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Yaounde: Dozens injured and three killed by train

09/03/2017

Three people were killed on Wednesday night in Yaoundé, after being hit on the railway by a train. According to a statement from the Cameroon Railway Company, Camrail, a train returning from the rail renewal yard, at the entrance to the nation’s capital, Yaoundé crushed the three to death.

Our sources in Yaoundé hinted that the Camrail statement is “unsatisfactory” and that there was more to the story than the railway company was revealing. We gathered three bodies have been recovered from the train route and the many wounded have been rushed to a nearby hospital. Two of the three bodies have been deposited at the morgue of the Central Hospital in Yaoundé.

Securing the railway is a real problem in Cameroon. Many people, even some families have constructed settlements closely to the railway lines. This situation is not conducive to the optimum safety of railway traffic. Operating a railway transport system in a country where no one takes responsibility will surely record many more tragedies.

By Sonne Peter

International Women’s Day: US women rally against Trump

09/03/2017

Women have protested in the United States against President Donald Trump on International Women’s Day, with many Americans skipping work or boycotting stores. The protest on Wednesday, dubbed “A Day Without a Woman,” was modeled in part after pro-immigrant demonstrations against Trump’s immigration policies on February 16.

American women took advantage of the momentum of the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration. The protest was the latest in a series of anti-Trump rallies since his presidential election on November 8.

Protests were held in numerous American cities, including Washington, New York City and Los Angeles. Thousands of women attended the rallies in New York City. At least 13 protesters were arrested for “disorderly conduct” after sitting in the street near the Trump Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Nearly 1,000 women converged outside Los Angeles City Hall, many of them critical of Trump’s effort to repeal former president Barack Obama’s healthcare law.

A large crowd marches down Varick Street near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel in New York City on International Women, March 8, 2017. (AFP photo)

About 1,500 people gathered in San Francisco, most dressed in symbolic red that has become one of the themes of the rally. Not all American women, however, support the call for a women’s strike, with some critics describing the movement’s aims as vague and disrupting the work day.

Trump took to his Twitter account on Wednesday to cite International Women’s Day and the “critical role” of women around the world. During the 2016 election campaign, Trump faced severe backlash over a leaked 2005 videotape that showed him using obscene language about women.

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French Ambassador meets Biya: 34 years of annoying Southern Cameroonians

09/03/2017

Paul BIYA has granted a two-hour audience to the French Ambassador to Cameroon, Gilles Thibault. Both personalities met at the Unity Palace on Wednesday 8 March 2017.

The Head of State and the French Diplomat held talks on a wide range of issues linked to the Franco-Cameroon relationship, which is part of the strategic partnership. Gilles Thibault told journalists at the end of the audience that they had in-depth exchanges on the importance of Cameroon’s security, humanitarian and economic commitment in the CEMAC sub-region. The extraordinary summit of CEMAC Heads of State, hosted by Cameroon in December 2016, was reviewed following a recent IMF mission to Cameroon.

A special focus was also laid on the French Development Agency’s aid to Cameroon. FCFA 125 billion have already been engaged for 2018. Ambassador Gilles Thibault said he congratulated President Paul BIYA on his efforts to fight against terrorism. He also lauded the successes of the Cameroonian Armed Forces in the fight against Boko Haram, in consensus with the Multinational Joint Tasked Force (MNJTF).

The French Ambassador to Cameroon briefed the Head of State on his tour to the various regions of Cameroon. “I also expressed my satisfaction to see an amelioration of the situation in the North West and South West regions, where dialogue seems to be producing good results,” he said. It was revealed that the political scene in France is of particular interest to the Cameroonian leader, who is following the campaigns of the upcoming presidential elections.

Lord Justice Paul Ayah Affair: Lawyers appeal for his immediate release

09/03/2017

Lord Justice Paul Ayah Abine’s lawyers have appealed to the President of the High Court of the Mfoundi Yaoundé Administrative Center through a motion known as habeas corpus calling for his immediate release. The lawyers stated in their correspondence that the state prosecutor has violated Title X which clearly indicates the Privilege of Jurisdiction in Article 629 (1) and (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure:

“(1) Where a magistrate of the order is liable to be charged with an offense, the competent Attorney-General submits an application to the President of the Supreme Court appointing a magistrate to investigate the case and three , Of a rank at least equal to that of the third party, with a view to the possible judgment of the case in the first instance.

(2) The President of the Supreme Court shall further specify the city where the case is to be tried “.

Lord Justice Ayah’s arrest has undermined the reputation of Cameroon’s Justice Department as well as Cameroon’s criminal justice as it signaled a flagrant violation of the principles of the presumption of innocence.

By Sama Ernest

Majority of French voters see Le Pen’s party as threat to democracy

08/03/2017

A majority of French people believe that presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front (FN) party is a danger to democracy, shows a recent poll. According to a Kantar Sofres-Onepoint poll published on Tuesday, 58 percent of those who took part were directly against the National Front’s ideas and perceived it as a threat to democracy.

Despite most polls projecting Le Pen’s success in the first round of the upcoming elections, only 19 percent of those in the Kantar poll are in favor of her becoming president. French presidential election candidate for the En Marche movement Emmanuel Macron poses for a photo session on March 7, 2017 at his campaign headquarters in Paris.

Recent opinion polls suggest that the far-right leader is likely to win the first round of France’s election on April 23 with around 27 percent of votes, but would lose in the run-off on May 7 either to centrist and pro-EU Emmanuel Macron or conservative candidate Francois Fillon.

Le Pen, well known for her anti-immigrant rhetoric, became the leader of the party in 2011 and has promised to hold a referendum on France’s exit from the EU. She launched her election bid earlier in the month with an anti-Islam stance. She has also noted that if she is elected as president, mosques and places of Islamic teaching will be closed down.

On Tuesday, Le Pen stressed that if she is elected as president but the nation votes to stay in the EU in the referendum, she would resign. “What would happen if I told voters we must leave and they decided to stay?” she said. “I would quit. What else can I do? My whole project can only be carried out if we get the tools and powers back (from the EU,)” she added.

On Monday, Outgoing President Francois Hollande said that he would “do everything” in his power to prevent Le Pen from becoming president.

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2017 Parliamentary Session: Will more Anglophone MPs rebel against La Republique?

08/03/2017

In two separate press releases, the President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguié Djibril and Marcel Niat Njifenji, the President of the Senate have summoned parliamentarians and Senators for their first regular session of the legislative year 2017. The return to the so-called Lower House is scheduled on Monday the 13^th of March at 1 pm at the Ngoa-Ekellé Glass Palace in Yaoundé and the Senators are expected to meet again from 4 pm at the Palais des Congrès de Yaoundé.

The opening of the legislative year has traditionally been devoted to the CPDM renewal of offices and the review of legislation. But the great expectation this 2017 will be Honorable Joseph Wirba. The SDF MP made international headlines last year during the third and last parliamentary session of the year 2016.

In a historic long speech that lasted about thirty minutes, Hon. Joseph Wirba denounced the Paul Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime which, according to him, marginalizes in its management, Cameroonians of English expression. In the aftermath of his speech, he declared his unflinching support for the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Upon his return to Southern Cameroons after his remarkable performance at the Ngoa-Ekelle palace, he held a massive political rally and reportedly disappeared from circulation. Some reports have suggested that the Francophone Secret Service is hunting for him.

By Sama Ernest

Philemon Yang Bamenda Mission stresses nothing as regards to the connectedness, contestedness and complexity of happenings in Southern Cameroons

08/03/2017

Southern Cameroon’s pain commands international headlines, demands quick action and sets the scene for a geopolitical drama on Cameroon’s future power in the CEMAC-Sub Saharan region. The poor handling of the Anglophone crisis by the Biya Beti Ewondo regime is pushing the intractable conflict to get worse before it gets better. What can be done about it needs much more informed and constructive African Union debate, especially in Abuja which will bear many of the actual and potential consequences if Anglophones should secede from La Republique du Cameroun.

Since 2016, there has been a systematically Bokoharamization by troops loyal to the regime in Yaoundé of West Cameroon. For several months, Anglophone Cameroon has witnessed rapes, extra judicial killings and hundreds of abductions. The North West and South West CPDM political elites blame each other, with none citing the numerous atrocities committed against their own people by Francophone soldiers deployed to the region. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and its leadership have been targeted. Internet connection in Southern Cameroons has been shut down. Unconfirmed reports say hundreds of innocent Southern Cameroonians youths have been killed and buried in mass graves in the Soa locality near Yaoundé. Prominent Anglophone judges and lawyers have been arrested. These are war crimes, documented on the ground and in appalling TV and social media footage.

The only prominent Anglophone citizen in the Biya regime, Prime Minister Yang Philemon has failed to take genuine actions to tackle the escalation, arising from La Republique du Cameroun’s ruthless military campaign to bully Southern Cameroonians to submission. The 84 year old President Biya’s failure to engage the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium on the Anglophone crisis adds to uncertainty over the fragmented peace that reigns in the country.

Taking advantage

The political rhetoric coming out of Yaoundé has been very telling. Francophone media gurus have described the Anglophone people as “rats”. President Biya in his nationwide address said Anglophones were extremists and terrorists. Higher Education Minister, Fame Ndongo observed that Southern Cameroonians were like a fly in an ointment. The Biya regime is taking advantage of the division that exists among the Southern Cameroon groups both at home and in the Diaspora to assert its military and political roles in the territory while Abuja is cautious on supporting the Consortium for fear of an escalation into war with Biafra.

Whoever wins in this current Anglophone crisis will have to deal with an armed conflict in the nearest future. In the meantime, Prime Minister Philemon Yang is struggling alone to develop a coherent approach to the diplomacy on the Southern Cameroons crisis amid demands by Southern Cameroonians that the Biya Francophone government should do more by releasing all Anglophone detainees including the leaders of the Consortium, reinstate internet services in Southern Cameroons and engaged in meaning dialogue with the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium.

Philemon Yang’s recent decision to tour the Bamenda province of Southern Cameroons could be seen as another form of provocation coming from the Yaoundé regime. The Prime Minister is in the North West with nothing to offer. To be sure, his trip stresses nothing as regards to the connectedness, contestedness and complexity of happenings in Southern Cameroons. Biya should be at the center of the diplomacy on Southern Cameroons not Philemon Yang. Philemon Yang does not have the political acumen and authority to open small spaces that can lead to sane political solutions on the Anglophone problem. The Prime Minister’s Bamenda trip is not a worthy endeavour.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The actualization of the Independence and Sovereignty of Southern Cameroons

08/03/2017

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.

Francophone newspaper announces the creation of a Southern Cameroons Defense Force

07/03/2017

The Francophone Beti Ewondo political newspaper, La Nouvelle has again published a report aimed at the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The Yaoundé based tabloid reported on its March 6, 2017 edition that the Consortium have created an army called the “Southern Cameroon Defense Forces”. The Francophone newspaper added that the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium had previously sent threatening messages to President Biya in which they announced that Southern Cameroonians were contributing money for the purchase of very sophisticated weapons.

The paper sponsored by barons of the Biya Francophone regime observed that the weapons were already in circulation in West Cameroon. In its attempt to make it look real to the French Cameroun public opinion, La Nouvelle revealed that the military hardware were smuggled to Cameroon through the same circuit as the flags and gadgets used by activists during the demonstrations organized in the Northwest and South-West regions.

The newspaper La Nouvelle, had in some previous editions, maintained that the oil fields of the Bakassi peninsula was one of the major stakes of the Anglophone crisis. The editors of the said publication reportedly have access to heavy government funding and are encouraging the massive rapes, extra judicial killings and arrest by the Cameroun army in Southern Cameroons.

La Nouvelle also stated that the goal of the Southern Cameroon Defense Forces would be to: “train, sensitize young people to the creation of an armed front, to fight law enforcement forces in the Northwest and South-West regions.” La Nouvelle indicated that the rebellion in the making is headed by Nsoh Foncha Nkem, who has declared himself Chief of Defense Staff of Southern Cameroon. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands Nsoh Foncha Nkem loves posting pictures of him in military attire on his Face Book page even before the Anglophone revolution started in 2016.

By Rita Akana

US: Senator Bernie Sanders says Trump cannot continue to lie, lie, lie

07/03/2017

US Democratic lawmakers have denounced as “ridiculous” President Donald Trump’s claims that his predecessor, Barack Obama, wiretapped his telephones during the 2016 presidential campaign. On Monday, senators of the Democratic Party vehemently criticized the new president over the baseless claims he had made two days earlier, describing Trump’s accusations as an attempt to distract officials and the public from renewed scrutiny of his senior aides and allies’ alleged ties to Russia and the interference of Moscow in the last year election.

Senator Bernie Sanders slammed Trump’s claims in a tweet, saying, “President Trump cannot continue to lie, lie, lie,” adding that, “It diminishes the office of the president and our standing in the world.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that the president was trying to create a distraction and referred to Trump as a “deflector-in-chief.” “That’s just ridiculous for President Trump to say that President Obama would ever order any wiretap of an American citizen, any president,” Pelosi said. “It’s the tool of an authoritarian to have them always be talking about what you want to be talking about.”

US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a press conference at the National Press Club on February 27, 2017 in Washington,DC. (Photo by AFP)

In an interview with NBC News, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said Obama had “flatly denied that he has done this,” adding that the claims by Trump showed that “the president’s in trouble.” “It’s beneath the dignity of the presidency. It is something that really hurts people’s view of government,” Schumer noted. “If he falsely spread this kind of misinformation, that is so wrong.”

US Senate Minority Leader Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) takes questions during a news briefing on January 10, 2017 at the Capitol in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Chris Coons, the Democratic Senator from Delaware, called the allegations made by Trump “remarkable,” saying that, “I think another attempt by President Trump to change the subject.” Coons (pictured below) noted that he does not think any president should ever “directly order an intercept or wiretap of an American citizen.”

The Democratic Senator raised the possibilities that either Trump “inappropriately released classified information and was himself the subject of a court-ordered wiretap” or there was “inappropriate actions by the previous administration.” “It ought to be worked out in a full, fair, prompt and thorough investigation, whether by the Senate Intelligence Committee, if they can get to the bottom of this, or by a special prosecutor,” Coons noted.

The comments are made as Obama’s intelligence chief, James Clapper, has rejected the claims and a spokesman for Obama dismissed the accusation as “simply false.” FBI Director James Comey has reportedly asked the Justice Department to publicly reject Trump’s claim because it falsely insinuates that the agency broke the law.

According to officials, the move has potential risks for the president, particularly if the House and Senate intelligence committees unearth damaging information about Trump, his aides or his associates.

The new unsubstantiated claims by Trump and the continued political wrangling over ties with Russia will likely heighten the seemingly-unending tensions and controversies that have thrown the new administration into disarray and chaos.

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