Cameroon

27, July 2019

Cameroon: Why the panic in Etoudi? ⁰

Cameroon’s Unity Palace, the palace that hosts the country’s president, is in total confusion. The country’s president, Paul Biya, is having serious issues with his health and this is a huge concern to the president’s collaborators as they are compelled to keep everything under wraps.

Ever since Mr. Biya was repatriated from Switzerland a month ago because of the activities of the Brigade Anti Sardinard (BAS), things have not been well with the man who has presided over the country’s destiny for close to four decades.

His health is a constant concern to his closest collaborators. His failing heart and swollen prostrate are headed in the wrong direction and it is becoming hard for Mr. Biya to seek better health care abroad.

As a result of this unfortunate situation, the Yaoundé dictator on June 20, 2019, dispatched his Secretary-General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to France for him to negotiate with the French on whether the government would provide maximum security and guarantees that he would be protected during his time in France where he is expected to have quality health care.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Paris has gathered that the French are not very happy with the situation and they understand that Biya is bad business for them. They are not prepared to risk the lives of their police officers and their economy just because of an ineffective dictator whose hallmark is corruption.

They understand that there will be huge demonstrations to be organized by the African Diaspora in France that has developed the bad habit of chasing African dictators from Europe.

Mr. Biya, also known as the “monarch”, is not very happy with the manner in which the Swiss handled his case and this anger is complicating his health situation. He has become a very bitter person and most of his guests have said that he is mad at Switzerland for the humiliation he was subjected to.

In a moment of utter frustration, Mr. Biya burst out, telling a well-wisher that he never expected that the Swiss government would turn against him after all he had done for Switzerland.

He said he had more than USD 700 million in Swiss banks and the Swiss are now making it hard for him to have access to that money.

Even his wife, Chantal Biya, noted for her flaming red hair, is now displaying signs of frustration and stress. Normally friendly and smiley, Mrs. Biya who has come under enormous criticism for her flamboyant lifestyle, has now become erratic and is suffering from mood swings.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s Chairman, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, a collaborator of the first lady said that “Rudeness and discourteousness now constitute her new attitude ever since she and her husband were thrown out of Switzerland.” The pressure is on and it is real.

The pressure on Mr. Biya to go is mounting and this has been complicated by the country’s economy that has taken a nosedive. The Southern Cameroons crisis that started as a demonstration has now developed into a full blown war, with more than 5,000 Cameroonians sent to an early grave.

The country’s economy has taken a blow to the liver, as Southern Cameroonian fighters have succeeded to cripple the country’s struggling economy. Major corporations in Southern Cameroons have all gone under. CDC and PAMOL are out of business because of the political crisis that is tearing the country apart.

SONARA, the country’s lone refinery, for its part, went up in flames and this has robbed the government of a significant source of revenue. The struggling government has since been going all over the world looking for resources to rebuild the bedeviled refinery.

But noted for its corruption and inefficiency, the Biya government is being toasted from pillar to post by investors and donors. Investors and donors do not want to put their money in a black hole.

Cameroon is noted for defaulting on its debts and has recently been ranked fourth on the list of the most corrupt countries in Africa and this is no good news for the beleaguered government.

As Mr. Biya’s health keeps sliding down the slope, his ministers are taking advantage of the situation to feather their personal nests. In three decades, Mr. Biya and his collaborators have reduced their resource-rich nation to a heavily indebted poor country under stress (HIPCUS).

It will take almost a century for Cameroon to be pulled out of the economic doldrums, that is, when the monarch would have been dead and gone.

Cameroonians must understand that the end is near. Mr. Biya’s days are numbered. They must understand that theirs will be the kingdom of hard work and sacrifice if they really want to rebuild their country and economy.

Biya has ruined everything and the only thing that is of interest to him now is his own physical survival. He knows he is not eternal and the fear of death has enveloped his mind. When the death of Retired General Tataw James Tabe-Orock was announced to him a few days ago, he burst into tears.

But many observers said he was not really mourning the death of a man he trusted, but was simply scared that his time would be coming sooner rather than later.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

24, July 2019

Trump Administration has decided to overthrow President Biya ⁰

US President Donald Trump after very intensive and productive discussions with officials at the US State Department has decided to oust President Paul Biya from power, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learned. Our contacts deep within the African Desk at the US State Department revealed that the White House will be ordering the CIA, the Pentagon and other agencies to devise a combination of economic, diplomatic and covert steps to achieve that goal.

We understand the Trump administration is not planning any military strike, but top officials at the US State Department have told President Trump that the 86 year old Cameroonian dictator is now a threat to the security of the Gulf of Guinea and must be removed, even if France refuses to consent to the mission.

A US military official serving with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) was heard murmuring privately that it is no longer an argument about whether to get rid of Biya. That discussion is over. The White House decision is expected to launch the Trump Campaign on a course that will help secure the African America votes in the 2020 presidential elections.

People in the know have opined that any US led campaign against the Biya regime would be very swift and virtually free of casualties. Nevertheless, experts in the CEMAC region who are monitoring the deteriorating situation in Cameroon have all expressed the feeling that by jolting its military cooperation with Yaoundé and pushing the Germans to do same, a decision has already been made to force Biya out of office and what is remaining now is the how and when.

President Trump reportedly has not been too enthusiastic as he is now focused on former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is testifying to Congress today Wednesday at a pair of televised hearings that carry high stakes for President Donald Trump and Democrats who are split between impeaching him or concentrating on the 2020 election.

Mueller, whose inquiry detailed extensive contacts between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia at a time when Moscow was interfering in the 2016 election with hacking and propaganda, is set to appear beginning at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) in separate hearings before the House of Representatives Judiciary and Intelligence committees.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany

24, July 2019

French Cameroun Crisis: Christians escape as Boko Haram militants step up attacks in the Far North ⁰

About 200 families escaped with their lives when Boko Haram Islamist militants ransacked a mainly-Christian village in the Far North Region of Cameroon on 10 July.

Following several previous Boko Haram raids in the area, the families were sleeping in the bush to avoid further attacks when the armed gang stormed Roum village, in the Tourou area, setting fire to homes, killing livestock and plundering food stores and possessions.

Boy returns to burnt out home in Christian village ransacked by Boko Haram

A Barnabas contact said the villagers had lost everything and are now taking refuge at a local school. He estimated around 1,120 families in the area were “living in distress” following the attack on Roum, and Boko Haram’s destructive onslaughts on other villages including Goldavi on 5 July, Zeleved on 10 July and Amchide on 11 July.

He said, “The populations have all lost food stocks, clothing, sleeping sets and many other material goods and animals. These attacks led to great fear, psychosis, trauma and panic among the populations.”

The contact reported there had been a resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram since January 2019. He added that the impact of the onslaught is especially devastating because July, August and September are the lean months between harvests in Cameroon. It is also the rainy season when many roads turn to mud, and the security forces are less mobile.

More than 1,100 Christian families are “living in distress” in northern Cameroon following Boko Haram attacks on villages destroying homes, possessions and livestock

Christian villages in the far north of Cameroon are subject to attacks by Boko Haram militias attempting to establish an Islamic caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria all the way to northern Cameroon, which is predominantly Christian. The UN estimates that more than 170,000 Cameroonians, mainly Christians, have been forced to flee their homes by Boko Haram.

Source: Barnabas Fund

23, July 2019

Can President Biya travel to Switzerland? THE AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE ⁰

After the international embarrassment and national disgrace, the rogue Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has been desperate for the Swiss ambassador to publicly declare that Biya was not deported even though the Swiss foreign minister stated the contrary on the day Biya was whisked out of Geneva.

Ambassador Pietro Lazzeri pictured here drinking champagne with some members of his new money club- the Consortium of CPDM Crime Syndicate, recently said

“We have about 65 Heads of States coming to Switzerland every year. We don;t chase heads of states. When we have disturbances of law and order; problems, we keep order, so we don;t chase presidents in Switzerland. I am not in a position to decide where the head of state can travel or will travel or will not travel. I am not working for the presidency of Cameroon; neither do I work for the Federal Executive Council in Switzerland. It is not for me to decide…”

CRTV and pro Biya media houses have read the above quotation and are claiming the ambassador said Biya was never deported.

Let your voice be heard!! Can Biya travel again to Switzerland?

23, July 2019

UN says 40,000 more flee Southern Cameroons conflict to Nigeria ⁰

The United Nations on Monday said nearly 40,000 more people had been forced to flee to Nigeria by worsening humanitarian situation in north-west and south-west regions of Cameroon.

Briefing UN correspondents in New York on Monday, a spokesman of the organisation, Mr Farhan Haq, said 530,000 others had been internally displaced.

No fewer than 1.3 million people are now in need of assistance, Haq said, adding that the situation “continues to be characterised by human rights and protection abuses and violations”.

The conflict started in 2016 when separatists launched an armed struggle for a breakaway state they call Ambazonia.

Government forces have responded strongly, leading to accusations of extra-judicial killings and burning of villages.

But recently, there has been a focus on abuses allegedly committed by the many separatist groups too, including kidnappings, according to the BBC.

Haq said at Monday’s briefing that 2,800 protection violation incidents had been reported in the first six months of this year.

“House destruction and child protection violations are those reported in greatest numbers.

“Meanwhile, in the far north of Cameroon, attacks by non-State armed groups against villages have intensified since the beginning of the year, leading to new displacements.

“Around 1,300 people were reportedly being displaced last week alone.

“Attacks also resulted in dozens of civilian deaths, hundreds of houses set ablaze, and widespread looting of civilian goods,” he said.

The UN spokesman said the response in Cameroon remained one of the most “critically underfunded humanitarian responses globally” in spite of increased humanitarian needs.

According to him, only 20 per cent of the 300 million dollars requested by the humanitarian community this year has been received, NAN reported.|

Source: Pmnews Nigeria

23, July 2019

Cameroon: Many feared dead at the Yaounde Maximum Security Prison ⁰

As the dust settles at the Yaounde maximum security prison, it is becoming clear that the demonstrations at the facility and the fire set to it have left a trail of death and destruction.

It is emerging that soldiers actually killed 4 detainees at the Kondengui maximum security facility on Monday night in a bit to quel the unrest that almost brought the facility down.

A source within the facility has said that the deaths occurred at the section of the facility known as Kosovo.

The sources also said that several inmates had been seriously injured, adding that many inmates might have also lost their lives.

To temporarily get the situation under control, some detainees have been transferred to the Groupement Speciale d’Operation, GOS and SED.

It should be underscored that the Yaounde maximum security facility had been designed for less than 1,000 inmates, but it is currently holding more than 5,000 prisoners.

To also cut off inmates from external influence, prison guards have shut down the Internet while a drone has been seen flying over the prison to ensure peace reigns at the facility at all cost.

The government also used the occasion to dispatch special anti-terrorist agents of the National Gendarmerie to the facility where they unleashed a reign of terror on Southern Cameroonians detainees who had staged a protest in the afternoon of Monday, demanding their immediate release.

The so-called anti-terrorist squad used tear gas and live ammunition on detainees, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

The government is using this opportunity to crack down on inmates who have, over the last week, become very vocal.

Prison guards have undertaken a thorough search of the facility to ensure that there are no weapons in the place.

The search conducted also targeted cell phones and it is alleged that there are huge human rights abuses, with guards asking for huge amounts of money from inmates if they want to keep their cell phones.

Among those injured in Monday’s incident are former prime minister, Ephraim Inoni and former health minister, Urbain Onangena, who have been in the facility for close to a decade for corruption charges.

Cameroon has been going through numerous crisis and Monday’s incident comes to underscore that the country’s beleaguered government is gradually losing its grip on power.

While all of this is playing out in the nation’s capital, the country’s president, Paul Biya, is somewhere in Luxemburg where he is being given emergency health care for his failing heart, enlarged prostate and memory loss that has caused his wife, Chantal Biya, to hand over his power of signature to her cousin, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh who is the secretary general at the country’s Presidency.

Cameroon is on the verge of a catastrophic implosion. While Boko Haram is slaughtering civilians and soldiers in the northern part of the country, the Southern Cameroons crisis that has put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, is threatening to tear the country apart.

For close to three years, Southern Cameroonian separatists have been locked in a tough battle with Cameroon’s soldiers in their quest for an independent country that will enable them to walk away with more than 60% of the country’s wealth that is buried in the country’s southwest region.

The southwest region is literally a cornucopia of natural and mineral resources that have helped to financed the beleaguered government’s corruption and lavish lifestyle.

But the country’s woes are not only located in the northern regions and in Southern Cameroons.

In the country’s eastern region, Central African Republic rebels have become a nightmare that will not go away anytime soon to the government and the local population.

Their constant incursions on border towns in Cameroon is sowing chaos in the country and the cash-strapped government is clearly incapable of dealing with this tricky situation on its borders.

With American, Canadian and German military assistance to Cameroon gone, the country has been weakened and it is obvious that it is caving in.

The situation has been made all the more complicated as huge corporations in Southern Cameroons have shut down their doors due to the chaotic and destructive armed conflict in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

The government is clearly staring down the barrel of bankruptcy, especially as its lone oil refinery has gone up in smoke.

The government will require more than USD 20 billion to restore the refinery and it has been running all over the world seeking loans, unfortunately to no avail.

Investors are boycotting Cameroon because it is on the verge of collapse. Its authorities are corrupt to the narrow and the government’s credit history leaves much to be desired.

It is obvious that Cameroon is on the brink of collapse and if the international community does not intervene, the country will collapse, taking with it, its fragile neighbors.

By Kingsley Betek and Linda Embi in Yaounde.

22, July 2019

Biya’s Health: Panic in Yaounde ⁰

There is panic in Yaounde as the disturbing news of the country’s president, Paul Biya, gradually makes its way to the public.

Mr. Biya also known as the “monarch” has been a colony of diseases for many years now. He has been suffering from a failing heart, a failed prostrate and loss of memory which makes it hard for him to carry out his duties as a head of state and this bad news is hitting his collaborators like a ton of bricks.

Recently, the country’s Secretary-General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, was given total powers to sign all documents on Mr. Biya’s behalf, an action which serves as further proof that the 87-year-old monarch, who has been in diapers over the last seven years, is incapable of performing his duties.

Over the last two months, Mr. Biya’s health has been a huge concern to his closest collaborators, but his behavior during the May 20 celebration was a clear indication that things were really falling apart. The monarch is suffering and power seems to slipping through his fingers.

The monarch, known for his epicurean taste and love of nice wines, is gradually losing his mind. For many months now, it is his wife, Chantal Biya, who is also suffering from an aggressive leukemia, who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes. Mr. Biya seems to have drunk himself into Alzheimer’s disease.

On May 20, Mr. Biya’s failing memory was put on display for all to see. He could not even wave at the crowd his ruling CPDM had hastily mobilized for the occasion. It was Mrs. Biya, noted for her flaming red hair, who had to raise his hands for him to wave to the crowd. This was a huge embarrassment to his collaborators who have been scrambling to hide the man’s numerous diseases.

Mr. Biya, the once popular president of the most corrupt nation in the world, is now having a tough fight with Alzheimer’s disease and other life threatening ailments and as his situation deteriorates, his collaborators who, are already fighting against each other, are becoming more desperate.

To them, the end of their era is in the offing. The signs are very clear. Biya is gradually exiting the world and his greatest frustration is that his fellow citizens now see him as the most corrupt and most incompetent leader Africa has ever produced.

Last month, he was hastily repatriated from Switzerland as the Brigade Anti Sardinard (BAS), a Diaspora opposition movement, put into action its plan to give the monarch a very bad name.

Demonstrations in front of the Hotel Intercontinental, the hotel Mr. Biya has literally transformed into his home, obliged the Swiss government to declare Mr. Biya persona non grata in Switzerland. This is a real bloodshot eye for a regime that is struggling to clean up its bad image abroad.

Since his repatriation to Cameroon, his family and his collaborators have been struggling to find a new country that will accept him as an inconveniencing visitor. Luxemburg appears to be his new destination and this is hurting the BAS.

However, the BAS is already at work. The opposition group has already dispatched its undercover agents to Luxemburg to find out if the beleaguered president is hiding in the little European Kingdom.

“We are going to fish him out. We are prepared to make life hard for Mr. Biya who has transformed Cameroon into a living hell. For 37 years in office, he has not been able to build a state-of-the-art hospital in Cameroon to cater to the needs of cancer patients. Under his watch, Cameroon’s health facilities have declined and most of them have been reduced to consultation clinics or mortuaries. Why must he be enjoying better health care out of the country while our parents are dying of preventable diseases back home?,” the BAS agent quipped.

Yesterday, a source at the Presidency of the Republic reliably informed the Cameroon Concord News Group that the monarch was struggling again. According to the source which elected anonymity, Mr. Biya was having serious breathing problems and that his health was failing.

The source added that a medical plane from Luxemburg had landed in Yaoundé to secretly airlift Mr. Biya to the small European kingdom of Luxemburg where it is believed he will have quality care comparable to what he has been receiving in Switzerland.

The air ambulance was secretly brought into the country by the Presidency of the Republic. Sources at the presidency have hinted that the monarch may be very seriously sick as his collaborators have decided not to say anything about his health.

“Everybody who is close to the ailing dictator has suddenly become tight-lipped. But from their appearances, it is easy to figure out that something is amiss. Biya is on his way out and this is bad news to his people who are already fighting. The knife is actually turning inwards and if care is not taken Cameroon will be plunged into chaos once Mr. Biya kicks the bucket,” our source said.

“Many of Mr. Biya’s ministers are not even aware that the monarch is out of the country. Everything is under wraps. Many government officials depend on newspapers to get information about the man they serve. The entire system is being manipulated by a few people and Mrs. Biya is actually the person pulling the strings,” he said.

He added that “she has become a puppet master and anybody who does not comply with or play by her rules gets elbowed out of the corridors of power. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, a former cabinet minister, has been the latest victim and his arrest is generating a lot of division within the government.”

“Cameroon is in for serious trouble. There are many scenes that will only play out when Mr. Biya will bow to the inevitable. His days are numbered, but before he leaves, he will dump the country into a pretty mess. There is no control these days. Ministers are just conducting business as they wish, especially those of Beti extraction. Something needs to be done to save this country,” our source stressed.

While Mr. Biya is battling for his life, using the country’s vast resources, the ordinary citizens are continuing to die like animals as the quality of care in the country is questionable. Mr. Biya and his family have transformed the country’s treasury into their ATM and they are doing a great job at emptying the machine as fast as they can. For them, time is running out and the anger on the streets tells them that if the population could have its way, it would address the issue in a manner that will be far from being pleasant.

By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde, Bamba Gaossou in Limbe and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai at the Cameroon Concord News Group’s global headquarters in the UK