As Cameroon prepares to go to the polls on October 7, 2018, insecurity in the country poses a major constraint which may hamper the smooth conduct of the polls.

The country now faces violence in three regions: the Far North, where Boko Haram continues to mount attacks, as well as the Northwest and Southwest, where an Anglophone insurgency emerged in 2017.

The crisis in the Anglophone regions is rapidly developing into full armed insurgency, following the Cameroonian security forces’ violent repression on 22 September and 1 October, 2017.

Several small “self-defence” groups (the Tigers, Ambaland forces and Vipers,) now operate alongside two armed militias: the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) and the Southern Cameroons Defence Forces.

Pro-independence fighters, who had earlier declared the elections banned in these regions recently called for a total shutdown from September 20 to October 10 in a bid to completely frustrate efforts by the government to carry out elections in the troubled regions.

According to messages allegedly from the fighters, people have been urged to stock their houses with basic items which can sustain them throughout the no circulation period. The message constraints movement only within the English speaking areas while inter-urban movements to and from other French parts of the country were prohibited.

Gripped with fear and amidst the growing uncertainty, denizens in the regions are now fleeing to neighboring towns for safety. The massive exodus has forced the government to take stringent measures to restrict movement out of the regions. A communique signed by the regional delegate of the North West region on September 18 indicated that people without valid reasons will not be allowed to leave the town.

Yaounde took a hard line, rejecting demands made by the fighters in the early phase of the conflict and ordered a complete crackdown after the separatists issued a symbolic declaration of independence last October 1.

The elections governing body has however assured that elections will take place in these regions while noting that the issue of security for all stakeholders in the process was the responsibility of the government.

Culled from Africa News

Two years ago, when the then-called Anglophone problem began, few predicted that it would snowball into a full-blown war with its attendant bloodletting. No one thought, a mere strike initiated by lawyers and teachers would, two years down the line, culminate in this horror that has become the ecosystem of the citizens of Southern Cameroons. From Nkambe right down to Mundemba, the pain of the people, who only set out to demand freedom and dignity for their lives and those of their children, rings stridently across the land. Every day, we are served with gory pictures of young lives prematurely cut short, young boys and girls maimed to the point of non-recognition. Few imagine the sorry plight of the families (some with nurslings) hiding out in forests, exposed to the hazard of the elements and the dangers of wild creeping things and carnivorous animals. I cry for the souls of these innocent lives and the ordeal of my people now forced to share the forests with animals!

It is difficult to attempt an explanation for this inexorable slide into mayhem; because there were opportunities to ward off this crisis or nib it in the bud, so to speak. Compliance with the various calls for civil disobedience and “ghost town” operations, open defiance of authority as well as the unprecedented public display of anger across Southern Cameroons back on 22nd September 2017 were alarm bells ringing deafeningly, alerting the authorities to the volcanic anger that was boiling underneath, ready to the blow up the country at its seams. Calls for the return to the federal system which, up until 1972, had held the country together in an otherwise beautiful experiment in bi- and multi-culturalism, were greeted with absolute disdain and arrogance. The moderate leadership of the movement was thrown into jail with trumped-up and, frankly, ridiculous charges of terrorism, hostility against the state and any other ludicrous charge that their Jacobin minds could conjure up. I cried then, as I knew this was the onset of trouble.

Now, trouble is here. It took the shape of the hundreds of lost lives of protesters who, tired of being treated with absolute contempt, decided on 1st October 2017 to “symbolically” declare their independence from La République du Cameroun, hoping to draw national and international attention to their plight. Instead, in return, terror was unleashed on them with hundreds shot dead, and thousands arrested and thrown into jail. Since then, life for them has become a daily unending nightmare, the stuff of horror. Gunshots and screams of fright are now the soundtrack their daily reality. Villages have been completely razed, houses and hospitals torched, and old and vulnerable elderly persons roasted in their homes and sickbeds. I shudder at the thought of the strain, agony and excruciating pain these old ones experienced as, helpless, they slowly burnt to death. I cry! Yes, I weep for them.

I weep because, instead of negotiating with the people, the government of La République engaged a full-scale war of attrition nay, a scorched-earth blitzkrieg on an innocent people. The army was given a “shoot-to-kill-on-mere-suspicion” order, otherwise known in French as ‘l’ordred’ouverture de feu”. What this means is that they were given the green light to shoot at anything and anybody if it/he/she poses a “threat”. They are not required to furnish any explanation or justification for their actions. The manifestation of this blanket order is visible throughout Southern Cameroons. This same tactic was used during the days of the “Maquis” for good effect. In other words, it worked then; why should it not work now? The only drawback for this soldiery and this barbaric tactic is the social media to which their cruelties are systematically uploaded and, lo and behold, live streamed, even by the perpetrators themselves.

Multiple calls for dialogue have been royally ignored. When attempts are made, it is in the form of make-belief missions fielded to the region by surrogates of a regime that have been rejected outright by the population. Enormous sums have been squandered hoodwinking the international community that there is some modicum of dialogue initiated. Huge amounts of taxpayer francs are squandered by government on the “war effort”. Needless to say these sums are lining the pockets of the select few for whom this crisis is a gold mine, irrespective of the lives lost and the untold suffering inflicted on the people. Countless horror stories come to light every day of the havoc wreaked by these soldiers on a hapless population. The recent pictures of droves of people attempting to flee this mayhem are heartrending. The response of the authorities has been to dissuade, nay, block these helpless people from flight, requiring them to justify their movement. In a country they claim is “one and indivisible”! All of this in an attempt to obfuscate the scale of the disaster and hide it from the eyes of the world. Yes, I cry…

For those who still think secession or, better still, separation is a physical thing, have another think coming. It starts from the mind. And the actions of the authorities and their forces of (dis)order are driving the two Cameroons further apart. Whatever the outcome of this crisis, the road to reconciliation will be long, tortuous, if not impossible.

Shey Kukih Mansah

The South West governor, Okala Bilai, who once called the people of his region “dogs”, has been pleading with them not to leave the region. Over the last week, residents of the two English-speaking regions have been leaving the place following threats by Southern Cameroonian fighters to implement a strict movement of goods and persons within the region from September 16, 2018 to October 7, 2018.

Campaigns for presidential elections scheduled for October 7, are currently underway and Southern Cameroonians fighters have vowed to disrupt an election they consider as foreign.  While other candidates are on the ground canvassing for votes, the incumbent, Paul Biya, is in a Swiss hospital seeking better healthcare.  It is generally held that Mr. Biya, considered by the ruling crime syndicate as its natural candidate, will not campaign but will emerge as the winner in an election that has already been rigged.

Mr. Biya’s heart and prostate have been an issue to the 86-year-old who still wants to rule the country for the next seven years. Known as the “monarch”, Mr. Biya was in China recently for the China-Africa Summit where he thought he could cajole Chinese to lend him some money.

But things are not working out well for the ailing monarch. The Chinese are skeptical about lending money to a dying man and the hold that after presiding of his country’s destiny for 36 years, Mr. Biya has nothing to show for his long ruler ship.

There are no world-class hospitals in his country, no good roads, and the country’s railway system has simply collapsed. For more than three decades, the narcissistic monarch has been using his country’s treasury as his personal ATM.

When traveling abroad, Mr. Biya always has more than 50 persons in his entourage and all of these people are lodged in five-star hotels.  Besides, members of his entourage, the monarch also uses expensive escort services when he is abroad. His love for young girls is costing the country an arm and a leg.

He has a Ghanaian doctor in Geneva who screens all the young ladies he uses to satisfy his carnal desires.  It is alleged that he dislikes preservatives, which is why the ladies are thoroughly screened for HIV and other communicable diseases.

Worst of all, the monarch, noted for his incompetence and manipulation, has plunged his country into a deep economic crisis and a long civil war that has already resulted in the killing of some 4,000 Cameroonians, including young army soldiers.

The Southern Cameroons crisis that started as a demonstration by teachers and lawyers has taken a turn for the worse. The adverse impact of the conflict is now spilling over into East Cameroon and this is a nightmare to government officials who are scared of a general revolt in East Cameroon.

Food and housing prices have gone up and many cities that are receiving these displaced persons do not have the proper infrastructure to deal with such a situation. According to a Douala City Hall official, the migration of Southern Cameroonians to the city of Douala is not only costly; it is also a major risk.

He pointed out that among the displaced could the fierce fighters who may use the situation to wreak havoc on innocent citizens in the city. He regretted that the government was letting this situation to spiral out of control, adding that if immediate action was not taken, the entire country could become a war zone.

By Kingsley Betek in Buea

While Cameroon has been caught in a downward political and economic spiral, its president, Paul Biya, is clearly missing in action. The president, also known as the monarch, has not yet returned to his country after the China-Africa Summit which was expected to attract Chinese investors and money to Cameroon.

But with the Chinese noted for their craft and discipline, it is likely that Mr. Biya will be returning home with an empty begging bowl.  Like the last time he was in China, he might only end up signing a series of cooperation agreements that might never yield the cash he so badly needs to corrupt voters in his native Cameroon.

It is alleged that even the plane Mr. Biya examined in China will not be delivered to Cameroon as the country is unable to make a good down payment. The Chinese are very suspicious of Mr. Biya and his government. They suspect that the end may be near for a man who is popularly unpopular in his country. Giving Mr. Biya and his government huge amounts of money is, in their view, a huge economic and financial miscalculation.

As to Mr. Biya’s disappearance from the political scene, it is alleged that the monarch has gone to Switzerland for a quick health fix. His failing heart is still a tough challenge and given that he has a huge political challenge ahead of him, he has to see with his doctors if he will be equal to the task.

Mr. Biya’s health has been a huge concern to the country over the last ten years and this has been a huge dent to the country’s treasury. He has been using the country’s treasury as his personal ATM and this has been a huge concern to many development experts who hold that the money he spends abroad could have been better spent at home. After 36 years in power, Mr. Biya has not been able to build a good health facility that can enable all Cameroonians to have quality health care.

Currently, campaigns for the presidential elections are underway and there are nine candidates, including Mr. Biya who is the incumbent. But for now, only eight candidates are in the field trying to convince Cameroonians that they are better than Mr. Biya who has plunged the country into a long civil war and a deep economic crisis.

During Mr. Biya’s time at the helm of the country’s affairs, Cameroon has spent most of its time trying to put out the economic and financial fires that he and his collaborators have been setting.

Mr. Biya inherited a sound economy from his predecessor, but three years after his accession to the country’s highest position, the country’s economic indicators started trending very low. Corruption and embezzlement of state funds have become the government’s hallmark.

It should be recalled that more than 50 of Mr. Biya’s former collaborators are currently in jail for embezzlement and corruption. Many of those in jail have intimated that Mr. Biya is also to blame for all the corruption and mismanagement that have blighted so many lives in the country.

The country is in a deep political and military crisis that is costing the country an arm and a leg. Cameroon needs lots of money to overcome this challenge. After having been mired in a tough military, economic and social battle for two years, the Yaoundé government is facing serious economic and financial crisis and this is keeping the country’s officials awake all night.

The crisis pitting Southern Cameroonian separatists against the Yaoundé government has seriously eroded the government’s financial base.  The fighting is expensive and it has taken a huge bite out of the government’s fragile finances.

This is weighing on the government and the operation of heavy military equipment in the jungles of Southern Cameroons is costing the government an arm and a leg. This has been compounded by the economic sabotage that Southern Cameroonian fighters have engaged in.

Over the last six months, some of the country’s major state corporations which are great money spinners have had to deal with the angst of Southern Cameroonian fighters who are determined to bring the country’s economy to its knees.

Corporations such as PAMOL and CDC all require a shot in the arm, but the cash-strapped government of Yaoundé is incapable of providing the much-needed infusion. Priming the pump of these corporations will require huge amounts of money. PAMOL has completely shot down due to increased disruption by Southern Cameroonian fighters.

Some 3,000 PAMOL workers have been rendered jobless and the corporation’s equipment is gradually rotting. Some of the palm oil production corporation’s facilities have been burned down and threats from Southern Cameroonian fighters actually made some of the workers to throw in the towel even before the corporation announced its bankruptcy.

For the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), its operation capacity has been diminished over the last seven months. Ghost town operations and violence against its workers have made it hard for the country’s second largest employer to operate at full capacity.

The separatists’ economic sabotage is actually producing the desired effect as the government has seen some of its revenue streams diminishing.  With many workers laid off from these two large corporations, the government has also witnessed a huge tax base erosion. The loss of more than 3,000 workers from these two corporations implies that income taxes paid to the government have diminished.

But the collapsing of these two corporations is not the worst news the Yaoundé government will be hearing. Southern Cameroonian separatists have their eyes set on the country’s lone refinery, SONARA, which is located in the southwest port city of Limbe.

They strongly believe that if they can successfully bring down SONARA, then they will be able to force the government to the negotiating table where some of the divorce issues can be discussed and addressed.

The Southern Cameroons crisis which started as a demonstration by teachers and lawyers in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions has resulted in many other problems for the government and it is finally migrating to East Cameroon, as thousands flee Southern Cameroons major cities following threats from Southern Cameroonian fighters to stage sporadic attacks on soldiers and punish civilians who have been cooperating with the Yaoundé government.

All major cities in Southern Cameroons have become beehives as helpless civilians struggle to find a safe place before the expiry of the deadline given by the fighters. Buea, Mamfe, Limbe, Bamenda and Kumba have all witnessed huge crowds struggling to leave, following warnings from Southern Cameroonian fighters that from September 16, 2018, all roads will be blocked and there will be no movement in the region.

More than half a million people have, throughout the week, been seeking ways to leave the region as presidential elections scheduled for next month approach. Southern Cameroonian fighters have warned civilians in the two English-speaking regions not to participate in the elections as they are considered foreign and illegal.

It should be pointed out that Cameroon will be holding presidential elections next month and the incumbent is widely expected to win.  Many analysts hold that much will not change in the country and the conflict tearing the country apart may only get worse if Mr. Biya wins the elections.

So far, the government has not issued any statements to reassure the fear-stricken population and local officials have been tight-lipped over the displacement of over half a million people in the region. Meanwhile, the fighting between restoration forces and army soldiers has intensified.

Over the last week alone, more than 200 civilians have been killed in the region, while some 50 army soldiers have been sent to an early grave by restoration forces. The government has been struggling to localize the Southern Cameroons crisis, but as the fighting intensifies, many people are seeking refuge in the French-speaking region of the country.

The mass movement of Southern Cameroonians into other parts of the country has resulted in escalating food and housing prices. The high living cost is keeping government officials in cities such as Yaoundé and Douala awake all night, as they fear that the increasing pressure might cause the cash-strapped Francophone population to rebel against the government.

Mr. Biya is a man under pressure. He wants to prove that he can still do the job. His health is clearly telling him that his time is over. He will be better off throwing in the towel than staying on, as he will only take more pressure that will further ruin his fragile health.

Besides, the world is tired of seeing him. The new global political arena is inimical to old incompetent leaders.  Mr. Biya is anything but competent. He has not only failed Cameroonians; he has also failed his foreign allies who are scared that his country might break up or become a terrorist haven in the sub-region.

Mr. Biya’s political and economic failings have transformed him into a clown and a beggar. While heading to China to look for money, he should understand that he who goes aborrowing will one day go asorrowing. He should also understand that he is mortgaging the lives of future generations by borrowing all over the world.

 By Kingsley Betek

Materials meant for Cameroon’s upcoming presidential elections were printed in Germany. The process has been finalized and handed over to the country’s diplomatic mission in Berlin, a local news portal 237online reported earlier this week.

The election materials are due to be transferred to the country ahead of the October 7, 2018 vote in which incumbent Paul Biya is seeking an extension of his mandate.

The body in charge of the process, Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, cleared Biya and eight other aspirants to contest for the presidency. The vote will be the last installment of a busy election year. Voting for the legislative chambers have all been executed earlier this year.

The 2018 presidential race will take place in a delicate and volatile context, with the so-called Anglophone crisis and its attendant violence threatening daily life in the Southwest and Northwest regions.

However, there are doubts that the election will be free and fair, or whether at all they will take place especially in the Anglophone regions which have been in turmoil for the past two years, when residents started pressing their claims for more autonomy and now independence under the banner of Ambazonia Republic.

Source: Africa News

Cameroon’s government vowed Wednesday that next month’s presidential election will be peaceful and voting will take place nationwide, despite mounting bloodshed in the central African country’s restive anglophone regions.

“The October 7 presidential election will be held in a calm and serene environment throughout our country,” minister of territorial administration Paul Atanga Nji said on state radio, citing reports by regional governors.

Cameroon’s two minority English-speaking regions — the North-West and South-West — have been hit by almost daily acts of violence that have left more than a hundred people dead and about 200,000 displaced since late 2016.

The anglophone separatists have said that voting will not take place in the two regions next month.

“The head of state has instructed the governors to take the necessary measures to ensure that the election goes ahead in all of Cameroon’s 360 districts,” Atanga Nji said after meeting with the governors of the country’s 10 regions on Monday and Tuesday.

He added that President Paul Biya had instructed the governors to “ensure the protection of all the candidates”.

Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of Cameroon’s majority French speakers led to anglophone militants making a symbolic declaration of independence last October 1, which led to a government crackdown.

Since the start of the crisis, a total of 109 members of the police and security forces have been killed, according to government figures.

Even the start of the school year was marred by violence earlier this month, with the separatists calling for a boycott. Several teachers and students were abducted and one teacher was killed in Bamali in the North-West.

In the October poll, eight candidates will run against the 85-year-old incumbent Biya, who has ruled the country for 35 years and is seeking a seventh straight term in office.

(AFP)

The lawyer and chairman of the International Anti-Corruption Conference council says it is time for a change of government and that there must be a zero tolerance policy towards corruption.

A statement by Martin A. NKEMNGU rapporteur of the sub committee of the Theme “POLITICAL CHOICES OF THE SOUTHWEST REGION” presented at the Southwest Forum which held in Buea on 25th August, 2018.

Martin A. Nkemngu was appointed rapporteur in one of the four Committees of the Southwest Forum.

Their committee was under the Theme “POLITICAL CHOICES OF THE SOUTHWEST REGION ” under the chairmanship of Hon Benjamin Itoe assisted by Hon Nfor Tabetando.

The Committee had over 100 participants who deliberated on their theme.

The Committee deliberated and insisted on their choices.

The Rapporteur was mandated to readout at the plenary session what was dictated to him by the experienced statesmen who dominated the deliberations.

As a professional journalist i do not usually take sides on matters of public interest.

IF WHAT I READ HAS OFFENDED ANYBODY IN ANYWAY, I WISH TO STATE THAT IT WAS NEVER MY THOUGHTS OR BELIEFS.

I wish to use this opportunity to make it abundantly clear that I never went to the forum for any personal gain.

I further state that I left the forum without any financial or material compensation of any kind.

Thanks.

Finding a single candidate to run against President Paul Biya in the October 7 presidential elections is a puzzle Cameroon’s opposition is working hard to solve. Negotiations are under way among parties for a possible coalition. There’s no success so far.

Joshua Osih, the candidate of the Social Democratic Front, the main opposition party, is measured about the idea of an opposition coalition for a single candidacy.

“We sincerely believe that joining forces of the opposition is a very good thing in an election but we do not believe it is an ultimate road to victory”, Osih said.

Another candidate, Akere Muna believes in a possible opposition merger against Paul Biya, in power since 1982. He says he’s ready to quit the race for a candidate chosen by the parties.

The presidential election in Cameroon will take place on 7 October. Eight candidates are running, including 85 year old President Paul Biya.

Culled from Africa News

The main opposition party candidate in Cameroon’s October scheduled elections on Monday said, President Paul Biya is ‘‘the only one responsible’‘ for the conflict in the English-speaking regions of the country.

Joshua Osih, is himself a native of the North and Southwest regions in Cameroon, which have been plagued by a political crisis since 2016.

By the end of 2017, the crisis degenerated into a conflict between armed forces and English-speaking separatists, killing dozens, including at least 80 soldiers and police. 200,000 people were also forced to flee their homes.

“We have a problem with the system and this system has meant that we do not have simple political solutions to simple problems. We have a president who does not understand what is happening in Cameroon, who spends most of his time abroad and who thinks that sending the army as he did in the 1960s with the UPC can solve this problem. He can’t, Osih said.

Anglophone effect on October election

The shadow of this conflict hangs over the organization of the October 7 presidential election in the English-speaking zone, in which Osih and seven other candidates will face 85-year old Paul Biya.

This is the first time he’s running on the ticket of the Social Democratic Front, the main opposition party that was previously represented by its historic leader, John Fru Ndi.

Unlike other candidates, Osih says he is “against” a probe into charges of alleged abuses committed by the army in English-speaking areas, saying he believes, “there is a political responsibility that is far superior to the responsibility of mere military “.

AFP