Cameroon is facing a growing danger of economic collapse and a civil war, provoked in large part by French government support for the 85 year President Paul Biya. This week Biya tweeted his intention to run for the October presidential elections amid worsening security situation in the country. The Biya move came after the United States ambassador Peter Barlerin sounded a note of caution to the CPDM Chairman to step aside. The Biya action has failed to win wide support in the entire nation.

In announcing his decision, Biya is responding to intensifying pressure from the Western powers particularly the US. The US Senate recently held a hearing on the crisis in Southern Cameroons which will eventually commit Washington to use its influence to block all international aid and financial assistance for Cameroon. This comes on top of sanctions already implemented by the Federal Republic of Germany.

The UK, meanwhile, has decided to maintain a kind of deliberate silence on the crisis in Ambazonia but has however up the African activities of its foreign intelligence service MI6 in the Gulf of Guinea. Britain had long established a new ministerial committee, ostensibly to give advanced warning of coup attempts and threats of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa.

The ruling CPDM crime syndicate which is mainly based in the cities of Douala, Yaounde and Maroua including some towns and villages in the Center and South regions has alienated not only Southern Cameroonians but also the Bamilekes, the Bassas and the Sawas. The widening political division between Southern Cameroons and the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime and the long standing grievance of the Ahmadou Ahidjo following contains the potential for civil war.

The sharp decline in living standards, 95 percent unemployment and the increasingly repressive character of Biya’s rule provoked popular opposition deep within Southern Cameroons and created conditions for violent social conflict. Aware of the extent of social and political tensions, Biya declared war against his own people-the people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The 85 year old dictator has never accepted measures that would undermine his rule and as I write, his kinsmen and women in the army are moving like a train with no brakes crushing anyone on Biya’s way.

The US through the voice of its ambassador Peter Barlerin has decided that it was time to move against Biya. But the world’s strongest nation is yet to cut off funds and investment to Yaoundé and have failed to encourage the formation of an alternative political leadership that is more responsive to US and EU demands.

Biya offers no progressive response to Western demands and meddling. Instead, he is seeking to hold onto power by whipping up anger of the Francophones not only against Southern Cameroonians but also against the Bamilekes. For nearly four decades, Biya did little to make Ambazonians feel Cameroonian, resulting in an erosion of popular support in Southern Cameroons for his regime.  In an attempt to reverse Biya’s decline and counter calls for an Anglophone head of state, Biya declared war on Southern Cameroons.

For the last two years, the Francophone dominated army has been patrolling Southern Cameroons towns and villages, killing innocent civilians and beating up people suspected of supporting the quest for an independent state.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions will participate in presidential polls slated for October 7, 2018. This is according to the country’s electoral organizing body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).

The said regions – North West and South West – have been restive for months now amid armed exchanges between government forces and secessionists under the banner of the so-called Ambazonia Republic.

The elections organizer assured that elections will take place in the regions stressing that the issue of security for all stakeholders in the process was the responsibility of the government.

ELECAM’s Assistant Director, Abdoul Karimou is quoted as saying, “Elections will hold in the North West and South West regions but ensuring security is the responsibility of the State.”

The government recently announced an October 7 date for the presidential elections. Political and security watchers have expressed worry over the worsening situation in the region and averred that peaceful polls could not hold in the affected areas.

The presidential poll is the biggest contest for a busy election year. Voters have already elected other legislative representatives earlier this year.

There were security challenges in the Anglophone regions during some of the polls. These challenges were also present during a national examination – there was heavy security presence at exam centers but some centers were burnt down by suspected separatists.

Source: Africa News

Cameroon’s president Paul Biya issued a decree on Monday saying a presidential election will be held on October 7, amidst a worsening security situation in the Southwest and Northwest Anglophone regions.

As Biya’s decree was being read on public television, the inhabitants of Buea, the capital of the Southwest region were still confined to their homes for fear of going out after witnessing gunfire in the morning between soldiers and Anglophone separatists.

This is the first time that gunfire has been exchanged in neighbourhoods of this city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, that has had a large number of military personnel deployed since the beginning of the English-speaking crisis at the end of 2016.

President Paul Biya, 85, who has been in power for close to 36 years has not announced whether he will run for a seventh re-election, but in May his party sais he is their “natural” candidate.

“Paul Biya is our candidate in the next presidential election, given his eloquent record, his national and international credibility, diplomatic, economic, social and cultural”, wrote leaders of the ruling party and traditional leaders from the South, where Biya comes from.

The same month, the US ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, said after a meeting with the president that Paul Biya “should reflect on his legacy and how he wants to be remembered in history books”, provoking strong criticism in the presidential camp.

Biya’s likely opponents

The opposition has described Biya’s state record as “chaotic”.

Among them, Joshua Osih, who was elected in February as candidate of the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF, English-speaking).

This 49-year-old businessman contest for the Cameroonian presidency, after Ni John Fru Ndi, leader of the SDF and historical opponent to Biya decided to give way to the “young cadets” of the party.

Other prominent opposition candidates, according to analysts, include Transparency International lawyer and former vice president Akere Muna, as well as the president of the Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun (MRC) party, Maurice Kamto.

On October 7, these candidates will seek the 7 year mandate to run the affairs of the troubled West African nation.

Security crisis

The voting will take place in a delicate context.

The jihadist group Boko Haram is still active in the far north of the country and the English-speaking regions of the North-West and South-West have been facing a serious socio-political crisis since late 2016.

The latter started as a modest industrial strike action by English-speaking lawyers and teachers in 2016, but has since developed into a full blown armed conflict.

Today, fighting between Cameroonian security forces and armed men claiming to be “restoration forces” of an English-speaking state that had briefly emerged between the two world wars, under British mandate, has disrupted business and livelihoods in the Anglophone regions.

According to the government, more than 80 members of the security forces were killed in the fighting.

The UN says up to 160,000 people have fled their homes as a result of the violence, while the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency says 34,000 have fled to Nigeria.

Source: Agencies

Though Boko Haram’s lethality and tactical innovation, al-Shabaab’s resilience, and the brokering of partnerships by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have rightfully dominated analysis of political violence in Africa, other situations are also increasingly relevant for those concerned with political violence in Africa. With the escalation of the crisis in Anglophone Cameroon and the October general elections presenting a risk of further increased tensions, the evolution of the country’s conflict and its implications for political violence across the continent is worth noting.

Much can be learned about conflict escalation from the Cameroonian government’s reaction to the calls of Anglophone activists, which has pushed the country towards violent conflict and has made the prospects for peaceful dialogue ever dimmer. The Cameroonian government, historically, has not effectively integrated and engaged its Anglophone population through inclusive governance practices. And since protests erupted nearly two years ago, the Biya administration has not seem inclined to engage in peaceful dialogue to draw down the crisis. Taken together, these suggest that the scale of the conflict, and its lethality, are likely to escalate.

Origins of the Crisis

The origin of friction between Anglophone and Francophone populations in Cameroon can be traced back to the colonial era. Originally under German rule, Cameroon was partitioned between the French and British into two territories, both governed as trusts. Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians were unified under a federal system in 1961 after a plebiscite was held in which voters were given a choice to join either Nigeria or Cameroon. It is worth mentioning that, among Anglophone Cameroonians, nearly 60 percent of Anglophones in the majority-Muslim northern region voted to join Nigeria, while roughly 70 percent of Anglophones in the majority-Christian southern region voted to join Cameroon.

In 1972, under President Ahmadou Ahidjo, the federal system was discarded in favor of a united, bilingual republic. To this day, however, Anglophone regions are governed by Common Law, whereas the rest of the country is governed by a civil code. Debates over the extent to which the country is dominated by Francophones, what sub-national authorities that the two Anglophone regions should be granted, and various cultural matters, have resulted in a proliferation of Anglophone activist groups and general politicking around the issue. Groups that may seem at face value to be apolitical—including teachers’ unions and legal associations—have taken up Anglophone issues as a part of political campaigns.

Anglophones currently make up roughly 20 percent of the country’s population and are undeniably under-represented in President Paul Biya’s government. Since taking power in 1982, less than 11 percent of the ministers appointed by Biya have been Anglophones. At present, just three of the 33 generals in the country and six of the 63-person cabinet members are Anglophones. Even within Anglophone districts, government jobs are often given to Francophone appointees.

Escalation of the Crisis

Though longstanding, the conflict between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians took a lethal turn in 2016 when widespread, peaceful protests and strikes emerged. Media reports focused on the role of Common Law lawyers advocating to abandon the Cameroonian Bar Association. Other groups, including the country’s teachers, then joined the protests. After weeks of strikes, gendarmes used tear gas against protesters. Shortly thereafter, four people were killed in clashes with security forces during a protest in Bamenda that arose after the Cameroon Teacher’s Trade Union called for a strike. Reports also emerged in late November of sexual violence against students at the University of Buea by Cameroonian security forces.

As the protests continued, the Biya government also began detaining and arresting Anglophone activists and journalists and shutting down newspapers and radio stations. Beginning in January 2017 the government cut or greatly slowed down internet services in Anglophone regions. The internet shutdown ended up being one of the longest recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, lasting just under 100 days. The shutdown was economically harmful—given the region’s reputation as “silicon mountain”—and also hamstrung efforts to keep track of events in the region.

At the same time, the government also engaged in some conciliatory measures. A National Commission on the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism was established and was accompanied in short order by the “appointing [of] Anglophone magistrates and bilingual teachers, and [the] releasing from prison some Anglophone civil society leaders and activists.” According to Amnesty International, however, “these moves were viewed by the Anglophone movements as being too limited,” and the protests continued.

The groups that have emerged to advance Anglophone rights have advocated different means and different ends. The vast majority of Anglophone activists advocate for peaceful resolution of the conflict, but as government repression has intensified, groups who advocate secession, or worse, violence, have become more significant. Some groups advocate for more federalism, while others call for secession and the establishment of an independent state called “Ambazonia.” A number of armed separatist groups also formed an umbrella organization, the Ambazonia Recognition Collaboration Council (ARCC), claiming to have thousands of fighters.

Through the spring and summer of 2017, however, Anglophone protesters steadily escalated their tactics. Over this period, at least 42 schools and a number of market stalls in Anglophone Cameroon were burned down. A recent report catalogued a number of instances in which Anglophone separatists targeted civilians who did not engage in the demonstrations. The Biya government imposed curfews and increased the security sector’s presence in the region in response. Despite this, Anglophone separatists declared independence on October 1, 2017; in clashes with the state security forces that day, reports indicated that at least a dozen people were killed and 40 arrested.

By November 2017, separatists were making attacks on the government more frequently and brazenly. In the Northwest province, for example, they began targeting police with homemade explosive devices. The Biya government stepped up its repression and arrests, labeled the separatists “terrorists” by comparing them to Boko Haram, and declared war on them.

Actions taken by armed separatist groups and the government continued to worsen. Separatists are suspected to have kidnapped nine employees of a construction firm and in response to the arrest and repatriation of Anglophone activists that fled to Nigeria, an armed separatist group called the Ambazonian Defence Force (ADF) began abducting government officials. Soon thereafter, a Tunisian national living in Cameroon was abducted and killed, after which the government organized a rescue mission to release 18 hostages, including 12 Europeans. Just this May, a radio journalist and Anglophone activist, Mancho Bibixy, was sentenced to 15 years in prison under the country’s anti-terrorism law in a military court. Four journalists had previously been held under the act until President Biya issued a presidential decree for their release. Bibixy’s conviction has prompted speculation about what sentences could be handed down to the other detained activists and journalists.

Throughout this escalation, more than 20,000 people have fled the country for neighboring Nigeria and an estimated 150,000 have been internally displaced. The escalation has transformed a generally peaceful, albeit contentious, debate over the extent and nature of federalism in modern Cameroon into a violent, potentially-existential crisis over the future of the Cameroonian state.

What Lies Ahead?

Though a number of the characteristics of this conflict are specific to Cameroon, the events of the past few years highlight the importance of inclusive governance measures and the ramifications of heavy-handed security responses to political dissidents. In particular, the Cameroonian experience points to the need to engage moderate political dissidents early and earnestly. In waiting months before attempting to work with the Anglophone community and doing so after violence began to escalate, the Biya administration allowed hardliners and separatists within the movement to mobilize effectively and gain influence. Had the government engaged the initial protests, led by lawyers and teachers, the escalation of the crisis may have been averted.

In October, Cameroon will hold elections, which could result in increased tensions. Anglophone territories have previously thrown their support behind the Social Democratic Front (SDF), which currently controls 18 of the 180 seats in parliament. If any perception of illegitimacy in the electoral process takes hold, the current level of violence could take an even deadlier turn. Avoiding an escalation of this kind, and ultimately changing the tone of the current situation, requires dialogue between prominent moderate, non-violent Anglophone activists and the government.

Source: Reliefweb

President Biya is implementing an aggressive and destructive policy in Southern Cameroons. The 85 year old dictator has precipitated an armed conflict against the English speaking community of the country which is getting worse. He is pushing the Francophone dominated army against Southern Cameroonians and he is opening and maintaining military bases in Southern Cameroons and claiming that he is fighting separatists.

Senior political commentators have recently opined that Biya has smashed the 1961 Foumban agreement with West Cameroon. And he is making matters worse because of his excessive use of force. The French government of President Macron is supporting Biya in his slaughter in Ambazonia. Correspondingly, the special relationship between Biya and Buhari has massively supported the expansion of French Secret Service operations inside Nigeria. On the top of this, Biya does not have any serious plans for solving the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

A prominent traditional ruler from the Manyu constituency who spoke to Cameroon Intelligence Report but sued for anonymity said Biya is a clown with guns in his hands. And that is why CPDM militants are now realizing that Biya is a political disaster that has been around for 35 years.

Soon and very soon there is going to be a massive anti Biya movement in French Cameroun. Our chief political editor noted that Biya is dangerous. He is dangerous to the One and Indivisible Cameroon. He is dangerous to the African Union. He is dangerous to his own country-French Cameroun and he is dangerous to the world.

By Chi Prudence Asong

A Referendum is now the only solution to the Anglophone crisis. To Biya and his sycophants who claim “an overwhelming majority” of Anglophones want to remain in bondage and servitude in Cameroon; to Anglophone regime apologists and fifth columnists who benefit from the crumbs served by their paymaster and see nothing wrong with the genocide against their own people; to those ass-kissing Anglophones who blame the Diaspora for inciting and financing the struggle; and to all those who believe Ambazonia independence is non-negotiable; here is my challenge. stop the senseless mayhem and bloodbath and invite the UN to come in and organize a referendum as was the case in 1961. Only Anglophones will be allowed to vote as was the case in 1961 and voting will take place ONLY in Anglophone Cameroon as was the case in 1961 and registration will be done at the village level. The results will be binding on all stakeholders. Until that happens, for “an overwhelming majority” of Anglophones, it is now freedom or death…the struggle continues

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

Two years after President Biya launched his so-called war on separatists, an untold number of Southern Cameroonian civilians have been killed by disease, illness and by the French Cameroun military campaign. A Southern Cameroonian serving in French Cameroun as Prime Minister and Head of Government recently announced some kind of a humanitarian reconstruction aimed at minimizing the displacement of Ambazonians and the damage to infrastructure and the disruption of services in Southern Cameroons. The Philemon Yang Plan is still not working.

Ever since the Francophone dominated army started its genocidal campaign in Southern Cameroons, thousands of Ambazonia lives have been turned upside down, lawlessness has been allowed to fester and spread, and the one and indivisible Cameroon is now a nation at risk of fracturing apart. Moreover, an untold number of Southern Cameroons innocent civilians have been killed – by disease, illness, in gruesome tortures performed by French Cameroun army soldiers and French military advisers.

In recent days, the US ambassador Peter Barlerin has forced the Biya regime to address the painful issue of Southern Cameroons civilian casualties following a publication by Amnesty International which found that, contrary to the claims of the Biya Francophone regime, all French Cameroun military actions in Southern Cameroons resulted in civilians’ deaths. Figures also released by the International Crisis Group indicate that Southern Cameroonians killed was 57 times higher than what the Biya regime has acknowledged.

The Prime Minister Philemon Yang diabolic humanitarian scheme was a hit back at the Amnesty International report.  Cameroon Intelligence Report believes some 865 civilians have been intentionally killed by French Cameroun troops since the operations against Ambazonian Restoration Forces started.

The unfortunate death of Southern Cameroons civilians is a fact of the war that does not weigh heavy on the hearts of President Biya and his crime syndicate. The truth is that nobody knows how many Ambazonian civilians have been killed in Southern Cameroons since the 85 year old dictator launched the military campaign.

The French Cameroun army is now keeping painstaking records of its soldiers killed in both the Southern and Northern Zones of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia-120 French Cameroun soldiers as revealed by Defense Minister Beti Assomo. Yet, Yaoundé have never tried to make an overall tally of Southern Cameroons civilian deaths or those killed in other theatres in Nigeria.

The Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has been making several attempts to come up with a figure in a project that maintains a tally of casualties based on media reports. However, the Ambazonia Communication Secretary, Hon. Chris Anu admitted to Cameroon Concord News Group that the Interim Government  figures are based on reports in the media, which are themselves limited in scope and detail.

The truth of the matter is that nobody knows. The figure could be 800; it could be 1000 or more. And when you add the civilian casualties in the Cross River and Benue States in Nigeria and in the forest where the Biya Southern Cameroons war has played out – it becomes even more of a guessing game.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

 The West Cameroon Association (WCA) strongly denounces the pretentious humanitarian initiative of the regime of President Paul Biya of Cameroon, intended to alleviate the suffering of displaced Anglophones in Cameroon. On 30^thNovember2017,in response to those he thought were responsible for the death of 6 security personnel, President Paul Biya declared on national TV that ‘all steps are being taken to incapacitate these criminals and to make sure that peace and security are safeguarded over the whole extent of national territory’. Since that declaration was made, disproportionate and indiscriminate military acts of blatant aggression have been exacted against Anglophone civilians who have been referred to as ‘secessionists terrorist’ by Cameroon’s interior minister, Mr Paul Atanga Nji, in a desperate and reprehensible attempt to justify those acts. It is these acts by the Cameroon military that have directly resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Anglophones, both internally and externally into neighboring Nigeria as refugees.

With its typical attitude of avoiding all responsibility for its actions, the regime in Yaoundé conveniently omits the mention of these crimes that it has perpetrated, as well as the shutting down of the internet for much of 2017, the burning down of business infrastructure such as Mamfe and Bamenda markets. Many videos have surfaced on social media showing Cameroon military officials burning villages and torturing Anglophones including young Anglophone girls being forced to swim in mud at taunts from soldiers.  Many independent international organizations have alerted that this is genocide and crimes against humanity which officials of the Cameroonian regime are attempting to hide and obfuscate from the International Community. This makes the regime of President Paul Biya wholly unfit to provide protection or humanitarian assistance for Anglophones.

The table below shows the currently known list of the villages that have been burnt down by the Cameroon military at the instruction of Mr Biya as he rules the country by decree and ‘high instructions’ –“hâutes instructions”. In some cases, disabled and elderly victims of these arson attacks have been burnt alive in their homes. These atrocities have been highlighted in a recent BBC investigative report titled ‘Burning Cameroon: Images you’re not meant to see’: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44561929

Currently Known List of Burnt Villages

WCA condemns these callous,insincere and unserious proposals of humanitarian assistance as it portrays no intention of the Biya regime to address the root cause of the Anglophone crisis- an illegal annexation of the State of West Cameroon and an attempted assimilation of its people. Meanwhile, the regime defiantly continues to ignore the numerous calls from the international community to resolve the crisis by way of an all-inclusive dialogue without preconditions.

The WCA would like to draw to the attention of the Biya regime and its allies, that no humanitarian effort can take place when the security and safety of the Anglophone people remains in peril, as the violence continues and intensifies. This initiative to rebuild and give humanitarian assistance to a people displaced by the very same regime, is at best a window-dressing exercise. Indeed, the announced financial package which amounts to less than $40 per refugee, is a solution to nothing and worse than that, any funds provided by the international community through the government of Cameroon will not reach the refugees because of rampant endemic corruption.

The WCA has reason to believe that the Biya regime has neither the capacity, goodwill, nor the ability to deliver any effective humanitarian intervention in the prevailing situation whereits security forces continue to burn down villages. The Biya regime cannot be the arsonist and the firefighter.

The WCA calls for the following actions to be immediately taken to stem the crisis and prevent a catastrophic destabilization of the gulf of guinea which could culminate in massive loss of lives.

1. Calls on the government of Cameroon to publicly and unilaterally declare a cease-fire and announce its road map towards lasting peace.
2. Calls for targeted sanctions against key members of the regime including but not limited to travel bans and freezing of assets on the personalities in the web of command responsible for the atrocities such as Oum II Joseph (SDO of Manyu Division), Bernard Okalia Bilai(Governor of SW Region), Adolf Lele L’Afrique(Governor of NW Region),Joseph Beti Assomo(Defense Minister), Laurent Esso(Justice Minister), Paul Atanga Nji(Interior Minister)- right up to the President, Mr. Paul Biya.
3. Proposes that a neutral international party be allowed into the Anglophone regions to provide protection to the Anglophones and drive any humanitarian effort so that they do not feel the need to pick up arms to defend their communities against these atrocities from the regime of Mr. Biya in Cameroon.
4. Calls on the international community to appoint a third party to begin talks and mediation towards a negotiated settlement of the Anglophone Crisis.

WCA continues to advocate for the territorial integrity of the nation of Cameroon as sanctioned by the UN mandates of 1961 and calls for the re-instatement of the Federal State of West Cameroon in a two-state solution of a Federal Republic that guarantees the respective heritages and peaceful coexistence of the two peoples, united in their diversity and working to build a nation that will join the family of civilised nations.

Mr S Ndah-Mbi

On behalf of the Secretariat