Cameroon on Tuesday sent its sixth contingent of troops to restive Central African Republic (CAR) to join UN peacekeeping forces mission focused on the stabilization and protection of civilian population.

Speaking at a send-off ceremony in the capital city, Yaounde, Cameroon’s Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo highlighted the peace efforts of Cameroonian troops in the CAR.

“Always determined to fulfill its regional and international commitments as concerns collective security in an honorable, decent and effective manner, the troops have provided the CAR with multifaceted support in order to enable the country to get its institutions which have already been damaged for several years now back on its feet,” Assomo said.

The soldiers are to contribute to the return of peace and stability while strictly respecting UN regulation of impartiality and respect for human rights during their mission, the minister said.

According to Assomo, the sixth contingent comprises 750 soldiers and 350 staff members of the National Gendarmerie.

The contingent is part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) which started in 2014 to protect CAR civilians under the UN Charter.

The contingent is taking over from predecessors who spent a year building peace in the war-torn country.

The conflicts still in progress in CAR started in 2013 following a violent takeover of power by the armed group Seleka, meaning coalition in Sango, CAR’s national language.

Source: Xinhuanet

The separatist crisis in Cameroon deepened this week after a military tribunal handed down life sentences to the separatist movement’s leader and nine of his followers. As observers warned that the sentences would make it harder to bring the two-year conflict to an end, separatist militias launched reprisal attacks that killed at least two people and forced dozens more to flee their homes.

The conflict has its roots in concerns within Cameroon’s minority English-speaking population that they have been historically marginalized by the French-speaking majority. A 2016 strike in the Anglophone North-West and South-West regions culminated in a declaration of autonomy in October 2017. The situation rapidly deteriorated from there.

As Robbie Corey-Boulet detailed in an April briefing for WPR, long-time President Paul Biya responded to the declaration with a brutal state crackdown, with security forces killing civilians, sexually assaulting women, and burning and looting homes. The separatists in turn have reacted with a campaign of kidnappings and assaults. Hundreds of people have died and more than 500,000 have been displaced in the past two years.

The sentencing this week of separatist leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his followers further undermines any opening for dialogue between the two sides. The 10 separatists were arrested in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, last year and deported to Cameroon, where they faced charges of rebellion and complicity in terrorism, among others. In addition to the life sentences, they were ordered to pay a fine of $50 million.

Few domestic observers agreed with the assessment of government officials, who said the sentencings would not halt efforts to start a dialogue. Prince Ekosso, an opposition leader, told Voice of America, “The decision would intensify tension in the North-West and the South-West. It would intensify killings and it would intensify the destruction of properties.”

Source: World Politics Review

Since January last year, the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon have slid into a conflict that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. The Anglophone northwest and southwest have suffered the havoc of a war of secession that has displaced at least half a million people, leaving 1.3-million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The conflict is largely based on historical grievances stemming from the fact that the Anglophone minority has been systematically marginalised since the abolishment of the federal system of government in 1972. Although periods, including in the 1990s and 2008, saw increased activism for Anglophone secession, the movements never became violent. 
But this changed last year after the violent government crackdown on teachers, lawyers and civilians advocating for legal recognition for the English language.

In the 20 months since then, the government and the Anglophone secessionist have become entrenched in their positions.

The secessionists, which are mainly led by people now based in the United States and Europe, have rejected calls for “dialogue” and insisted on only entering into direct negotiations for independence. The government insists that the secessionists are terrorists and has denied that its military has committed atrocities such as targeted killings and burning down villages. Furthermore, the two sides have become embroiled in infighting that has made even the potential of conflict resolution immensely difficult.

The secessionists have divided into two groups. One is led by Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe, who is imprisoned in Yaoundé and was convicted this week on terrorism charges and sentenced to life in prison, and the other US-based Samuel Ikome Sako. The same can be said of the government with some Cabinet members more in-line with the hardline stance taken by President Paul Biya and others supporting the conciliatory tone expressed by Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.

Amid all of this, the people residing in the two Anglophone regions continue to suffer at an unimaginable rate at the hands of both sides. Targeted and random killings of combatants and civilians alike at the hands of the government is commonplace. Instances of such have seen stray bullets taking the lives of women and children.

Further, the government has killed young men fearing that they may be secessionists. Similarly, the secessionist forces, who are called the Amba Boys, have prevented children from attending school in both Anglophone areas for nearly three years.

They also regularly kidnap civilians, including employees of humanitarian organisations. Further, they have been accused of barbaric actions such as decapitations, rape and drinking people’s blood.

In the past six months the international community has begun to pay more attention to the crisis that continues to deteriorate in what used to be one of Central Africa’s most stable countries. The US has cut some military assistance to the country and, during its presidency of the United Nations Security Council this past May, also co-organised a Security Council arria-formula (briefing) meeting on the country.

Canada and the European Union have expressed frustration and outrage at the situation. Even the government of Switzerland used its good offices to arrange dialogue sessions through a Geneva-based nongovernmental organisation that has yet to produce any tangible outcomes.

If anything, it has been a step back. It continues to deteriorate because of a variable that is relatively straightforward but near impossible to address, which is that the two sides are not willing to compromise on their hardline stances and have no motive to do so.

The leadership of the Anglophone secessionists is not directly suffering from the continuous war to the extent they would be if they lived in the midst of it. The government realises that it is much more sophisticated militarily than the secessionists and live in the relative stability of the capital Yaoundé. Further, the two sides are hinged upon several notions that must be dismissed if the conflict is to be resolved.

The secessionists have been firm in their position for months that they will only settle for independence, what they often refer to as restoration. This is because a key notion of their argument is based on an element of historical revisionism.

Specifically, they argue that the UN resolution that organised the post-colonial plebiscite in Cameroon in 1961 gave what was then British Southern Cameroons independence. Hence they strongly believe that history and international law are on their side in their bid for an independent state called Ambazonia.

The infighting between and within the independence movement has led to chaos and, at times, incompetence. Yet, all factions agree on one thing: they will only settle for independence and the conflict will continue until it is obtained.

The government has not been any better than the secessionists in its actions. It continuously denies the severity of the crisis regarding displacement figures and the number of fatalities. Additionally, it refuses to accept that the current crisis has its more recent origins in the beatings, intimidation, arrests and killing of Anglophone teachers and lawyers in the latter half of 2016. The independence movement became violent only after the military killed pro-secession demonstrators in 2017. Even after the breakout of violent conflict in 2018, the government denies proven human rights atrocities, and says the crisis is solely the result of “Ambazonian terrorism”. In doing so, it ignores the root causes of the crisis, for which the government bears responsibility.

It appears that the situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon will continue to deteriorate at the expense of civilians. Despite substantial international efforts, the conflict has yet to be resolved, largely because of the stubborn and zero-sum mentality that has been taken by the two sides.

Unless the secessionists and the government are able to change how they approach the conflict, any chance of it being resolved soon is wishful thinking.

Source: Mail&Guardian

When Switzerland offered that they wanted to mediate in the crisis in Southern Cameroons, some of our leaders and comrades jumped up with excitement. They called the initiative credible and said it was an opportunity for us to sit down with La Republique du Cameroun

The initiative was immediately endorsed by the international community. Many found and still find the Swiss initiative as a hoax. The endorsement of the initiative by the international community to many is a conspiracy. Southern Cameroonians do not understand why certain individuals think that because an initiative has been endorsed by the international community, the initiative is good and must be embraced. This same international community endorsed the ousting of Gaddafi including the war in Syria against Assad.

Now, Southern Cameroons leaders have been given life sentence. How many of them have spoken against the sentence? We know all those who quickly hailed the Swiss initiative and endorsed it. How many of these so-called international community guys have now stepped forward to condemn the regime? Has Switzerland done so? Has the UK done so? What has the AU said about it? Faki, the AU Chairman was quick to endorse the Swiss initiative. Now he is taking too long to finish his prayers to Allah because he doesn’t want to say anything. Harriett Baldwin MP former UK Minister for Africa who endorsed the Swiss nonsense can’t even make a comment. The UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab has his mouth shut up. The UK Minister for the Commonwealth, Baron Ahmad who hailed the Swiss dialogue has gone mute. Stephenson MP, new British Minister for Africa is busy drinking tea. Patricia Scotland of the Commonwealth too is drinking her champagne in the Caribbean’s.

If you want Southern Cameroonians to consider the endorsement of the Swiss initiative by the international community as credible, what then does the international community have to say about their indifference now? President Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and his top aides have been condemned and the international community is not condemning it. Yes. Cohen condemned it but he ended up talking of federation that seems to miss.

In the midst of “Dialogue” you are sentencing the Ambazonia leaders to life imprisonment and expecting Southern Cameroonians to believe that you are willing to dialogue or negotiate with them! Well, there are others who strongly believe in Yaounde’s willingness to dialogue.

Source: Anonymous

After close to three years, it seems the Yaounde government has learned nothing. The leaders seem to blind to the changes taking place around them. They seem to be stuck in their old mentality of wanting to send home strong messages.

Strong messages no longer threaten Cameroonians, especially the Southern Cameroonian, who has seen his siblings, mother, brother and father killed by trigger-happy soldiers. The Southern Cameroonian loves peace, but not the poisoned gift that was given to his parents in Foumban shortly after independence.

If some Southern Cameroonians have picked up weapons against their own government, it is not because they are a barbaric people or people who do not have any regard for law and order. It is more because they are faced with a government that is indifferent to the sorry plight of its citizens.

The Yaounde government has no regard for its people. Human life does not mean anything to it. Instead of serving their people, Yaounde authorities have been serving themselves using the people’s resources.  The large number of ministers and directors that are today languishing in state jails is testimony to the egoism that these officials are noted for.

After three years of intense debates on and challenges to state authority, a selfless and reasonable government that holds national unity and peace so dear to its heart should be reaching out to all the stakeholders in all the crises that are tearing the country apart.

A reliable government should be thinking of the country’s future and its actions should speak to its determination and sincerity to pursue peace and national reconciliation.

But its latest action, that of slamming a life sentence on President Julius Ayuk Tabe and his fellow Southern Cameroonians speaks to the government’s recklessness and determination to pursue a line of action that will instead deepen the crisis in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

After a questionable and sham process, the leaders of the Southern Cameroons struggle have been sent to prison although they were already in hell before the politically motivated decision. This decision will not make things better in the country. Schools will surely not resume. Ghost towns and lockdowns will intensify in the coming days, and justifiably so.

Southern Cameroonian leaders and activists have been given a reason to pursue their own policies and they will do so in the firm belief that they do not have a reliable and peace-loving partner on the other side with whom they can hold a constructive and inclusive dialogue that will lead to sustainable peace in the country.

The Yaounde government has miscalculated on all fronts. It has mismanaged all the crises that are threatening to tear the country apart. While other countries of the word are seeking stability and peace so as to attain sustainable development, the Yaounde government that many Cameroonians hold is a crime syndicate is displaying a lot of irresponsible behavior and this is disturbing to the international community that is tired of calling for an inclusive dialogue to address the crises that are giving the country a very bad name.

President Julius Ayuk Tabe and many of those in jail are the people the population considers as leaders of the struggle. Slamming them with a life sentence only reduces any real chances for dialogue. President Julius Ayuk Tabe is the poster boy of this revolution and he must be at the negotiating table if any real results must be achieved.

Instead of throwing him in jail for life, the Yaounde government should have sought the middle ground as a means of defusing the tensions that have transformed the country into a “blast furnace”.

Cameroonians are going through the toughest moments of their lives. Jobs are scarce and life is a permanent struggle. Decisions like the one that was taken under the cover of darkness only makes the country to look like a ticking time bomb that might go off anytime soon.

The sentencing of Julius Ayuk Tabe in such circumstances does not address any real issue. He has been in jail for a long time and he is already used to his new environment. He is a man with a strong mentality and today’s decision will not break him down.

He has a cult following which makes it hard for the government to celebrate any success. A wise decision would have been to use him to defuse the tensions in the two English-speaking regions of the countries. The government seems to be willing to set a fire to a “tinder box” and the consequences will be catastrophic.

Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla’s message on Facebook aptly captures the mood in the country and it rightly depicts how the country is being managed. “The sentencing of Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe to a life sentence is an affront to due process and the rule of law. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right. The sham process is a reflection of the sham management of the country,” he said.  

Today’s decisions are indeed a travesty of justice. The Yaounde government has displayed its reckless for all to see. It does not have the interest of the country at heart. Its cardinal objective is to send home a message strength to a people who are already deaf and frustrated. A message which does not have any legal basis will surely not have the desired impact. If anything, it will simply speak to the numerous accusations Cameroonians have been making against the government.

These unfortunate decisions are robbing the country of the peace it dearly needs at this time. The Southern Cameroons crisis will only deepen and the determined fighters will never drop their weapons. The violence will soon escalate. Many civilians in the two English-speaking regions will lose their lives while many soldiers will sent to the regions will never go back home.

The decisions are indeed a dead sentence to the school year which was already a lightning rod for controversy. If the government cannot show flexibility at this critical moment, how does it expect Southern Cameroonians who have been complaining for more than five decades to be understanding?

This is not the time to score points. This is time to take actions and decisions that can bring peace to Cameroon. The Yaounde government must take a look at its own actions and decisions to see if they are really helping to defuse the tensions in Cameroon. This is the time to show flexibility and any tough stance does not work in the interest of peace.

By Joachim Arrey in Canada

Americans are well acquainted with the influx of Central American asylum seekers along the southern United States border. But the Central Americans are not alone. Lost in the news cycle are people of many nationalities who have crossed continents to seek refuge in the United States. One such group from Cameroon has been forced to flee in part by contradictions in U.S. policy, only to have America slam the door in their face.

The longstanding marginalization of the country’s Anglophone minority gave way to violence in 2016 when the Cameroonian military met peaceful protests with excessive force. This overreaction strengthened separatist sentiment, and Anglophone pro-independence groups took up arms.

With government forces wrongly assuming that most civilians support the secessionist cause and separatist groups attacking people who have not joined the fight, civilians are trapped and face arbitrary detention, torture, and the destruction of their homes. It is hardly surprising that more than 1,000 Cameroonians, who have every reason to flee their country, have found their way to the southern border of the United States.

The U.S. government has recognized and responded to abuses in Cameroon. The Department of Defense cut ties with Cameroonian forces earlier this year, citing human rights abuses and the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 358 this month, condemning human rights abuses by both government security forces and armed groups in Cameroon. The U.S. Department of State has acknowledged the excessive use of force and targeting of civilians by Cameroonian military forces in its 2018 Human Rights report.

Regrettably, and despite this U.S. recognition of severe problems in Cameroon, there has been little U.S. action to help the millions left in the crossfire or to address their mounting humanitarian needs.  In fact, the United States has contributed a mere $300,000 toward the $93.5 million required to assist the 1.3 million people in need.

So between January and May 2019, 1,023 Cameroonians arrived in Mexico. Nearly all arrived on foot. Most traveled by air to Ecuador, and then traveled north through Central America and Mexico to make their way to the U.S. border. They are relieved to have finished the worst of their trek, having made it without any knowledge of Spanish and little food or water on the dangerous journey. Many report robberies at the hands of armed groups and deaths along the way.

Cameroonians in Tijuana waiting to cross into the United States include lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and members of Cameroon’s opposition party — people who had thriving careers before violence broke out at home.

I met with those in Tijuana waiting to have their claim heard, and they serve as proof that ignoring a far-away population in need doesn’t mean they won’t show up on your doorstep.  

Once in Tijuana, the Trump administration’s new Migration Protection Protocols (‘Remain in Mexico’) policy, requires Mexican authorities to compile a list of asylum-seekers and assign them a number for their place in line.

While at the Tijuana border-crossing last month, I saw hundreds of Cameroonians gathered around the port-of-entry to San Diego every day, despite knowing they wouldn’t be called for weeks or even months. They’re desperate for any information they can get on the next steps in the difficult process.

Asylum-seekers wait three to six months before they’re called to the border for their “credible fear” interviews. This process used to be overseen by asylum officers from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, it is now increasingly overseen by armed Custom and Border Patrol agents who are not trained on how to conduct interviews about traumatic events.

Moreover, immigration lawyers say the United States is refusing Cameroonians’ asylum requests for reasons as insignificant as not having official translations of French-language documents into English. For this, they’re being deported back to Cameroon, where many are immediately detained upon their return. There have even been reports of torture.

The United States cannot have it both ways. It cannot both condemn widespread human rights abuses faced by civilians in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions and tell asylum-seekers fleeing these abuses that their claims are not valid.

Even with greater U.S. support for humanitarian assistance for Cameroon, which is essential, Cameroonians are likely to continue to flee their country. Having recognized and criticized serious abuses of human rights in Cameroon, the U.S. government must now provide asylum to those who would face certain danger if forced to return home. And our government would also do well to remember that ignoring far-away humanitarian crisis means you may be compelled — politically and ethically — to address them closer to home.

Source: The Hill

After three years of self-destruction, the government and armed groups locked in an armed conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon must yield to calls from the international community for an inclusive dialogue.

The conflict, which could have been avoided, has already consumed some 5,000 lives, including civilians and soldiers.  These lives could have been spared and the families of those killed or wounded would be a lot happier today.

The country’s economy has taken a nosedive due to the crisis and the hardship resulting from this man-made disaster is both visible and palpable, both in East and West Cameroon.  The country’s second largest employer, the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), has taken a blow to the liver as a result of the conflict and its chances of surviving are slim.

Threats from the separatists are making it hard for this state corporation to operate normally and its workers are scared of being punished by armed separatists who operate under the cover of darkness. PAMOL, another major employer, has been completely put out of business. Its facilities have been set ablaze by angry and armed separatists who are hell-bent on bringing the country’s economy to its knees.

But the greatest blow to the economy has come from the crashing of the nation’s lone oil refinery (SONARA) which went up in flames a few months ago. This is a huge blow to the government, as one of its major revenue streams has suddenly gone dry.

And this has been complicated by the death of thousands of small businesses that provided services to the oil refinery.  Besides those businesses, thousands of small businesses in the two English-speaking regions of the country have also folded up as the fighting between armed groups and the military rages on and spreads even into the rural areas of the country.

The destruction to the country’s economy is visible and its impact shows on many people across the country. But the greatest victims are the children in the two regions who are being robbed of their childhood and future. For three years, children in Southern Cameroons do not know how to play outside. Soccer matches that characterized life in the regions have all disappeared and the only thing the children know is violence.

Some of them have lost their parents and many are hiding in the bushes with relatives who hold that if they return to their homes – that is, if the military has not burned down the homes – they will be arrested and shipped to Yaoundé where the government has set up torture camps for Southern Cameroonians.

Even those who are still in the villages are permanently expecting a resurgence of violence as the military and the armed groups have engaged in a permanent game of mutual destruction.

Children in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon have not been to school for three years and in development terms, a generation is being gradually sacrificed. The education facilities are already crumbling and some of the have been brought down by fire set to them by army soldiers.

The adverse impact of keeping children away from school for long periods of time is usually long term, but residents of the two English-speaking regions are already living with the short-term impact. Banditry is on the rise. Kidnappings and ransom killings are robbing many people of a good night’s sleep.

Young men in the region have found a new lucrative business. Many of them are acquiring sophisticated assault rifles which they are using to intimidate innocent civilians so as to make money and live the gangster life they have been dreaming about. Rapes and unwanted pregnancies are hitting the roof and if care is not taken, the situation will spiral out of control.

Cameroon is gradually descending into hell and what many Cameroonians only heard or read about from the scary tales in Liberia or Sierra Leone is finally taking root in their own country. Africa’s sliding conflicts have finally made their way to Cameroon.

But this self-destruction can be stopped. The various factions have to demonstrate a lot of flexibility if they are interested in finding a peaceful solution.  There is no point being stuck in a position that is spreading death and destruction to a people. There are no points to be earned here. The international community is instead making a mockery of Cameroon.

The government in particular has a lot to change if peace has to return to Cameroon. It must restrain its military that has spread a lot of pain in the two English-speaking regions of the country.  A country’s military should not be used to kill the same people who are financing its own survival.

Taxpayers’ money could be better used to prevent conflict than to destroy a country’s economic and political infrastructure just because those in power want to prove a point.

There is nothing wrong with complaining. Southern Cameroonians had never intended to fight the government. Theirs was a peaceful demonstration that has been badly managed. Any government in the world owes its people a listening ear and a willingness to make things better and not a heavy hand that will only make matters worse.

The government has to take a long and hard look at its actions if it thinks of restoring peace in the two English-speaking regions of the country.  It must also listen to the international community that is ready and willing to support any efforts at resolving the crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The government’s military violence has significantly contributed in keeping children out of school for three years.  Instead of spreading death and destruction, the country’s military could have sought to win hearts and minds within the civilian population.

Not every Southern Cameroonian is a separatist and the military’s reckless actions have only helped to swell the ranks of the fighters.

For their part, the armed groups must accept the bitter reality that an independent Southern Cameroons will not be seeing the light of day anytime soon. A clear military victory is unfortunately not within reach.

The international community has very low appetite for secession and even if the secessionists obtain a military victory, it will be hard for them to operate in a globalizing world that is instead fostering larger geo-political entities.

Gaining independence could be possible, but gaining international recognition could be a Herculean task. Puntland, that separated from Somalia and did not even participate in the bloody fighting that has defined Somalia, has never been recognized.

The world still considers it as part of the chaotic Somalia even when Puntland has proven that it can function as an independent geo-political entity.  Similarly, Southern Cameroonians around the world must understand that keeping their children away from school only hurts their cause.

Their use of armed groups to deter children from going to school only qualifies them as terrorists and the international community has no admiration for people with a penchant for mass destruction. While school boycotts might have worked in the initial days of the conflict, insisting on using it these days could be a sign of desperation.

The Southern Cameroons conflict has gone beyond a school boycott. The increasing diplomatic victories abroad and increasing international pressure on the Yaoundé government are better bargaining chips that could be used to achieve better results.

Keeping children at home  for many years when their rightful  place is in the classroom is not only immoral, it is also ungodly, especially as the advocates of a school boycott live abroad and have their children in schools abroad. By God, it is great to go to school.

 Keeping children away from school through intimidation only equates Southern Cameroonians to Boko Haram that has drawn a lot of flak for refusing children their birth right to education. Holding that the children will only return to school only after a comprehensive reform of the school system is a clear demonstration of ignorance of how administrative and educational systems operate.

Life is a work in progress and reforms could always be introduced at any time when the systems show signs of failure or fatigue. Both parties in the conflict must now demonstrate that they have attained a good level of maturity after the errors of the past three years.

Mistakes have been made, but it will preposterous to continue making more mistakes just because we have to score points   Human life is more important than individual opinions. Let us not let our egos to stand in the way of efforts to restore peace in Cameroon.  Cameroonians of all linguistic backgrounds must now support all initiatives that will help bring peace to Cameroon.

They must support the Swiss initiative that has already received the blessing of the United States, Canada and the European Union. The time for flexibility is now and Cameroonians cannot afford to miss it.

By Dr Joachim Arrey in Canada

A key voice in the Southern Cameroons struggle, Dr. Joachim Arrey, is urging Dr. Sako Ikome to take a long and hard look at his leadership of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

Dr. Arrey who has resisted all pressure to publicly criticize his friend and junior brother, Dr. Sako has finally come out to urge Dr. Sako to conduct a veritable introspection with a view to saving the struggle.

Sako Ikome, who is currently in London to drum up support for the Interim Government, is not really making any impressive progress in the United Kingdom.

Southern Cameroonians know what Dr. Sako is selling, but not many of them are rushing to buy his products.

Dr Arrey Joachim pointed out that after every stage in our lives, we must conduct introspection. This also applies to the leadership of the Interim Government.

“Dr. Sako, who is a friend and brother, is making a commendable effort to meet the people so as to give the struggle a shot in the arm, but I am not seeing many Southern Cameroonians in London rushing to meet with him. The rain may be to blame. But true fans know no rain or shine.”

Cameroon Concord News Group understands that the numerous scandals and rumors seem to be having a serious impact on the man of God. “It is time to look back, but not in anger” observed Dr Joachim Arrey.

“As a gentleman and a dedicated Southern Cameroonian, I think Dr. Sako should be conducting an introspection that should help him make an informed decision about his leadership of the Interim Government” Dr Joachim Arrey added.

The African Development Bank technocrat opined that “Sako’s shine appears to be wearing off and I think handing over the baton of responsibility in a nice and decent way will not be a bad idea. It is always good to know when to leave or throw in the towel.”

Dr Arrey Joachim also stated that “Sometimes, despite our best efforts and intentions, we may not deliver to the glorious expectations of our people. The struggle is ours and it is incumbent upon us to ensure it does not get aborted by our own anger or actions.”

It should be recalled that Dr. Sako Ikome has become a lightning rod for controversy ever since allegations of financial malfeasance surfaced. He has been at the center of these scandals and some of his collaborators have publicly indicted him of corruption.

The dysfunctional nature of the IG under Dr Sako is spreading pain and death in Ground Zero where many rogue elements are gradually filling up the gap created by dwindling recruitments into the ranks of the Amba boys due to declining funding.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in London

The disgraced former Southern Cameroons Acting President Dr Ikome Sako has sneaked himself into the United Kingdom to attend a dubious event advertised on social media as Ambazonia Cultural Festival. Sako entered the UK like a thief in the night and has taken up residence in Reading precisely with a blood relation to Irene Ngwa-his mistress-protégé.

The man of God who almost ruined the Southern Cameroons struggle decided upon arrival to launch a scathing attack on the chairman and editor-in-chief of the Cameroon Concord News Group, the Right Hon. Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai.

After he was received by some friends of Irene Ngwa residing in the UK who are planning to use the so-called Ambazonia Cultural Festival in London to enhance Sako’s battered political image, Sako exploited one of his fake facebook profiles to respond to Cameroon Concord News Group editorial published today the 16^th of August 2019 captioned “Majority of Southern Cameroons Militias Are On The Payroll Of CPDM Ministers”.

In his ill-disguised attempt at hiding his identity, Sako observed via his facebook profile that by invoking CPDM Ministers in the editorial, our chairman was reading from the same script with Eric Tataw and Mark Barata including President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.  Our IT consultants in Ohio and New Delhi after a joint operation have traced the IP address of the sender to Reading, UK.

Speaking to this reporter earlier today, Mr. Soter Agbaw-Ebai made a mockery of the disgraced Southern Cameroons pastor noting that “Sako must have skipped inspection of the guard of honour at Heathrow and now finds himself in Reading.”

By Chi Prundence Asong in London

After 37 years under President Paul Biya, Cameroon is arguably at its most divided yet. Various of its fault lines are deep, and they are getting even deeper.

The most immediate crisis facing the country is the ongoing Anglophone conflict in the two English-speaking regions, which has led to hundreds of deaths. But this situation is compounded by two other tensions in Cameroon, one ethnic, one religious.

President Biya, in power since 1982, stands defiant in the face of these pressures, but without clear action to address them, these challenges will only become more threatening to his rule and to the country.

1) The deadly Anglophone crisis

The Anglophone conflict began in 2016 when teachers and lawyers in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions went on strike. They were protesting against the deployment of French-speaking judges and teachers with no understanding of the common law and educational systems that operate in these areas. The government seemed prepared to negotiate until more demonstrators joined and the group’s demands escalated into calls for more autonomy for the two regions. Anglophone nationalists have long demanded greater self-rule to address perceived marginalisation and protect their Anglo-Saxon heritage in the predominantly French-speaking country.

At this point, the government – as it has done many times in the past – resorted to force and mass arrests.  The situation quickly escalated. Armed groups emerged calling for the English-speaking regions to secede completely from Cameroon as the independent state of Ambazonia. Fighting ensued with both separatist forces and the Cameroonian army allegedly committing widespread atrocities.

Three years on, the government in Yaoundé remains adamant that Cameroon’s decentralised unitary form of state is non-negotiable. However, this position is becoming increasingly untenable.

To start with, some key western governments, who previously only called for dialogue, have begun to take some concrete and sustained steps in relation to the conflict. This February, for instance, the US scaled down its military assistance to Cameroon citing gross human rights violations. In May, it sponsored the first UN Security Council meeting on the Anglophone conflict. And then, in July, its House of Representatives adopted Resolution 358 in July calling on the Cameroon government to reconstitute the federal system as one measure to resolve the crisis. That same month, Switzerland, which has a federal system and is another key partner, announced that it is leading a mediation effort. It has reportedly been discretely pressing Biya to look at its own model of territorial state organisation .

At the same time, domestic opinion in Cameroon is also shifting. As the separatist conflict wears on, moderate Francophones are increasingly subscribing to the idea of a federal state, something, which moderate Anglophones have long called for.

2) Renewed ethnic rivalries

Along with the Anglophone crisis, ethnic divides have also become more prominent in Cameroon, especially since the 2018 presidential elections. At the heart of these tensions are two groups’ competing claims to power.

The first, the Bamilieke, wield significant economic authority in Cameroon. Elites from this group control much of the economy and dominate the manufacturing industry. People from this ethnicity mostly occupy the west of Cameroon and have strong cultural ties to one of the Anglophone regions despite their Francophone colonial heritage.

The second, the Bulu-Beti axis, wield significant political power. Since Biya came to power, handpicked by Cameroon’s first president Amadou Ahidjo, elites from this group have seen themselves as the country’s natural rulers. The Beti and Bulu mostly reside in the centre and south regions.

The rivalry between the Bamilieke and Bulu-Beti axis came to a head in the run-up to the October 2018 presidential election in which President Biya ran for a seventh term against his main challenger Maurice Kamto, a Bamieleke. In the campaign, supporters of both sides engaged in inflammatory ethnic rhetoric, with the most xenophobic attacks coming from the Bulu-owned Vision4 Television.

In the end, Biya was declared the victor with 71.28%, but Kamto disputed the results, alleging widespread fraud. Tensions escalated, leading to some violent attacks on Cameroonian embassies in Berlin, Paris and elsewhere. Kamto, believed by many to have been the real winner of the polls, was arrested and remains incarcerated.

The government’s suppression of Kamto and his supporters mirrors its previous treatment of English-speakers. For example, the 2018 election followed a very similar pattern to that of 1992. In those polls, Biya’s main competitor was the Anglophone John Fru Ndi. That process was also marred by allegations of fraud and hate speech. In their aftermath, Biya placed Ndi, who is  believed to have won the polls, under house arrest after declaring a state of emergency in his Ndi’s native North West region. The resentment created at this time added to a growing sense of exclusion, contributing to sentiments led to today’s Anglophone crisis.

Given the shared experiences of the Bamieleke and Anglophones, as well as cultural similarities, one might expect these groups to form an alliance. In fact, a leaked US embassy cable from 2011 suggested some regime insiders were discussing, and dreading, the prospect of such an “Anglo-Bami alliance”. In reality, such an alliance could be struck but would probably be short-lived, focusing only on ending Bulu-Beti dominance. On more fundamental questions such as the organisation of the state, cleavages would likely to emerge. Consensus on these points would not be impossible, but four decades of respective rule under the British and French during colonialism instilled differences in perspective and politics between these groups that would hard to overcome.

3) A religious group in waiting

A final divide facing Biya’s Cameroon comes from predominantly Muslim northerners, who are reportedly vying for one of their own to take over the presidency after Biya. In a leaked cable from 2009, Amadou Ali, an influential northerner who previously served in senior ministerial positions, said as much to US diplomats. According to the cable, Ali predicted that Cameroon’s three northern regions “will support Biya for as long as he wants to be president…but would not accept a successor who was either another Beti/Bulu, or a member of the economically powerful Bamileke ethnic group”.

Like the Bulu-Beti axis, Muslim from the north also see themselves as the natural rulers of a country whose population is majority Christian. And, as Ali explained, they have no intention of sitting idly by and letting an individual from any other group succeed Biya.

Cameroon’s divides today are varied and complex, but have one thing in common: They want to see Biya go. This includes even the northerners, albeit with less urgency, who have been among the president’s closest collaborators and governed with him from day one.

So far, the common goal of removing Biya has not been sufficient to unite these various different groups or force change. But as Cameroon’s divides continue to deepen, the question remains of how much longer the 86-year-old president hold it all together.

Source: Africanarguments