17, May 2018
Southern Cameroons crisis raised in U.K. parliament 0
Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis has been raised in the House of Commons – the United Kingdom’s lower house of Parliament with a request from the government as to what it is doing over the situation.
The issue was raised by MP Jessica Morden (Labour Party member for Newport East) who wanted answers over the security crisis and the resultant refugee crisis in the Central African country.
Her question directed to the British Minister for Africa, Harriet Baldwin also demanded ‘a meaningful process to address the issue and to end the violence.’
In response, Baldwin reiterated the U.K. stance that there was the need for cessation of violence by parties and more than anything for the process of inclusive dialogue given that key polls are slated for later this year. Below are her full remarks:
“I am delighted Mr. Speaker that she has managed to get this important issue on the Order Paper and for discussion here in the House of Commons because it is a serious situation, there violence from all sides in Cameroon, we are extremely concerned about the situation.
“And we are encouraging the government but all Cameroonians to participate in the process of inclusive dialogue. It’s an election year and this must take place without resorting to violence.”
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its opposite is the upper house, known as the House of Lords. Both chambers meet in the Palace of Westminster.
Officially, the full name of the house is the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
Baldwin, MP for West Worchestershire who doubles as a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on a trip to Cameroon called for dialogue. She visited capital of the southwest region of Buea and met with a number of stakeholders.
“Important visit to Buea in South West Anglophone region hearing from local people about the impact of the ongoing dispute and the urgent need for dialogue,” she said in a tweet accompanied by a photo of a meeting of leaders in Buea.
Source: Africa News
20, May 2018
US and Biya regime at loggerheads over Southern Cameroons 0
Yaoundé the capital of Cameroon on Saturday denounced the “infantilisation” of the Cameroonian nation following a statement by the United States suggesting to President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, to “reflect on his legacy” and his place in the history book before the presidential elections scheduled at the end of the year.
“We do not accept the infantilisation of the Cameroonian nation. It is with full knowledge of the facts that they (Cameroonians) put their ballot in the ballot box,” said Issa Tchiroma Bakary, spokesman for the Cameroonian government, contacted by telephone from Libreville.
A statement from the US representative in Yaoundé received Friday by AFP said the US ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, had “suggested to President Biya that he should reflect on his legacy and how he wants to be remembered in the history books.
“In this regard, I welcomed the recent press communiqué that there would be a full investigation of alleged torture of a prisoner by Cameroonian forces and that the guilty would be punished. A recent UNDP study found that 71 percent of those who said they had joined violent extremist organizations did so because of government action such as the murder of a close relative or friend” he said.
Barlerin added that on the situation in the Northwest and Southwest, the month of April has proven the bloodiest stating that things are not getting better.
“I discussed with the President our view that the two sides in the conflict are simply not listening to each other” he said.
A presidential election is planned this year in Cameroon, to which Paul Biya – 85 years of whom 35 are in power – has not said whether he would run.
Source: Africa News