For decades, Cameroon’s border municipalities have remained on the fringes of economic development despite their strategic location. The government now wants to turn those areas into engines of growth, regional integration and cross-border trade.

On June 12 in Yaoundé, the steering committee overseeing the Border Municipalities Development Support Program (Pradef) took another step toward launching the initiative, which is being led by the Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance (Feicom).

The program aims to strengthen the economic attractiveness of the 96 municipalities located along Cameroon’s borders and reposition them as gateways for regional commerce and local development.

The meeting brought together several institutional and financial partners, including the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development, United Councils and Cities of Cameroon, the Association of Regions of Cameroon, the Development Bank of Central African States and Afreximbank.

Strategic Territories With Limited Infrastructure

Pradef is built on a simple observation: border municipalities occupy strategic positions but remain among the country’s least developed territories. Some sit along major trade corridors. Others serve as key transit points between Cameroon and neighboring countries. Yet many continue to suffer from inadequate infrastructure, weak public services and limited capacity to turn their geographic position into economic opportunities.

The border with Nigeria illustrates the challenge. Stretching about 1,700 kilometers, it connects Cameroon to Africa’s largest economy. However, much of the economic potential generated by this corridor continues to benefit Nigeria, while many Cameroonian border communities capture only a small share of the value. According to Feicom, the situation reflects a broader problem: border municipalities still struggle to attract investment, commercial activity and trade flows.

Turning Borders Into Growth Hubs

Studies conducted ahead of the program’s design in 2022 identified several recurring obstacles. Many municipalities lack the institutional and financial capacity to support economic activity around border areas. Infrastructure needed to facilitate trade remains insufficient in many locations. Local governments also face challenges positioning themselves as active participants in regional integration.

Pradef is designed to address those constraints through three main pillars: strengthening municipal institutions, improving local economic competitiveness and developing infrastructure that supports cross-border activities. The objective is not simply to build more infrastructure but to equip local authorities with the tools needed to benefit from economic flows that already pass through their territories.

Preparing for Implementation

Four years after its conception, the program is entering what authorities describe as a decisive phase. During the Yaoundé meeting, members of the steering committee reviewed the technical and financial instruments needed for implementation. Feicom has already begun the process of recruiting external expertise to support the program’s rollout.

The next step will be to secure financing and begin implementing projects on the ground. The broader stakes are significant. Cameroon shares more than 5,000 kilometers of borders with six countries, yet several of its border regions remain among the least developed parts of the country.

For the program’s promoters, those regions should no longer be viewed solely through the lens of geographic isolation. Instead, they see them as reservoirs of untapped economic opportunities. Feicom’s vision is clear: transform border municipalities into showcases for Cameroon and strengthen their ability to attract investment and economic activity.

Behind that ambition lies a broader shift in thinking—one that sees borders not as neglected peripheries, but as future centers of development.

Source: Sbbc

In a new report published on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said the government in Cameroon has failed to meet a decade-old commitment to reduce violence against women and girls.

The group said that faced with widespread abuse, this failure leaves the victims and survivors of violence exposed to harm without meaningful protection or access to justice.

“Social norms that justify and perpetuate violence against women” are partly to blame for the scourge, the report said.

HRW blamed entrenched systemic gender inequality, discriminatory laws, and weak institutions, exacerbated by chronic underinvestment in prevention and survivor support.

As a result, the rights group said victims often find themselves alone because of a lack of assistance and services, as well as corruption within police and public institutions.

According to government figures, 77 women were killed by their partners in Cameroon in 2024, but HRW said the actual number was probably much higher because many instances are not reported.

Most of the violent acts, it said, take place within the home and are often committed by husbands, partners, or male relatives.

The report found that economic factors also play a role.

Husbands control their wives’ income after marriage, widows are often dispossessed of land and property rights, and inequality reigns when it comes to inheritance, it said.

In 2023, Cameroon ranked 148th out of 162 countries on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) gender inequality index.

This, HRW report said, reflects disparities between women and men in access to employment and education and reproductive health.

It has called on the government to urgently reform measures to protect women, including discriminatory family laws.

The group also said Cameroon needs to establish a coordinated national response to domestic violence, and ensure services are accessible across the country.

Source: Africa News

The trial over the murder of Cameroonian journalist Martinez Zogo resumes before the military court in Yaoundé, with attention focused on the return of cybersecurity expert Georges Bitjoka to the witness stand.

After hearings on June 1 and 2 that were largely devoted to his testimony and cross-examination, Bitjoka is expected to answer additional questions from government prosecutor Lt. Col. Cerlin Belinga. The stakes extend well beyond procedural matters. During previous hearings, the prosecution’s questioning sparked tensions among the parties because of its focus on communications between Lt. Col. Justin Danwe, a central defendant in the case, and Modeste Mopa Fatouing, the former director general of taxes who now works at the International Monetary Fund.

Testimony That Triggered Controversy

Bitjoka, who was tasked during the investigation with examining phones and other digital devices seized by investigators, told the court that he found no explicit evidence directly linking the exchanges between Danwe and Mopa Fatouing to the Martinez Zogo case.

“I found no explicit elements connecting Justin Danwe and Modeste Mopa Fatouing to the Martinez Zogo affair,” he testified. Despite that statement, the prosecutor continued to question him about deleted messages exchanged between the two men.

According to discussions in court, the messages, sent between July and December 2022, concerned a legal matter involving businessman Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga, who is also being prosecuted in the case as one of the alleged masterminds behind the journalist’s murder.

One of the most closely scrutinized aspects of the exchanges involves language allegedly used by Danwe. In one WhatsApp message cited during the hearing, he reportedly wrote, “We will multiply these meetings, then we will crush him.” In another, he allegedly stated that an appointment had been arranged with “the target,” adding that the person had “revealed everything” and promised to provide further details.

The Meaning of “The Target”

Martinez Zogo’s name reportedly does not appear explicitly in the messages. However, several parties in the trial have argued that the reference to “the target” may have referred to the journalist, who at the time was reporting on sensitive matters involving the tax administration and Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga.

The exchanges between Danwe and Mopa Fatouing are also said to have stopped on January 20, 2023, three days after Zogo was abducted and later killed.

That issue has become one of the main sources of controversy in the proceedings. Lawyers representing the civil parties have accused the prosecutor of shifting the focus of the hearings toward an individual who is not on trial, potentially obscuring questions of direct responsibility. Some attorneys have even privately suggested that the military prosecution’s line of questioning appears at times to align with arguments advanced by the defense of Amougou Belinga.

Prosecutor Defends His Approach

Lt. Col. Cerlin Belinga rejected those criticisms during his closing remarks on June 2 before the hearings were adjourned.

He argued that his responsibility in establishing the truth requires him to investigate both incriminating and exculpatory evidence. He also stressed that all defendants continue to benefit from the presumption of innocence until a verdict is delivered.

The renewed examination of Bitjoka therefore carries particular significance. It may reveal whether prosecutors intend to continue exploring the exchanges between Danwe and Mopa Fatouing or whether they will focus more narrowly on evidence directly linked to the defendants charged in the Martinez Zogo case.

In a trial where nearly every hearing fuels competing interpretations of the prosecution’s strategy, Bitjoka’s testimony is being watched for more than its technical value. It could either clarify or further complicate the debate surrounding the use and interpretation of digital evidence in one of Cameroon’s most sensitive criminal cases in recent years.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Manyu Division may be known for many things but one thing that makes the Division stands out is the people’s penchant for titles and this exaggerated love for the titles is one reason why the villages which make up Manyu Division are permanently in dispute and are underdeveloped.

Besongabang, Nchang, Kembong and many others have all been torn apart by chieftaincy  disputes which have been around in those villages for a long time, making it hard for residents of the villages or their Diasporic communities to come together to discuss development.

For many decades, it was thought that some Manyu villages were insulated from that internecine chaos, but one after the other, the villages are quietly joining the ranks of chaotic rural settlements, wrapping themselves up in chieftaincy disputes which have retarded the development of many villages in a constituency many hold could have been a shiny example to others in terms of development.

Ossing, with its rotational system, has been the envy of many Manyu villages for decades. Comprised of Kaeka and Kenyang communities, Ossing adopted a rotatory system, making it easy for the chieftaincy title to peaceful and seamlessly move from one linguistic group to another.

But from every indication, that myth is gradually shattering as Ossing prepares to walk away from peace and harmony.

In 2025, Ossing lost its respected traditional ruler. An academic and seasoned administrator, Professor Edward Ako. According to our sources in Ossing, Professor Ako actually took the village to safer shores and there was peace during his time.

A source in Ossing who spoke to Cameroon Concord News Group but sued for anonymity said that Ossing was bracing for impact as impostors and enemies of peace struggle to hand a throne to a man whose character, ability and vision leave much to be desired. The suspect, Thompson Ndip, a civil servant in Yaoundé, is prepared to destroy a peaceful village if things do not go his way.

A manipulator and spinner, Mr. Ndip is desperate for the title, but from every indication, his efforts are not delivering the results he wants. The people of Ossing are wise and no amount of food and drinks will sway them.

“We are really seeing the mess that has destroyed many villages in Manyu. We have been trying to avoid it but a small minority of hungry and desperate people want to change the course of things in our beloved village,” our source said.

“We have a process which has worked and it was the same process which brought Prof. Ako to power in Ossing. This process calls for an evaluation of the different candidates based on certain criteria.  Following an evaluation of the candidates, the candidate who is the fourth on the evaluation list, Mr. Thompson Ndip, is the one protesting and trying to bribe everyone,” our source said, adding that “He is a civil servant in Yaoundé and has surrounded himself with financially desperate and hungry people who think that he has money. Why should anyone be accepted as the chief if he does not have the right character and was never the first on that list?,” he quipped.

“The second and third persons on that list have not protested. Some of the candidates have already congratulated the person who topped the list. Ossing needs someone who can unite people and convince those who have money to contribute towards the development of our village,” our angry source said.

“You cannot lose an evaluation exercise and then come and be parading yourself as a champion. One of his supporters told us in Ossing that it was likely that he will be appointed as a minister in Biya’s next government. Who has ever been appointed a minister just because he is managing a project funded by donors? We may be living in Ossing, but we are not stupid and blind. We know what is happening and we cannot fall for such mischief and dishonesty,” he said

“Manyu and Ossing have better people who can represent us in Biya’s government. This young civil servant has been corrupting some of the kingmakers and some are opposed to his approach to things. Some kingmakers who certified the results on the day the evaluation was made later changed their positions, claiming that they were hungry and did not see the documents they signed. This is really funny,” he said.

“Such people should never be kingmakers again in our village. It is obvious that they have been given food and they can now see properly. This is dishonesty,” he stressed.

“These same dishonest elements even went to the Senior Divisional Officer in Mamfe and lied that they had chosen their chief and some people were threatening them. They thought the SDO was stupid. He simply advised the Kaeka kingmakers to present their choice of chief to the kenyang kingmakers, after which the Kenyang kingmakers will approve or disapprove depending on the person’s character,” he pointed out.

“Once the Kenyang kingmakers approve their choice, they will submit their approval to the Ossing Traditional Council (OTC) which is the only body mandated to present a chief to the SDO and the administration. But because the hungry Kaeka kingmakers know that they are playing tricks, they have been avoiding to meet with the Kenyang kingmakers,” he stressed.

“On Saturday, the same hungry kingmakers invited the Kenyang kingmakers to a location not approved for the presentation of the chief. The Kenyang kingmakers turned down the invitation. To spice their invitation, they proudly told the kingmakers to come with their flasks for them to carry food and meat to their homes. This did not move the Kenyang kingmakers who are determined to ensure that the rules and procedures are followed. Not everyone can be bought,” he stressed.

“Since the Kenyang kingmakers did not honor the invitation of the food-and-drink kaeka kingmakers, the desperate kingmakers made a video claiming that they had presented their chief to their Kenyang colleagues. We, in Ossing, are aware of what they are selling, but none of us will be part of that game,” he stressed.

“The processes and procedures must be followed and if they are followed, the right person will be chosen. We need the right person. Someone with the right character. If we get it wrong, the development of our village will stall as many donors might not support our projects,” he pointed out.

“The disease that has affected many Manyu villages seems to be making its way to Ossing but we will do our best to stop it. We have the men and resources to manage our processes the right way to ensure that chaos does not stall our development process,” he concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai