Leading political figures from across the spectrum have united in calling on Cameroonians to engage in dialogue to resolve the ongoing challenges within the country. Eight opposition parties, and more than 30 civil society organisations, in addition to the governing party, all met with Secretary-General Patricia Scotland to discuss the future of Cameroon.

It was widely agreed that meaningful engagement through honest and inclusive dialogue would enable the country to begin the process of bringing unity for all Cameroonians.

Secretary-General Scotland said, “It was enormously encouraging that political parties, civil society representatives and citizens from every corner of Cameroon chose to meet with me to discuss some of the most pressing challenges facing their country today.

“Everyone that took part in the discussions did so in the spirit of cooperation and inclusivity, as we worked towards the meaningful dialogue that will enable Cameroon to move forward as the peaceful, unified nation that it has always been.”

The meetings were part of the Secretary-General’s five-day visit to Cameroon, which has so far seen her hold high-level discussions with the President, Prime Minister and senior political figures. Today she will travel to Buea in the south-west of the country.

Earlier, the Secretary-General held conversations with renowned lawyer and 2018 presidential candidate Akere Muna.

Speaking after the meeting Mr Muna said, “The visit of the Secretary-General is very opportune from the point because she can emphasise the great need for dialogue as a means of preserving peace. It’s important for the Secretary-General to be here and it means the floodlights are shining on my country. From speaking to her I’m very pleased to say that she understands what the stakes are in our country and she sounded very passionate about making sure there is peace and dialogue in our country.

Mr Muna added, “I think the biggest support the Commonwealth can give now is through the electoral process; making sure that every voice is heard and counted. The Commonwealth can help the process by bringing observers who make the electoral commission feel protected and make Cameroonians come out to vote in all confidence.

Ahead of the Secretary-General’s visit to Buea, he concluded, “I’m also very pleased to know that the Secretary-General will be going to Buea; Buea is the historic capital of the anglophone part of Cameroon, and for the Secretary-General to go from Yaoundé to Buea is not only symbolic but very important and I’m sure that the anglophones of this country will be will be pleased to know that the Secretary-General will see what happens in Buea.”

Source: The Commonwealth

South Africa says it will downgrade its diplomatic status in Israel in response to the United States’ decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli regime’s “capital.”

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) Party announced the decision at a conference in Johannesburg late on Wednesday.

“The ANC’s National Conference, the highest decision making body of our organization, has unanimously resolved to immediately and unconditionally downgrade the South African Embassy in Israel to a liaison office,” the ruling party said in a statement.

The ANC said the resolution aimed to “give practical expression to the oppressed people of Palestine,” and “will send a clear message to Israel that there is a price to pay for its human rights abuses and violations of international law.”

South Africa’s decision to downgrade its diplomatic status in Tel Aviv had been proposed in the ANC’s policy conference back in July.

Both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas had sent delegates to attend the opening of the ANC’s conference.

US President Donald Trump earlier this month declared that Washington was recognizing Jerusalem al-Quds as the “capital” of Israel and that he had instructed his administration to begin the process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.

The dramatic shift in Washington’s policy on Jerusalem al-Quds drew fierce criticism from the international community, including Washington’s Western allies, and triggered protests against the US and Israel worldwide.

The United Nations General Assembly is to vote on a resolution to demand that Trump withdraw his decision in an “emergency meeting” on December 21. The US vetoed a vote on a similar resolution at the UN Security Council on Monday.

Israel lays claim to the whole Jerusalem al-Quds, but the international community views the ancient city’s eastern sector as occupied land and the Palestinians consider it their future capital.

Source: Presstv

British Prime Minister Theresa May has urged US President Donald Trump to bring forward proposals on achieving peace in the Middle East after he recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital.

“They discussed the different positions we took on the recognition of Jerusalem [al-Quds] as the Israeli capital, and agreed on the importance of the US bringing forward new proposals for peace and the international community supporting these efforts,” a spokesman for May said on Tuesday.

The conversation came for the first time since November when Trump re-tweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by a British far-right political organization.

May’s spokesman responded to Trump then saying “it is wrong” for the president to re-tweet the inflammatory videos.

Despite this, the British government sought to play down an extraordinary row with Trump. May’s spokesman emphasized that the US was “our closest, most trusted ally. We continue to work together on a huge range of very important issues.”

On December 6, Trump made the controversial announcement in a speech at the White House, saying his administration would also begin the process of moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to the holy city, which is expected to take years.

His decision provoked mass protests worldwide, with many leaders of Islamic countries harshly denouncing the US president.

In response the prime minister joined a global outcry, saying the decision was “unhelpful” and she intends to speak to Trump about it.

“We continue to support a two-state solution. We recognize the importance of Jerusalem [al-Quds] and our position on that has not changed,” she said then.

Trump had vowed during his presidential campaign that he would relocate the US embassy in order to court pro-Israel voters.

Pope Francis joined a list of leaders warning of an historic misstep, saying new tension would further inflame world conflicts.

Source: Presstv

On the second day of her official visit to Cameroon, the Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland was received in audience by the French Cameroun dictator, Paul BIYA at the so-called Unity Palace on Tuesday, 19 December 2017.

Nothing has filtered from their conversation but some sources have said it was cordial. Mr. Biya and his guest reviewed cooperation between Cameroon and the Commonwealth that started in 1995. Patricia Scotland was elevated by the Paul Biya to the dignity of Grand Officer of the Order of Valor, the highest honor awarded to a foreign dignitary.

Biya reportedly discussed the socio-political and economic situation of the country marked notably by the war against the terrorist group Boko Haram, corporatist agitation in the North-West and South-West regions and blamed the killings of Cameroon defense forces on the Southern Cameroons Diaspora.

The 84-year-old enlisted all the measures taken by his government to appease the Anglophone community which Cameroon Concord News understands are not genuine. Biya also reiterated his willingness to dialogue, but observed that he was determine to “restore order and (to) punish the guilty of these murders”.

For her part, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth expressed “great sadness” in the face of the difficulties currently facing Cameroon, a country known as a haven of peace and stability. She urged Cameroonians to preserve peace and unity; to encourage in all circumstances genuine dialogue. According to Scotland, “a prosperous Cameroon is a prosperous Africa and a prosperous Commonwealth.”

By Rita Akana

On Saturday the 16th of December 2017 in Yaoundé, Cameroon army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck did what all Francophone political elites do when faced with the crisis in Southern Cameroons: he said the army is winning the war against Ambazonian armed militants. He however offered no details of military casualties and timeline for withdrawal of all troops from Manyu Division.

“Conditions in the South West and North West, not arbitrary timetables, will guide our strategy from now on,” he told state radio and television, CRTV.

There are currently more than 3000 troops fighting in Mamfe Central, Akwaya and Eyumojock.  We don’t know how many Biya secretly withdrew this week.  We don’t know how long they’ll be there. And we don’t know what victory even means to the regime in Yaoundé and its UN acolyte Francoise Lounceny Fall.

To get a sense of where we are in Manyu Division, our senior political man, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai reached out to a retired Manyu citizen who served with the Cameroon armed forces during the Bakassi conflict and the Boko Haram war in the Far North region.

He asked him straightforwardly if there’s a path to victory in the Southern Cameroons war and, if not, why Cameroon government forces are still fighting and dying in Manyu. Soter Agbaw-Ebai also asked him how he thinks this conflict will end. The retired soldier whose name we do not want to mention was unsure about the latter question but his answer to the first one was crystal clear. “Military victory is not plausible in any foreseeable time frame and what President Biya is doing now isn’t sustainable. The situation will become even more intractable when the Ambazonia Interim Government comes into the armed section of this crisis.”

He pointed out that President Biya is hiding behind innocent French Cameroun political elites and he is not taking ownership of the war. “There are three basic options in terms of the military campaign in Manyu and other Anglophone regions. One is to demilitarize West Cameroon. This is what Fru Ndi, Munzu and Agbor Balla requested. Second, there’s the stay-the-course option, which could include sending thousands more troops to the border areas. Third, there’s the troop withdrawal option which I hinted you started two days ago.

“Whether President Biya is considering a complete withdrawal, I can’t say. I wouldn’t assume that’s off the table because of French government support. We’re now three weeks into this war in Manyu. I still cannot understand what’s the mission?

A Cameroon government counterterrorism mission that is conducted in partnership with the Manyu traditional rulers and with the support of the Ekpe sacred society would have been efficient. But we have a commander-in-chief who does not listen and thinks he is a small god.

By Chi Prudence Asong in London

Before the attacks on Manyu Division, Cameroonian soldiers based in GRA, Mamfe and in the army camp in Besongabang were highly loved and respected by the Manyu population. The troops were not heavily protected and lived within the community.  The Francophone soldiers who served in Manyu Division in the yesteryears have always spoken of Manyu people holding the military in high regard.

The French Cameroon service men and women who came to Mamfe were taught the softly-softly approach – thanks to experience of always inviting the army to protect Manyus during those difficult football years of the great Joseph Eyong of Cammark Mamfe and the late Fayez Olabi of Meme Works. Once in Manyu, the French Cameroun’ heavy-handed tactics was washed away from the soldiers.

It was a view that was spreading across the Cameroonian army. The army barracks in Besongabang was regarded as relatively friendly to every young man who visited. Manyus including other ethnic groups had largely ­welcomed the Cameroonian army and General James Tataw was seen as a true Manyu hero.

But the days of sharing drinks in bars in Mamfe and handing sardine to children in the army camp in Besongabang are now long gone. Casualties being suffered by Cameroonian soldiers in Manyu are now coming at a higher rate all because of one man, the 84 year-old  President Paul Biya.

The Francophone dominated army is expected to massively pull out of Mamfe, the chief town in Manyu Division, where a battle group of unidentified Southern Cameroons militants have kept them  under consistent fire. The numbers of Cameroon soldiers in Manyu Division will then fall and a large majority of them will be based at just one location in Akwaya and in Otu and Nsang in Eyumojock.

With such a small force in a vast constituency like the Manyu, soldiers will now be used essentially to protect themselves. Their objective appears to be largely to provide a symbolic show of support for pro-Biya Southern Cameroonians and the French government. This current setting and off-the-cuff withdrawal is also pretty expensive and not sustainable.

The Biya regime seems to be changing the Manyu tactics and now wants to hand over responsibility to Anglophone military leaders. The Southern Cameroonians in the army will protect the Enugu-Bamenda Highway and carry out targeted security operations on the Manyu Cross River.  But while the Biya Francophone regime’s public statements give the impression of a job done, the reality of what is currently going on in Southern Cameroons is different.

Relentless attacks against Cameroonian soldiers have driven them off the streets of major cities in Southern Cameroons and into increasingly secluded compounds like in the case of Mamfe. The recent partial withdrawal ordered secretly by President Biya from Manyu has been viewed by the Ambazonian armed men as an ignominious defeat. Today, Manyu is basically controlled by the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia with a leader, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe who is seemingly more powerful and unconstrained than before.

Ever since he was appointed to head the Manyu expedition, nothing has been heard about General Elokobi Daniel Njock.  There are concerns about the whereabouts of General Ivo Yenwo. It is evidently clear that the Cameroon army have lost the ability to reverse the downward spiral in Mamfe, Akwaya and Eyumojock.

Cameroon Concord News understands that to speak of defeat is too simplistic. But after the 14 days war in Manyu, it is right to point out that the Cameroon army is living with the consequences of past decisions and actions – that’s a reality – and there is no point in saying that everything in the garden is rosy, because it isn’t.

One conclusion is almost nationally drawn: Cameroonian soldiers suffered from a hasty and ill-prepared deployment by a commander-in-chief who comprehensively failed in pre-war planning. Boko Haram militants in the Far North region were Nigerian citizens who did not even master the landscape! The Ambazonian resistance in Manyu is made up of young men who God in his infinite image created and planted in Manyu Division.

There is a complete lack of popular support for the Manyu military venture. Any successful strategy to resolve the crisis in Southern Cameroons needs three legs: a political-dialogue part, an economic component and the military-security element. The Cameroon army attack on Manyu has signaled Yaoundé that if progress is not being made on the dialogue and economic fronts, security starts to fall apart. It’s time for Mr. Paul Biya to meet with the Interim President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

A majority of Americans are widely pessimistic about US President Donald Trump’s leadership and the overall direction of the country, while less than a quarter say Trump has kept the promises he made while running for president, according to a new poll.

Only 30 percent of Americans said the country is heading in the right direction, and 52 percent said the United States has been worse off since Trump became president, according to the survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Just 23 percent think Trump has kept the promises he made to voters during last year’s election campaign, the poll shows.

And three in 10 Americans approved of the president’s handling of health care, foreign policy and taxes.

A previous AP-NORC poll conducted this month found that Trump’s job approval rating was only 32 percent, making him the least popular first-year US president on record.

“Still, Trump continues to talk about his presidency with lofty rhetorical flourishes, declaring that his first months in office outshine those of his predecessors,” the AP said in its report on the survey.

“Among Republicans, just half say Trump has kept his promises, which included vows to overhaul his predecessor’s health care law, withdraw the United States from a nuclear accord with Iran and invest millions in new projects to fix the nation’s aging infrastructure. None of those steps have been taken,” it added.

Just 25 percent of Americans think the country has been better off since Trump took office — and only 20 percent say they personally are doing better.

By contrast, an AP-NORC poll conducted a year ago found that 46 percent of Americans thought the country had become better off during the administration of former President Barack Obama.

Only 9 percent think the country has become more united as a result of Trump’s presidency, while 67 percent think the country is more divided because of Trump. Even Republicans are more likely to say Trump has divided America than those who say he has united it, 41 percent to 17 percent.

Source: Prestv

US Republicans have unveiled the final draft of their dramatic tax bill which they are racing to send to President Donald Trump’s desk by Christmas.

The bill picked up crucial support Friday from two wavering senators, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), ahead of planned votes by lawmakers early next week.

The House is expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday and then the Senate will vote. If passed, the measure would deliver a major legislative victory to Trump and his Republican allies.

“I believe that this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make US businesses domestically more productive and internationally more competitive is one we should not miss,” Corker said in a statement.

The legislation by the House-Senate conference committee would massively change the tax system, cut rates for many individuals and businesses and place new limitations on tax breaks.

The bill also includes a targeted change to the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, Republicans have long sought to dismantle.

“I’m very excited about this moment. It’s been 31 years in the making and took a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make this day happen. I’m proud of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

“I know everyone’s lives will be better off under tax reform,” added Brady, who played a lead role in crafting the bill.

Under the final bill, the top individual rate would be reduced from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, which is lower than the top rate in the original bills the House and Senate passed.

In addition, the corporate tax rate would be lowered from 35 percent to 21 percent, up from 20 percent in the original bills.

While GOP lawmakers and the White House assert the economic growth from the bill will offset the revenue losses, most analysts disagree.

Also, Democrats, who are expected to stay united in opposing the measure, argue the bill would benefit wealthy individuals and corporations more and would wind up raising taxes on some middle-class families.

Source: Presstv

Republican Roy Moore, an accused child molester running for the US Senate from the deeply conservative state of Alabama, has lost to his Democratic contender Doug Jones.

With 92 percent of precincts reporting, Jones secured 49.5 percent of the vote compared to Moore’s 48.8 percent, according to CNN and other news outlets.

The vote was the most high-stakes election of 2017 and the upset victory by Jones will trim the Republican Senate majority to just 51 seats in the 100-member chamber.

Jones, a former prosecutor, became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1992.

The result also delivered a personal blow to President Donald Trump, who has officially endorsed Moore amid the national debate about sexual misconduct.

However, the Jones win may provide some resemblance of relief to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans, who turned against Moore following allegations that he pursued teenage girls decades ago.

Source: Presstv