The plenary session of both the so-called Upper and Lower Houses of parliament begins on Monday March 13, 2017. As a tradition, the election of the bureau members takes place at the first session of every legislative year. This year’s maiden parliamentary sessions have been convened by both the President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril and the President of the Senate Marcel Niat Njifenji.

In the context of a crisis that has rocked the Anglophone regions of the country since the end of 2016 and the Francophone dominated government’s inability to find a solution, it would not be surprising to see some political adjustments in the Biya regime.  However, the question that arises mainly is who should be sacrificed between Cavaye Yeguié Djibril and Marcel Niat Njifenji, if the head of state wants to satisfy the Anglophones?

Understandably, the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has made it clear that the current Southern Cameroon political elites of the ruling CPDM no longer represent the aspirations of West Cameroonians. However, the Yaoundé regime still intends to try its last joker.

Using their old guerilla tactics, the Presidency of the Republic is already circulating the name of Peter Mafany Musonge as President of the Senate. The Biya men reportedly observed that Simon Achidi Achu is currently very old and weak. A reliable source hinted Cameroon Concord News that the post of Prime Minister will return to the Far North and added that the personality most foretold to this post Is Alamine Ousmane Mey, current Minister of Finance.

A journalist with a sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report quoted a source in Paris in the case of a constitutional revision, for the introduction of the post of Vice-President of the Republic. What we know is that several possibilities could arise for possible appointments which will have no impact on the Southern Cameroons quest for an independent state.

By Rita Akana

The Resident Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program System, Najat Rochdi has come to the end of her mission to Cameroon. She held a farewell audience on the 8^th of March 2017 at the Presidency of the Republic with Minister Secretary General, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh on behalf of the Head of State.

The outgoing UN coordinator after the audience expressed satisfaction with achievements of the UN System which she partly attributed to the hospitality of the Cameroonian people. She leaves Cameroon after a four year diplomatic mission. Najat Rochdi has been appointed to the Central African Republic as Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Multi- Dimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission MINUSCA and also as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator, and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program UNDP.

The Secretary General also received in audience a Special Envoy of the President of Burkina Faso. Thierry Hot was bearer of a special message from President Rorc Marc Christian Kabore. Thierry Hot had served as a correspondent  with the BBC and Africa 24.

CRTV

Prime Minister Philemon Yang has completed his tour of the Bamenda province of Southern Cameroons some two months after his last visit to his home constituency. The Premier traveled to the region and made an ultimate plea for the resumption of schools in West Cameroon.

The Yang Philemon trip that took him to the seven divisional headquarters that make up the Bamenda province failed to yield the anticipated results. Southern Cameroonian groups who received the Head of Government challenged him to openly condemn the rapes, extra judicial killings and the numerous arrests and abductions currently going on in Southern Cameroons.

From Ngo-Kentungia to Boyo via Donga-Mantung and Menchum including Mezam, Momo, and Bui, Philemon Yang was treated like a common politician. Cameroon Concord News understands the Prime Minister’s visit has helped to energize the people’s revolution as schools have still not started.

It is hard to say who is really in charge in Yaoundé as the decision to travel to the North West came only after the Ministries in charge of Education, made public a statement that students and pupils, the strike notwithstanding, still have an opportunity to attend catch-up classes to cover-up for lost time.

The frustrated members of the Cameroon GCE Board, also met last week, and announced an extension for registration of the GCE. The Prime Minister’s trip to the North West Region therefore was another vain opportunity for schools to re-open.  The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has applauded the people of Southern Cameroons for their resistance.

By Rita Akana

Panic has allegedly gripped the President of The Senate and Speaker of the National Assembly as the first ordinary session of parliament for the 2017 legislative year is due to open on Monday.  After three months of parliamentary recess, legislators from the nooks and crannies of the country are expected in Yaounde on Monday 13 March for the first ordinary session of parliament for the 2017 legislative year.

According to two separate bureau orders signed on Tuesday 7 March by the Speaker of the National Assembly and the President of The Senate, the Lower House will convene at 1pm at the Ngoa-Ekellé glass house while members of the Upper House will sit at 4pm at their temporary Yaounde conference center meeting place.

With the first session of each legislative year traditionally devoted to the renewal of bureaus, there are already allegations that President Paul Biya is contemplating dropping one of the Francophone heads of the two legislative institutions for an Anglophone.

There’s an unwritten law in the country which stipulates that when the Head of State is a Francophone, the second in command must be an Anglophone. The Speaker (president) of the National Assembly, Rt Hon Cavaye Yeguié Djibril has been at the helm of the lawmaking institution since 1992.

The leading member of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), enjoyed the position and benefits of the second personality in the country until the senate was put in place about four years ago. The Senate was created following an amendment to the 1996 constitution but President Paul Biya kept the power to convene the Electoral College close to his chest.

The maiden elections to the Upper House were held in April 2013 and Senator Marcel Niat Njifenji was elected the first president of the house in June of same year. The Francophone senator has since been re-elected to the post that makes him second personality according to state protocol, and constitutional successor to the President of the Republic in case of a vacancy in the latter office.

With the recent Anglophone uprising in the country and reports that the Head of State is “gradually yielding to” the demands of the minority English speakers, sources say one of the two personalities above would be replaced by an Anglophone during the “elective” parliamentary session due to open on Monday.

Who therefore will President Biya sacrifice, Hon Cavaye Yeguié Djibril or Senator Marcel Niat Njifenji? The geo-political calculation is that should President Biya “fire” one of the Francophone personalities above, Anglophones might also have to “sacrifice” the Prime Minister’s office which they have also occupied since 1992.

Cameroun Info.Net

 By Justice (Mr.) Frederick Alobwede Ebong.

The quest for self-determination and independence of the peoples and territory of the Southern Cameroons is an incontrovertible issue. At the 896th General Assembly meeting in October 6, 1959, speaking for the USA, the UN Ambassador Clement J. Zabloiski said: “The USA had voted for resolution 1350 (XIII) and still finds its provisions satisfactorily. The USA congratulates the people of the Southern Cameroons for their accession to auto determination as it constitutes the will of the population who wants to run its affairs democratically. The government and the opposition parties of the Southern Cameroons unfortunately have not come to an agreement, however, there is no reason to deny the population of the Southern Cameroons a brief; the results of a hurried choice imposed on the population of the Trust Territory would be catastrophic for their political future.”Ebong

Speaking for India Ambassador Krishna Menon; answering Mr. Stravopoulos the Trusteeship Council Legal Adviser said, inter-alia “in this regard, my delegation sees no reason why the Southern Cameroons shall not achieve independence on the same date like Nigeria and Northern Cameroons”.

Hon. G. M. Thompson (M.P Dundee East) addressing the British House of Commons August 1st, 1961 on the poor handling of unification issue said; “The problem of uniting these two territories would in any event be difficult. There are two territories of completely different cultures with different political systems – there are extremely complex problems in bringing these two countries together within one National State.”

In 1998, Lord Thompson raised his voice again on the Southern Cameroons issue. This time, the British peer was begging the British and UN to intervene immediately to avert a future conflict.

In 2000, the then Secretary General of the UN called for dialogue. “I leave Cameroon with the impression that there is only one Cameroon, multilingual and multi-ethnic. I encourage dialogue of these stakeholders. In every country, there are problems of marginalisation. The way it has to be solved is by dialogue and not by walking away,” Kofi Annan said.

La Republique du Cameroun and the Biya regime continue to spurn dialogue. In fact, we now know that on 3rd May 2000, Kofi Annan was sent to Cameroon by the Security Council to intervene because I was arrested and detained in La Republique du Cameroun. I was held in an underground prison “INCOMMUNICADO” at SED, the National Gendarmerie in Yaounde. I was arrested for proclaiming the Independence and restoration of Sovereignty of the Southern Cameroons over radio CRTV BUEA in the Territory of the Southern Cameroons on 30th December 1999.

Paul Biya spurns dialogues because the British transferred the sovereignty of Southern Cameroons to France and the then French president, Charles De Gaulle, transferred the sovereignty of Southern Cameroons to Biya. On September 30th, 1961, De Gaulle said, “On vient d’ avoir un petit cadeau de la reine” (a small gift from the Queen of England). That is why the United Kingdom treats Southern Cameroons as a chattel.

Paul Biya should now know that there is legal proof of this illegal transfer of the Southern Cameroons by Britain, the Administrative Authority of the UN Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons. He should know that the people of the Southern Cameroons are now aware thanks to the “Declassification of the Secret files in London in accordance with the British Official Secrets Act.” Southern Cameroonians now know that on the 19th April, 1961, at 3.15pm, the United Nations General Assembly took up the case of the separate Independence for the Southern Cameroons and that a total of 50 (fifty) Nations voted yes for Southern Cameroons Independence.

The Chairman of that Session was Adam Pachachi (Iraq); Vice Chairman, Miss Silvia Shelton Vilallon (Cuba); Raporteur, Eamon L. Kennedy (Ireland). This was the 15th session of the United Nations General Assembly and they met on Wednesday at 3.15pm where they pronounced the 1st October as the Southern Cameroons Independence Day, not 1st January and certainly not 20th May. May 20 is a provocation.

Among the 50 (fifty) countries which voted yes for separate Independence of Southern Cameroons on 19th April 1961 were USA and Nigeria. The approval of the voting was at the 1152nd meeting; same Wednesday, 19th April, 1961 at 9pm New York; page 381 paragraph 110 in the official records of the United Nations General Assembly-Fifteenth Session-Fourth Committee.

The United Nations General Assembly voting was 50 yes votes, 2 against and 9 abstentions. This validated the Independence of the Southern Cameroons. This historical fact is un-impeachable. This fact has been kept secret from the people of the Southern Cameroons. The fact also came out thanks to the expiry date of the “British Official Secret Acts. The right to self-determination is prescribed by the UN Charter, United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol. The people of the Southern Cameroons are made to toil for the francophone majority to reap the fruits while we fight and blackmail one another for the crumbs. This is totally unacceptable. It is cruel, and is inhuman; it is camouflage slavery at the dawn of the 3rd millennium.

The United Nations must ensure that self-determination and independence of the peoples and territory of the Southern Cameroons is rectified and regularized in accordance with Article 76 (b) of the United Nations Charter.

The Nigeria/La Republique du Cameroun Mixed Commission on border problems provides an opportunity for the issue to be raised and regularized. The non-implementation of Article 76 (b) and UN resolution 1608 (XV), paragraph 5, of 21 April 1961 means that la Republique du Cameroun had, and has no Legal Right to claim sovereignty over Bakassi Peninsula which is in the Territory of Southern Cameroons. Bakassi Peninsula is in the Territory of the Southern Cameroons, which has been independent since April 19, 1961. This independence was packaged with annexation. This is in accordance with article 102 (2) of the charter of the United Nations, which states: “No party to any such treaty or international agreement which has not been registered in accordance with provisions of paragraph 1 of this article may invoke that treaty or agreement before any organ of the United Nations.”

That is why we are requesting the UN Secretary General through the UN network, to make use of his good offices to bring to the attention of the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly to the following:

The non-implement of UN Resolution 1608 (XV), paragraph 5, of 21 April 1961, on the future of the Southern Cameroons.

The urgent rectification and regularization of the self-determination and independence of the Territory of the Southern Cameroons in application of the UN Resolution 1514 (XV) granting of independence to colonial countries.

The admission of the Southern Cameroons State into the United Nations Organization as a full member in application of Article 4 of the UN Charter. The SCNC pray the Secretary General to diligently study the application for membership of the UN signed by President Frederick Alobwede Ebong and was forwarded to his office on 8 April, 2000. Southern Cameroonians all six million of them, await one and only one thing from the UN – the recognition of its independence. Southern Cameroonians should remain determined to re-assert their independence as proclaimed in December 1999.

We point out that UN Resolution 1349 (XIII), paragraph 1, 2, and 3, of March 1959 gave independence to the State of La Republique du Cameroun on 1st January 1960. A separate resolution gave Southern Cameroons independence.

No Union Treaty was worked out between, and ratified by the Southern Cameroons and La Republique Du Cameroun in 1961 as required by un resolution 1608 (XV), para 5, of 21 April, 1961, of the 994th plenary session of the UN General Assembly.

La Republique du Camerouns Administration in the Southern Cameroons is illegal and illegitimate and “ipsu-facto” Questionable.

The presence of La Republique du Cameroun’s forces of occupation in the territory is annexation, (the General Assembly Resolution 224 – 111 – of 18 November 1948).

La Republique du Cameroun should immediately release all Southern Cameroonians political prisoners in their maximum-security prisons and/or concentration camps and be prepared to pay compensation to the heirs of those that have died.

Fellow Southern Cameroonians, the actualisation of the sovereignty and independence of the Southern Cameroons is a task that must be done. The annexation bridge is down. Annexation in a civilized world is abhorred. The United Nations Security Council, Resolution 497, of 1981, held that the annexation of Kuwait by Iraq is “null and void ab initio.”

The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970 held that no territorial obtained by threat or use of force shall not be recVognized as legal.

International law acknowledges Southern Cameroons as a state with recognized boundaries (fixed) by the League of Nations.

As the images of the bestiality, indignities and other inhumane acts perpetrated against armless students in the University of Buea and elsewhere in the Southern Cameroons incessantly play in my mind and hopefully those of reasonable people, I wonder how any reasonable person can in good conscience call for a resumption of schools without first providing answers to the plethora of questions these crimes have elicited. The militarization of schools and places of learning violate the sanctity of sound education. The absence of the internet deprives students and knowledge seekers the modern tools of learning. Most conditions for free dispensation of education and knowledge are presently absent from our schools and places of learning. The blame cannot be put on the victims and parents whose primary duty is to ensure the safety of their children and assurances that the education provided to their children meets the standards in civilized societies worldwide.

We the parents have watched the educational system imposed in our community bastardised and regulated by presidential fiat intended to serve a political and colonial agenda. Faculty administration in our public universities has been handed down to ruling party stooges and academic racketeers. Time and again, we were shocked to see our children sent out of school to conduct public demonstrations of support of a false god-president to boast the career objectives of handpicked university administrators. Although deemed to be at school, our children were indeed deprived of access to universally accepted quality education which is guaranteed by international human rights treaties.

The war cry that school must open without freeing the captives and hostages whose only crime was raising awareness on these violations of international human rights law and the wicked ploy to force-start schools without providing enduring solutions to the egregious violations that have eviscerated the soul and conscience of the Southern Cameroons is heartless, provocative and unacceptable.

If the images of the indignities perpetrated on armless girls captured from the intimate privacy of their Molyko hostels, the raped, the murdered, the tortured, the abducted and the incarcerated do not agitate the minds of those calling for a resumption of schools while these violations persist, then their agenda in doing so, must be to satisfy to the criminal proclivities of the false god whom they love and worship and not the supposed interest of our children.

Lest we forget, the ongoing boycott of schools and symbols of oppression is no longer a teachers’ or lawyers’ strike. It is a logical step in the revolt against more than half a century of provocations, oppression, egregious violations and systemic criminality. The imposed structures that oversaw the implementation of these inhumane policies have simply collapsed on their own weight. The slave master must have known that a house built on sand must collapse. So, therefore, the messengers of deception who assured the slave master that the motions of support supposedly thanking the slave master for systemic crimes against their own people are by calling for a resumption of classes while these violations endure, preaching the wrong sermons to the wrong audience. They should be telling their slave master the truth and there is only one truth: enough is enough.

Chief Charles A.Taku

Prime Minister Philemon Yang has been told that schools can only resume if the Biya Francophone government releases all Anglophone detainees, demilitarized Southern Cameroons and reinstate internet services.  The Biya emissary who started a tour of the Bamenda Province of Southern Cameroons in the Mezam constituency had insisted that parents should send their children to school.

Hon. Wilfred Fusi Naamukong was the prophetic voice of the people in the forum that held at the Bamenda Congress Hall. The MP dismissed claims by the Head of Government that the Yaoundé regime was engaged in broader dialogue with the Anglophone communities.

Yang Philemon angered participants at the meeting when he opined that the government ordered the massive arrest of Southern Cameroonians and militarized the territory because of the hostile attitude of some locals. The meeting at the congress hall grouped elites, parliamentarians, traditional rulers, head teachers, principals, and parents but failed to come out with any concrete solution to the Anglophone crisis.

Philemon Yang will be visiting other administrative units of the Bamenda province such as Boyo, Momo, Menchum, Ngo-Ketundjia, Donga Mantung and Bui.

CIN