President Paul Biya’s government responded to the non-violent protests with force. Cameroun’s security forces fired live ammunition from low-flying helicopters into crowds, and videos circulated of them beating demonstrators on the ground. The signal was clear: the government in Yaoundé had no intention of entertaining the Anglophone demands. This pushed the people to defend themselves against a tyrannical government. Cameroun since then has slowly but surely been disintegrating into pieces. It is a truism that the Yaoundé regime can no longer contain or effectively control the two regions which make up the Former UK Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons.

Following Paul Biya’s declaration of War at the Nsimalen Airport on November 30,2017, a decision to open up a military front in Southern Cameroons was arrived at, at a joint military conclave the following day. The Senior Divisional Officer for Manyu, Oum II Joseph, in a press release on December 1,2017 ordered the people of about 14 villages to “relocate to safer neigbourhoods of their choice in the hours that follow, failure of which they would be treated as accomplices or perpetrators of ongoing criminal occurrences registered on security and  defense forces”. There began an influx of refugees into neighbouring Nigeria. In a press briefing in Geneva by Babar Baloch, the spokesperson of the the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),the agency was working with the Nigerian Government and other UN agencies on a contingency plan, readying humanitarian assistance for up to 40,000 people crossing into Nigeria following Oum II Joseph’s declaration. As the war persisted, the number of refugees was on the rise. In spite of the Major National Dialogue called by Paul Biya to redress the Southern Cameroons question, nothing changed as just a few days before the holding of the February 9,2020 twin elections, UNHCR- Nigeria announced an influx of almost 8.000 refugees from the war- torn country. The Yaounde government has done everything possible to bring back the refugees but this has flopped.

B) THE EROSION OF “LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY”

As the crisis worsened, the Sub-Divisional Officer’s became the target as Southern Cameroons wanted nothing to do with Yaounde. The very first D. O to be targeted by Marcel Namata, the Sub-Divisional Officer for Batibo. The other Sub-Divisional Administrators simply fled from their command posts. On September 2018,Paul Biya in a note signed by Ferdinand Ngoh instructed the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji to reinstate all the runaway Divisional officers to their posts of responsibilities. The number of runaway Sub-Divisional officers amongst others included six (6) from Menchum, two (2) from Momo,three (3) from Belo, three (3) from Ngoketungia, (2) from Bui, one (1)from Meme which was the D.O for Konye, three (3) from Lebialem, one (1) from Kupe Manenguba and two (2) from Ndian etc. The Senior Divisional Officer for Lebialem,Etta Mbokaya Ashu relocated his office to Dschang after the Red Dragons attempted to kill his predecessor,Ugintoh Zachary. He however sustained serious injuries and was flown to Yaounde for medical attention.

In spite of the firm instructions from Paul Biya, most Sub Divisional Officers for fear of the unknown denied to join their posts of service. In a releases on Monday January 27,2020,Paul Biya fired the Sub-Divisional Officers for Muyuka and Mbiame who had not joined their command posts

The newly installed Senior Divisional for Bui, which has been a battle theatre for more than two years, Simon Emile Mooh in a press release threatened to sanction every Mayor or civil servant who had ran away to safer areas as the war raged on. In every sub division, it was the same, the violence and insecurity has forced the civil servants to flee to zones of safety.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

The violent conflict that erupted in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon in 2016 continues unabated. It was triggered by the government’s repression of protests over the increasing influence of French in the English-speaking legal and educational institutions, and by the perceived marginalisation of the country’s Anglophone regions.

Some Anglophones are demanding increased decentralisation, while others are violently struggling for an independent state called “Ambazonia”.

The conflict has had devastating consequences for the Anglophone regions. According to Crisis Group around 3,000 people have died and half a million have been displaced. One in three people in the Anglophone regions are estimated to be in need of humanitarian aid.

Attempts have been made, including the involvement of other countries, to resolve the crisis. For example, Switzerland led a mediation initiative in 2019. But, for its part, the African Union, has been largely silent on the conflict.

It supported the Swiss-led initiative. It was also party to a joint statement on a tripartite commitment to supporting Cameroon’s ongoing peace and reconciliation process. And the African Union head, Moussa Faki Mahamat, visited Cameroonian President Paul Biya in July 2018 and discussed the need for a national dialogue to resolve the conflict. He visited again in November 2019.

But the conflict is conspicuously absent from the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, its decision-making body on the “prevention, management and resolution of conflicts”. This, despite the council being mandated to “facilitate timely and efficient response to conflict and crisis situations in Africa”.

The reason for this, we believe, is that a major part of the struggle in Cameroon is separatist in character. Cameroon’s territorial integrity is therefore at stake. In 1963, the Organisation of African Unity, predecessor to the African Union, adopted the principle of the inviolability of borders inherited from colonisation.

Since then there has been little support for secessionist movements in Africa. Eritrea and South Sudan were able to become independent states and many African countries support Western Sahara’s quest for self-determination. But a host of others – including Biafra, Katanga, Bioko, Zanzibar, Darfur, Casamance, Somaliland – have not seen much support.

Many of Cameroon’s neighbours, and a few on the Peace and Security Council, face similar challenges and are, therefore, not sympathetic to this cause. Indeed the African Union chairperson, during his visit to President Biya in 2018 had reconfirmed the African Union’s “unwavering commitment to the unity and territorial integrity of Cameroon”.

But the African Union is vital to finding a sustainable solution to the conflict in Cameroon. It needs to overcome this difficulty, and step up its lacklustre conflict management response.

Who should be doing what

The United Nations (UN) is tasked with the responsibility of preventing and managing conflict globally. In 2017, it and African Union signed a joint “framework for enhanced partnership in peace and security”. It emphasised collaboration and predictability in dealing with conflict in Africa.

Regional organisations are tasked, where appropriate, to respond to conflicts in their respective regions. There are many positives about this division of labour. But, there can also be challenges when there is a lack of capacity or unwillingness to respond to conflicts.

The UN Security Council attempted to discuss Cameroon in May 2019, but had to be content with an informal discussion after African members blocked a formal tabling of the matter.

For its part, the African Union has established a robust peace and security architecture. Besides the Peace and Security Council, it also has the

• African Standby Force, for peace enforcement and peacekeeping;
• Panel of the Wise, for preventative diplomacy;
• Continental Early Warning System, which monitors, analyses and provides warnings of impending conflict situations in Africa; and
• Africa Peace Fund, established in 1993 to be the main funder of peace and security activities.

The African Union also has a mediation unit and, more recently, established a post conflict reconstruction centre.

The African Union has used these various avenues to resolve conflicts in a number of countries. These have included the Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Somalia, Gambia and Sudan.

Its track record in conflicts mixed. It did well in managing the conflict in Sudan, but not so well in Libya or South Sudan. The reasons often cited for the failures include the near absence of regional leadership, reliance on external funding, problems of harmonisation with the regional economic communities and a lack of capacity.

There is also a lack of political will on the part of the African Union’s peace and security council to get involved in a conflict deemed largely as an internal matter.

The fact that an African Union head has visited the country could point to some “quiet diplomacy” taking place in the background. But, that is not enough.

Way forward

If the African Union does not become more proactive in resolving the conflict in Cameroon, it risks seeing it escalate, and possibly fuelling instability in the region.

For many years Cameroon was considered a haven of peace in Central Africa, one of the more unstable regions on the continent with conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Burundi and Chad. The region does not have a single democratic state.

There are a number of different issues that need to be simultaneously addressed in the management of the conflict in Cameroon.

Firstly, the African Union and UN need to coordinate their efforts in addressing the humanitarian needs of the refugees and displaced persons. And the African Union Commission on Human and Peoples Rights must investigate the many complaints of human rights abuses in Cameroon, and to take appropriate action.

Secondly, the continental body needs to deploy its “Panel of the Wise” to determine how best to manage the conflict. Thirdly, it must also send a special envoy to the Anglophone region to implement a conflict management strategy that will lead to a sustainable peace agreement.

Fourthly, it must settle the disputes over the right to self determination through the appropriate UN structures.

Culled from The Conversation.Com

President Paul Biya’s party has retained an absolute majority in Cameroon’s parliament, the constitutional council announced Friday after the controversial February 9 vote.

His Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) won 139 out of 167 declared seats on “moderate” turnout of almost 46 percent, said the council’s president, Clement Atangana.

Elections were cancelled in 13 other seats, in Cameroon’s troubled anglophone regions, and are to be held at a later date.

In the outgoing parliament, elected in 2013, the RDPC had 148 seats.

Atangana said an RDPC ally, the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP), won seven seats.

The biggest opposition party in the outgoing assembly, the Social Democratic Front, which had 18 seats in the outgoing assembly, has seen its share fall to just five.

Voting day in the Central African Republic was overshadowed by the crisis in two regions where anglophone separatists have declared independence from the majority French-speaking country.

Separatist fighters had called on people there to boycott the poll and issued threats to anyone who planned to vote.

More than 3,000 people have died and at least 700,000 have fled their homes in the 29-month-old unrest.

Rights monitors say abuses have been committed by both sides.

Biya, 87, who has ruled for 37 years, has ruled out demands by moderates for restoring Cameroon’s federal structure.

However, the government has lately decentralised some of its powers after a “national dialogue” on the anglophone crisis which was boycotted by the separatists.

The country’s Far North, a tongue-like region lying between Nigeria and Chad, has meanwhile been battered by Boko Haram jihadists crossing from Nigeria.

Source: AFP

Cameroon’s constitutional council has ordered a rerun of the February 9 national assembly election in a majority of the crisis prone English-speaking regions due to allegations of widespread irregularities and fraud by President Paul Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party, which was declared the winner. The opposition Social Democratic Front that filed the complaint says it is ready for the rerun as the constitutional councils verdict that can not be appealed.

It was a very happy opposition Social Democratic Front when Clement Atangana, chief justice of Cameroon’s constitutional council, pronounced the verdict calling for the rerun of the February 9 national assembly (lower house of parliament) election in a majority of the crisis prone English-speaking regions.

Among the hundreds of candidates, observers and supporters of the various political parties was Denis Kemlemo, spokesperson of the opposition Social Democratic Front and electoral candidate in the English-speaking Lebialem administrative unit.

Kemlemo says he is happy that the constitutional council, which has often been accused of being manipulated by President Paul Biya, is neutral in its judgment.

Kemlemo says he is very thankful to God, who has inspired the constitutional council to render true justice for once, because he can strongly confirm as an eye witness and a major player that no elections were held in a majority of the polling stations as voters fled for their lives.

The Social Democratic Front was one of more than 40 political parties that filed petitions with the constitutional council stating that the national assembly elections were marred by violence and massive fraud committed by the ruling party. Opposition leaders accused the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement of ballot stuffing.  The opposition also accused the military, sent by the government to protect voters from insurgents seeking  to disrupt the polling, of casting multiple votes for the ruling party.

The government has denied the accusations.

The constitutional council determined there was massive fraud by the ruling party, assisted by the government. It found that the elections management body ELECAM created new polling centers on the eve of the polling and informed only the ruling party of where the centers were created. The constitutional council also ruled that people identified as opposition supporters were chased from polling stations and that separatist fighters who had vowed to disrupt the elections prohibited a majority of voters from casting their  ballots.

Joseph Mbah Ndam, lead counsel for the SDF, says the verdict reflects what transpired in the English-speaking regions where clashes between the military and separatists left scores dead on election day.

Ndam says the verdict of the constitutional council confirms that the separatist crisis in the English speaking northwest and southwest regions remains so violent that no just and credible elections can take place.

Gregoire Owona, assistant secretary-general of the ruling CPDM party, says the party is disappointed but will respect the verdict.

Owona says President Paul Biya’s Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement political party is very frustrated by the verdict because it worked so hard to secure victories in a majority of the English-speaking regions, in spite of the crisis. He says as a republican party, it accepts the verdict of the constitutional council and is already preparing for the rerun.

According to Cameroon’s electoral code, the verdict of the constitutional council can not be appealed and fresh election have to be organized in a minimum of 20 days and a maximum of 40 days after the court verdict. But there are still fears the election may not be successful as the separatist crisis has continued with the military and rebels involved in running battles.

More than 30 other petitions to partially or totally cancel the election due to fraud were rejected for lack of evidence.

Source: VOA

As the number of victims continues to pile up, the possibility of holding talks to end the Anglophone crisis seems remote.

A united family.

In the foreground sits a gold and coral tiered cake which matches the first lady’s dress. An immaculately dressed Paul Biya wears the hint of a smile.

For his 87th birthday, the head of state is surrounded by his loves ones: Franck, his son, two of his granddaughters and, of course, his wife Chantal. On this day, 13 February, only the sound of the water streaming down into the fountains of his home in Mvomeka’a seems capable of disturbing the calm of the Biya clan.

On 14 February, the din of bullets put an end to the tranquillity of the presidential fountains in the south.

At 2 p.m., soldiers burst into the neighbourhood of Ngarbuh in the North-West region. The death toll: 23, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, including 15 children, nine of whom were under the age of five. According to witness accounts, their bodies were burned at the same time as homes.

As the smoke subsides, indignation rises. Felix Agbor Mballa, lawyer and chairman of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), condemned “the horrible murder” of women and children “by the state defence forces,” with army spokesperson Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo tersely retorting that “the Cameroonian defence and security forces were not involved in this massacre.”Daily newsletter: join our 100 000 subscribers!Each day, get the essential: 5 things you need to know Sign up Also receive offers from The Africa ReportAlso receive offers from The Africa Report’s partners

Who can be believed? A few hours later, the defence minister called the killings a “regrettable incident.” The army is believed to have attacked a “fortified camp” of Ambazonian separatists and “the explosion of several fuel containers” killed “five victims, including a woman and four children, far from what is reported in social networks.”

An investigation has been opened by the national gendarmerie and military security.

Mballa tweeted that “an independent commission of inquiry should be set up to investigate the killings” and “should include members of the civil society, clergy and government.” Opposition figure Akere Muna lamented that “Suffering, death and killing are now the new normal.” At the time of this writing, President Biya had not publicly addressed the crisis, despite the growing violence these past months.

On 15 January, a young man was killed and his father injured near Bamenda as they tried to avoid the security checkpoints manned by separatists. On 23 January, soldiers attacked the village of Ndoh in the South-West region, killing 14. An endless litany of such acts has been perpetrated since 2017.

At least 8,000 Cameroonians have fled to Nigeria in the past three weeks, taking the number of refugees up to more than 60,000. In addition, some 680,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. In three years, the violence has killed at least 3,000 people.

Acts of violence and retaliations

Local communities, caught in a vice between an army accused of committing acts of violence and separatists keen to launch retaliatory attacks, are living in the grip of fear.

On 9 February, the day of parliamentary and municipal elections, polling stations in the Anglophone regions were empty.

A person close to the country’s top leaders commented: “Why did the government organise elections when they knew that the Anglophones couldn’t go out and vote? It just reinforces the idea that they’re not a part of Cameroon. The government has focused on a political solution, but that doesn’t change the fact that, facing poorly equipped guerrilla forces, the army isn’t capable of resolving the situation.”

Recently, there have been calls for the withdrawal of military forces and the introduction of African Union (AU) or UN peacekeeping forces. A letter on the matter was even recently sent to President Biya, but it has not received a response.

In reality, Cameroon’s diplomats have been working to discourage any foreign intervention. The country’s Minister of External Relations Lejeune Mbella, who represented Biya at the AU Summit held in Addis Ababa in early February, passed on a message to the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who has expressed concern over the deterioration of the situation.

In essence, Mbella claimed that things are starting to go back to normal and repeated the dictum hammered home by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute over the past months: a firm response on the ground and the implementation of measures put forward – namely increased decentralisation – at the Major National Dialogue held in October 2019.

According to Eric Chinje, a former journalist who took part in the dialogue, “We’ve been waiting for four months now, but nothing has been done. The government needs to give its Anglophone citizens grounds to believe in its good faith.”

“The time for dialogue has passed. We’ve entered the reform implementation phase,” said a Cameroonian adviser in Addis Ababa. “Foreigners have to respect our sovereign will. We’re well aware that the only motive behind their interference is to drive out President Biya,” he added, referring to the Americans.

As it happens, the response of Tibor Nagy, Assistant Secretary for the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs, to the crisis has been very active, from Washington DC to Addis Ababa, not to mention within the United Nations Security Council in New York City.

A game of influence

According to a diplomat involved in the feud, “The US and France are in a battle. The Americans are promoting a sanctions-based policy, while the French are supporting the Cameroon government’s narrative and blocking any initiative by the UN.”

Moreover, the UN prefers to err on the side of caution and wait for the AU to take a stance. But can the AU intervene? In Addis Ababa, Biya (who never goes there) is backed by his Central African peers, particularly Chad’s President Idriss Déby Itno.

According to a document we obtained, the Cameroonian conflict was discussed during a closed meeting at the most recent AU summit.

However, the pan-African organisation restricted itself to commending the government for “having held a national dialogue” and “giving peace a chance.” The same diplomat quoted above commented: “Cameroon can just grin and bear it until the West starts to look away.”

In Yaoundé, the game of influence playing out within the president’s inner circle is further paralysing the situation. Some members have taken on the role of “hawks,” such as Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, Civil Cabinet Director, and Paul Atanga Nji, Territorial Administration Minister.

Others, like the prime minister, act tough while simultaneously attempting to quietly negotiate with Ambazonian separatists.

Lastly, a few people from the inner circle of Ferdinand Ngoh, the president’s Secretary-General, are encouraging talks entrusted to a third party outside Cameroon.

Will the possibility of a succession battle for the president’s top spot, the date of which everyone is clearly in the dark about, encourage the war’s continuation?

“Biya lets different policies co-exist without giving official guidelines, which blocks the entire process,” said a person involved in the matter. He has made a political art of this management style for several decades now.

According to a source close to the president, “He seems paralysed by a system he himself was the architect of. But does he want his political legacy to be a country torn by bloodshed?”

Empty-chair strategy

According to our sources, the government does not intend to send a representative to the symposium organised in Kenya in April by the Africa Forum, a grouping of former African heads of state and government. “It’s a foreign initiative that doesn’t concern us,” said a Cameroonian diplomat.

As for the talks initiated with the Ambazonians under the auspices of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), they have reached a standstill. The government decided to withdraw from them at least until the measures set out at the Major National Dialogue in October 2019 are implemented.

Two other international meetings that seek to find a solution to the crisis will be held at the end of March in Potsdam, Germany and Washington DC, but once again, Cameroon’s authorities will not be in attendance.

Source: The Africa Report