A politician was hurt by an object thrown by another MP during chaotic scenes in Cameroon’s parliament in which vuvuzela horns were blown to drown out a budget debate, sources said on Saturday.

It comes against a backdrop of unrest in the country’s English-speaking regions which led to independence protests that turned fatal in October and the detention this week of US literary professor Patrice Nganang for criticising the government’s handling of the issue.

Government spokesman Issa Tchiroma said Nganang’s arrest on Wednesday in Douala followed the posting on Facebook of a death threat against the head of state.

He repeated the pledge of President Paul Biya, who has been in charge of the francophone nation since 1982, to rid the country of what he calls secessionists among the English-speaking minority, which has complained about discrimination.

Resentment among anglophones has fed a spiral of political demands and also a government crackdown, leading to calls for secession.

In Saturday’s incident, Hermine Patricia Ndam Njoya of the opposition Democratic Union of Cameroon “hurled into the air” parts of her desk to protest against the assembly speaker’s refusal to allow her party’s legislators to speak, the party’s communications officer Amadou Mongwat claimed.

Mongwat said the object landed on the head of a member of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, causing a head injury. It is not clear from video of the alleged incident where the object lands or what is thrown. Other reports have suggested a shoe was hurled.

Mongwat said Njoya apologised but the incident still led to the suspension of the parliamentary session. Lawmakers from the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), interrupted the session before and after the incident by chanting slogans and trying to drown out proceedings by blowing vuvuzela horns.

The speaker ended the session with the announcement that the budget had been adopted without further discussion.

Last month four Cameroonian soldiers were killed by suspected separatists in the south-west of the country, while international monitors say at least 20 people have been killed since late September. The president of the senate has since promised to have a commission investigate the anglophone issue.

The detained writer Nganang, who has a home in New Jersey and has been teaching in the US since 2000, was said to be in good spirits and has met a lawyer, a colleague at New York’s Stony Brook University said.

Karin Deutsch Karlekar at advocacy group PEN America said: “Detaining an important independent voice like Patrice Nganang, who has used his writing to investigate the consequences of violence, is indicative of a movement by the government to silence all political criticism and dismantle the right to free expression.”

Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said at a briefing on Thursday he hoped Nganang was safe but did not say whether the UN was aware of the detention or whether it would intervene. “We certainly hope and expect that this particular person will be found, and we’re hopeful that nothing untoward has happened,” he said.

Nganang has published 12 books, scholarly essays, novels and books of poetry.

Culled from The Guardian

A gang of Southern Cameroons figures facing threat to their political existence met in the Bamenda County to demand a cessation of French Cameroun government sanctioned arrests of people in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.  Aside the arrests, the gang of five led by Ni John Fru Ndi asked the French Cameroun government to release Southern Cameroonians being held in connection with the uprising.

They called on the Francophone government to step up efforts to ensure return of people who fled the conflict, a general amnesty for those who are in exile and for an end to internet restriction imposed since late September. The undersigned political leaders and so-called leading members of the civil society met in Bamenda and claimed to brainstorm on the urgent need for frank, inclusive and comprehensive national dialogue on the ‘Anglophone crisis.’

A press release issued at the end of the meeting and dated November 26 read as follows: “The undersigned political leaders and leading members of civil society met in Bamenda today to brainstorm on the urgent need for frank, inclusive and comprehensive national dialogue on the ‘Anglophone crisis.’”

According to them, it is only dialogue that can serve as a ‘means of returning the Northwest and Southwest regions to normalcy’ and that it should be organized ‘without further delay.’

The Bamenda forum finally betrayed the unprecedented, but fledgling supply of huge financial resources by a cadre of President Biya agents in the political and diplomatic sectors of Southern Cameroons.  It is abundantly clear that Prof. Munzu and Dr. Barrister Agbor Balla initiated the meeting.

As pointed out sometime ago, Barrister Agbor Balla is still in his pre detention mind set.  The character of the Southern Cameroons conflict has shifted and Prof. Munzu, Fru Ndi, Balla et al needs time to understand that it has moved from lawyers and teachers strike to a popular revolt.

By arresting Barrister Agbor Balla in the course of dialogue, President Biya criminalized dialogue.  Balla was charged for terrorism for advocating dialogue.  The Bamenda forum means that Balla has still not understood the significance of his abduction, his eight months detention as well as that of hundreds of Southern Cameroonians, the annexation of the Southern Cameroons territory and the resolve of the people of Southern Cameroons to defend themselves.

Biya has made the country a large open air prison with poverty and unemployment as security guards. Southern Cameroons is a state of blood and constantly under pervasive climate of repression, fear, torture abduction, killings and forceful detentions. They have shut down the internet services and are committing war crimes inside Southern Cameroons territory. Yet, Fru Ndi, Munzu, Balla and Co still believes in the CPDM crime syndicate.

Apart from Fru Ndi, other signatories to the statement included Prof. Simon Munzu, Barrister Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla, Prince Ekosso and Mrs. Ndi Christine.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai, CCN

The Speaker of the French Cameroun National Assembly, Cavaye Djibril has said that work will resume at the Ngoa Ekele building today Monday the 27^th  of November 2017.  Officially, SDF Members of Parliament  have not declared an end to their strike action that rocked the 3^rd parliamentary session and caused activities to be suspended in the so-called Lower House since Thursday, November 22, 2017.

The SDF MPs have been demanding that the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime opens an inclusive dialogue on the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Without revealing the aftermath of the talks that were held between the government and SDF  parliamentarians, Hon. Cavaye announced on  the official website of the National Assembly today’s recovery program in the Francophone dominated national assembly.

– 10 am Conference of Presidents,

– 10.30 am Plenary session deposit of a text and

– 11 am Committee on Foreign Affairs with the adoption of the report on the draft law number 1015 / PJl / AN.

Mr. Cavaye revealed that the MPs including those of the SDF will all answer present today.  Another French Cameroun CPDM MP, Hon. Marlyse Rose Douala Bell was quoted as saying that “Unless they change in the meantime. We met at the funeral of Hon. Arthur Ekeke Lysinge in Buea and we talked a lot about how the parliament should discuss this Anglophone crisis. When I say, it’s with the SDF deputies. I think there are also negotiations that are being done at the parliamentary group level and elsewhere to keep this 3rd session going without further disruption.”

By Sama Ernest, CCN

French Cameroun Head of State, President Paul Biya has reportedly confirmed that Prime Minister Philemon Yang and his gang of CPDM elites have failed to resolve the crisis that rocked the former Southern Cameroons territory.  Southern Cameroons declared its independence on October 1 and the interim leadership renamed the region, the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

We understand the French Cameroun chief executive and his Francophone emissary Garga Haman Adji were relying on the North West Traditional Chiefs Association to win over back the territory. However, events took a dramatic U turn yesterday Saturday, November 25, 2017 in Nkambe in the North-West Region with a major split within the respected Tikar establishment.

The executive board of the Northwest Traditional Chiefs Association (NOWFU) during yesterday’s session of its the General Assembly, made public a correspondence in which Mr. Paul Biya solicited the contribution of the Fons to calm the discontented populations. To this end, reported state radio and television, “the president of the NOWFU invited his peers to prepare very quickly the grievances of their people that they will present to the head of state.”

Information filtered to Etoudi that this new attempt by Paul Biya is also bound to fail in all likelihood because; NOWFU itself is going through a crisis of leadership. While Fon Teche Njei, the incumbent president, was organizing the Elective General Assembly in Nkambe, a dissident faction of NOWFU was holding another meeting on the side in Bamenda.

The Ambazonia crisis which has lasted for more than a year now has been worsening over the past few days. On high instructions from the French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya, Prime Minister Philemon Yang has conducted no less than three missions to dialogue with elites and local populations to find ways and means away out of the crisis. The stagnation of the socio-political tension is proof that the Prime Minister and all the personalities who constituted his suite failed brilliantly in their missions ..

By Rita Akana, with files from CIN

Opposition lawmakers disrupted parliament for a second day in a row Friday as tensions deepen over the government’s handling of the crisis in the country’s anglophone regions.

Lawmakers of Cameroon’s main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front sang a protest song demand parliament hold debates on how to resolve the year-long strike in the two English-speaking regions.

“We have been here for more than one year and in every session nothing is said about the crisis,” complained SDF’s Joseph Mbah Ndam, who is also vice speaker of parliament, “so we have decided today that nothing will go on here if we do not find a definite solution to the anglophone crisis.”

Uptick in violence 

The crisis has grown increasingly violent over the past year as separatist groups have emerged. Many schools in the southwest and northwest remain shut and a strike has closed down many businesses.

French-speakers are the majority in the bilingual country, and anglophone activists say they are marginalized. Many are demanding reforms, while others want all-out independence.

Most of the SDF lawmakers hail from the two anglophone regions. They have faced threats and physical assaults for continuing to serve in the National Assembly amid the crisis.

The SDF lawmakers announced a boycott a week ago demanding the government do more to peacefully end the strike. On Thursday, they began singing to interrupt parliament proceedings.

2018 budget 

Government ministers had come to answer questions on last year’s budget and the 2018 financial plans. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, the speaker of the National Assembly, says he could not bear the disturbances by the SDF and called off the plenary.

He announced that the ruling CPDM majority had voted and adopted last year’s settlement bill even though no vote had taken place.

The CPDM controls 148 seats in the 180 member parliament and the SDF just 18. Political analyst Reymond Etoga says the SDF won’t be able to derail the passing of the 2018 budget, but the government should heed their calls for open debate to resolve the anglophone crisis.

“In order for us to be able to create a society where everyone can feel part of, we must understand that truth is very necessary,” Etoga noted, “and we are in a quagmire situation at this point in time because the system in place has refused categorically to be able to say this is white and this is black.”

Professor Elvis Ngole Ngole, a close aide of President Paul Biya, has been leading teams to dialogue with the populations in the northwest and southwest. “Those who felt they were excluded, I think it is genuine,” he said. ” As we continue, there will be more inclusion than exclusion because no one should be excluded because as long as there is democracy and we believe in it, as long as we are a republic we will keep on talking to one another and that is dialogue.”

However, government overtures at dialogue have also been coupled with a crackdown. Following violent unrest last December, troops were deployed to the anglophone regions and the internet was cut for three months. The government has released several dozen people detained for months over the strike. Activists say more remain behind bars and must also be released before any dialogue can take place.

Culled from VOA

Molyko in the Buea County of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is a street of contrasts, with hotels, cafes and an old Art Decor University of Buea campus intermingled with hoops of razor wire that cordon off private buildings. The first anti French Cameroun government action resulting from the Southern Cameroons revolution took place here about a year ago.  Anglophone citizens from all walks of life—young and old, men and women, secularists, teachers and lawyers, members of trade unions and employers unions—all united to denounce successive Francophone regimes that have not met the needs of Southern Cameroonians for over 56 years.

The people of Southern Cameroons have drafted a new constitution, meant to be a new social contract for its society. The process is still going on and has not been smooth. The Governing Council that has legitimate authority in Southern Cameroons has renamed the territory as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.  Negotiations between the interim government and other Southern Cameroons groups stopped when few of the opposing sides could not reach agreement. But after the new nation was shaken by a series of French Cameroun killings, massive arrests and detentions, the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and a cream of other Southern Cameroons leaders observed the chaos currently going on in La Republique du Cameroun and decided that, despite their differences, they shared a common need to forge ahead with the struggle for an independent Southern Cameroons.

The 4^th Conclave that produced the draft constitution, grappled with three contentious questions: the role of political parties in the Southern Cameroons society, gender equality, and limits on executive power. Professor Carlson Anyangwe and the legal think tank purposely used precise language in the constitution to set forth principles for the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. To be sure, the 4^th Conclave was a potent reminder of the United States’ constitutional process in 1789, when setting down words defined values for a nation.

Seeing the violence against our people and the sufferings of thousands that have escaped to neighboring Nigeria should bring everyone together with a renewed understanding of the urgency to come to agreement. We of this publication believe and fervently too that you are either with the interim government or with the Biya Francophone regime.

The interim government pointed in the draft constitution that the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is a civil state that is based on citizenship, the will of the people, and the supremacy of law.  The draft constitution declared that women and men have equal rights and duties and we understand this will reflect in the upcoming cabinet.

The greatest challenge was how to prevent a return to dictatorship. The Federal Republic of Ambazonia’s draft constitution places limits on executive power, protects civil liberties and freedom of the press, and guards due process. It is the only constitution in West and Central Africa to grant “freedom of conscience.” The draft constitution included provisions for presidential term limits, elections, a constitutional court with power to impeach, an independent judiciary, and independent constitutional bodies with responsibility for issues such as combating corruption and human rights.

Based on this draft constitution, Southern Cameroonians should all rally behind the interim government and participate in the political process including the struggle for complete and total independence. Governance will not been smooth. But we as a people will get to Buea.  Bloody attacks by French Cameroun forces have undermined the tourist industry, the bedrock of the Ambazonia economy. Consequently, shifting alliances among leading Southern Cameroons figures in the US and Europe is making political initiatives inconsistent.

Thanks to the interim government, Southern Cameroons has maintained its peaceful revolution. Nigeria is helping with support to our refugees in the Cross River State and several other measures.  Ambazonia is slowly but surely becoming a priority for the UN, the EU and the African Union. Keep the faith in the interim government.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

The announcement on French Cameroun media that troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime have confiscated weapons imported by Southern Cameroons militants from Nigeria is raising a lot of dust and for the wrong reasons. Coming at a time tension was already mounting following the killings of Francophone gendarmes and renewed activities of the pro Ambazonia agitators and the massive deployment of soldiers to Southern Cameroons, various interpretations were already being given to the latest move by the French Cameroun Gendarmerie.

From the images aired by the Cameroon Radio and Television, we of this publication think the seizure in Muyenge in the Buea Province of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is part of the alleged intimidation of the people of Southern Cameroons following the demand for an independent state. We fervently believe also that it is in line with the policy of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate to continue to keep Southern Cameroonians on edge.

As a prelude to the commencement of the Muyenge operation, the Francophone South West governor had already started positioning men and equipment at strategic locations in some of the counties in the zone. The presence of such equipment and soldiers was said to be the cause of the Muyenge clash between soldiers and Southern Cameroons youth, which some people were killed and many others sustained injuries.

Though the French Cameroun gendarmerie announced that the mission to Muyenge and Mutengene were aimed at fighting crime, it is evidently clear that the South West governor and his gang of French Cameroun surrogates wanted to score some political points. The French Cameroun military raided the Muyenge locality, carried out search, erected check points and road blocks in a general show of force.

But the fact that the Yaoundé regime could only show rudimentary weapons used by the farming and hunting communities in Muyenge as prove of equipment imported from the Federal Republic of Nigeria indicates that the Biya regime is indeed taking the last kicks of a dying horse. “It was a plot to kill members of a vibrant Muyenge Youth Association who had declared their unflinching support for the Southern Cameroons Governing Council,” noted our chief correspondent in Fako.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group think that this act of primitive criminal intimidation and provocation must not go unchallenged by men of good conscience in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. This latest attempt to use the French Cameroun army and gendarmerie in a show of force in Southern Cameroons to deal with legitimate peaceful agitation for self determination is shameful.

If their slogan “Cameroon is one and indivisible” is anything to go by, where on earth is it heard that combat ready troops are deployed within the borders of a country to deal with a non-violent civil matter? Such a thing can only happen in French Cameroun. Biya and his French Cameroun political elites such as Laurent Esso, Amadou Ali, Fame Ndongo have made a mockery of the role of the military and nonsense of the constitution that soldiers can be ordered by one governor, without the permission of the Commander-in-Chief, to kill civilian populations in an area devoid of any conflict.

The interim head of state of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has made it abundantly clear to the regime in Yaoundé and to the international community that Southern Cameroonians are agitating for self determination in a peaceful manner. They have no arms and will never resort to bearing arms. Biya and his ruling CPDM crime syndicate should rather focus their attention on the Boko Haram-ravaged areas of Maroua, Kolofata, and Mora. Boko Haram is a well armed terrorist organization and it is the one Biya should be facing and not farmers and hunters including market women in Mamfe, Jakiri, Bamenda, Mundemba, Ndop and traders at Ekok and Muyenge. We are a peaceful people by nature, but will not tolerate any molestation or intimidation on our soil.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana and Sama Ernest

SDF Members of Parliament have boycotted the opening session of the national assembly in Yaounde.  The predominantly Southern Cameroons bloc of elected representatives all gathered at the regional headquarters of the party in Olezoa district in Yaounde during the rituals at Ngoa Ekele.

Cameroon Concord News learned that the decision to boycott the opening ceremony of the 3rd parliamentary session, is the first action of a series whose goal is “to force the Biya Francophone government to find a lasting solution” to the crisis that has rocked Southern Cameroons for more than a year now.

An SDF statement  said “We believe it is now time for parliamentarians in accordance with Article 4 of the constitution to take their responsibilities. It is a question of how far we can, in our own way, expose to the public, to the national and international public, the serious situation that prevails in our country.”

SDF Secretary General, Jean Tsomelou, was quoted as saying that the opening ceremony of the Senate at the Palais des Congres in Yaounde will also be boycotted. The opening session witnessed the participation of Martin Belinga Eboutou Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, members of the French Cameroun Government and the President of the Senate

By Sama Ernest, CCN

A well-placed source deep within the Ambazonia Governing Council has hinted Cameroon Concord News that SDF MP for the Jakari constituency in Southern Cameroons is now practically under house arrest. Our source further pointed out that Hon. Joseph Wirba is currently being interrogated by elements of the French Cameroun Secret Service over statements he made during a BBC interview some days ago.

We understand that trucks loaded with French Cameroun troops were sent to the Anglophone MP’s home in Jakiri yesterday. The Francophone soldiers have taken complete control of the building.

This item is still developing

By Eyong Johnson