Politics

Dear President Biya,
I take this opportunity to write this letter concerning the ongoing situation in Cameroon, which I am deeply convinced is unnecessary, disruptive, and, which I believe is an insult to progress.  I also believe it should be stopped and abandoned within a reasonable time under reasonable circumstances.

 First of all, I find it very difficult to believe that the people in West Cameroon are being alienated from the rest of the world because they are Anglophones, and that they do not have access to basic amenities such as mobile phone service, and the internet.  My question is: Are you discriminating against English speakers in Cameroon alone, or across the globe as well? This is not good!

I apologize if I am wrong, but, is it a crime to speak English in Africa, or Cameroon? Does the English-speaking citizens of Cameroon have to purchase a license to use the internet or mobile phones? If so, why, Mr. President? Are you aware that these current restrictions are antithetical?

Secondly, I speak on behalf of the millions who have no voice in matters of government in your country, because I think that since you have started your military campaign to debase and intimidate certain groups, you have literally silenced many in their ability to communicate with the rest of the world.
 
 In saying this, I think that many would agree that it is a sad thing when someone cannot communicate with his own people, Mr. President.  It becomes more critical when you cannot be heard by your own people, news media, and government, in the country of your birth and nationality! 

Thirdly, I am fearful for the lives of many, particularly of those who have become victims of rape, physical violence and blatant insults from members of the armed forces! I am also fearful for the peacemakers among you who strive to make this world a better place for everyone in their path.
 
The question remains as to why people who live in the greatest continent on planet Earth are being guided by hate, prejudice and ethnic bias and mistrust towards each other?  Are we seeing a new version of Apartheid on the African continent? Is this a transformation process toward progress, or, is it a regime of strife?

Mr. President, just recently, an English speaking representative of West Cameroon voiced his concerns in Parliament about the public wrongs he witnessed first-hand.  What public offence would a pregnant woman in Cameroon do that would subject her to such physical violence that she should have a miscarriage?  

This is a total disrespect of life and the perpetrators should be swiftly brought to justice. Why are elected public officials being threatened by armed forces for speaking out for their rights? Have you forgotten what government is all about in Cameroon?

Finally, Mr. President, if the people of Cameroon take to the streets to protest for their freedom, they have every right to do so without insult from their government. Are they not sons and daughters of the soil just like those who do so in other parts of Africa?
Mr. President, your people are the greatest and most important resource in your nation. They should not be ruled by fear, divisiveness, or political violence. Remember, a father or a mother should not discriminate between their children.

I hope and pray that you take my words to heart for the sake of many whose lives and livelihood are at stake.

--concerned US citizen

Details

Rita Akana

31.Mar.2017

Hits: 4293

The Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Massena Ngale Bibehe has extended registration deadline for the fourth time the General Certificate of Education Examinations, GCE to April 15, 2017.

In an order signed today, the exam has been extended by two weeks in examination centers in Buea and Bamenda. In the meantime, there will be no Easter holiday for examination students in the Anglophone regions.

As they will use the period to catch up for lost time due to the ongoing crisis.

Details

Rita Akana

31.Mar.2017

Hits: 3621

“The spokesman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees pointed out, during a press conference granted on March 21, 2017 in Geneva, the concerns of the UNHCR relating to the alleged forceful repatriation by Cameroon of Nigerian refugees since the beginning of the year 2016. He notably described a situation “where some refugees who were arrested during a military attack against the Boko Haram insurgency, were transported in trucks to a camp of the displaced persons at Banki. Among those forcibly returned were found a one year old child and a woman who was nine months pregnant who latter put to birth a day after their arrival at Banki.”
The Government of Cameroon strongly refutes these ungrounded and particularly unjust allegations which are somehow intended to undermine the image of a country whose meritorious efforts to host refugees are unanimously lauded, including by the High Commissioner for Refugees. 
With regard to the facts on the ground, it is important to highlight that, on March 20, 2017, while fleeing the Nigerian army operations against the Boko Haram terrorist group, 841 Nigerian nationals, including 154 men, 288 women and 399 children, found themselves in Cameroon. They were welcomed by the elements of the Cameroonian army based in the Lafia locality, who, with the means at their disposal, gave them all the necessary assistance in terms of food and medical care.
Considering the general fatigue conditions of these refugees, in which some sustained injuries through bullets, coupled with the remote location of the Minawao camp, the Cameroonian authorities, under the effective supervision of the local HCR bureau and in collaboration with the relevant Nigerian authorities, undertook to organize their safe return in their country. For this purpose, civilian trucks were requisitioned in support of military vehicles. In all, 905 Nigerian nationals (over sixty new refugees who were added to the other 841), were regrouped and transported to Banki in Nigeria, and handed over to the Nigerian authorities, in the morning of March 21, 2017. None of them expressed the desire to stay in Cameroon.
These operations took place in strict compliance with the provisions contained in the Tripartite Agreement signed on March 2, 2017 as part of the voluntary return of Nigerian refugees living in Cameroon.
The Government of Cameroon would like to express its profound disapproval and to raise the strongest possible protest against the aforementioned allegations which are profoundly unjust and unacceptable. In matters of hospitality, Cameroon has no lesson to learn from anyone. The country has always hosted a good number of refugees who find asylum in our territory. The local Cameroonian authorities, known for their legendary hospitality and solidarity, have always spontaneously hosted these helpless persons. Notwithstanding the end of conflicts which justified their departure from their country of origin, many refugees have nevertheless chosen to stay in Cameroon.   
Today, Cameroon hosts over 550,000 refugees, mostly nationals of the Central African Republic and Nigeria. But there are also some former Chadian, Rwandan and Burundian refugees. With regard to Nigerian refugees, more than 87,000 persons are currently present in Cameroon. Over 60,000 of these Nigerian refugees are hosted in the Minawao camp, initially set up for 20, 000 people and whose hosting capacity is today far exceeded. Thousands of other Nigerian refugees are received by host families, yet with very limited resources. This influx of refugees is a particularly heavy burden for public authorities, as well as host communities who do not have enough resources but have to bear considerable pressure.
The paramount responsibility of the Cameroonian Government relates to its own populations, who are suffering a great deal as a result of the current security crisis and its consequences. To date, the Far-North Region of Cameroon records over 200,000 internally displaced persons who have been obliged to abandon their houses and activities in border areas due to Boko Haram atrocities. They have been relocated in other villages away from the border. Yet, in the same vein it has been established that only a small part of the Nigerian territory is affected by the atrocities of the Boko Haram terrorist group. It would therefore appear logical that Nigerian nationals who are running away from the areas that are wreaked by this sect be relocated in more secure parts of their country. This is also the substance of the Cameroon/Nigeria/UNHCR Tripartite Agreement of March 2, 2017. Cameroon, despite its generosity and sense of hospitality, does not intend to become a vast open-air refugee camp.
Cameroon has served – and continues to serve – as sanctuary for a number of helpless persons. Rather than being criticized, Cameroon needs an increased support from the international community to be able to bear the burden of this humanitarian crisis, in order to ensure decent living conditions and guarantee a promising future to refugees and displaced persons. The aforementioned ungrounded allegations can offend and frustrate the populations who have always showcased generosity towards refugees.
Cameroon reaffirms that it intends to continue keeping to its international commitments in matters of assistance and protection of refugees, and to remain faithful to the compassionate attitude that has always directed its actions in response to the distress of people seeking asylum on its territory.”

Details

Rita Akana

31.Mar.2017

Hits: 2017

Back in the 1990s, thousands of Cameroonians were not only willing… thousands accepted to be brutalized during street protests and rallies. Hundreds of thousands joined ghost town campaigns. Tens of thousands accepted to be arrested, detained, tortured, raped, “disappeared” or killed.

It was, they considered, a small price to pay for the ideal they were fighting for. Only few guessed or could have imagined then that they would be rewarded with one-man rule for over a quarter of a century. Few of those who fervently believed in the magic of “power to the people” could have imagined that the opposition political party they fought so hard to build and for which so many were killed would – by 2017 - become one of Cameroon’s least democratic political parties.

Welcome to the Social Democratic Front (SDF)! Welcome to the shameful legacy of the once endearing SDF leader, Ni John Fru Ndi. This is the same politician… I beg your pardon… this is the demagogue whom younger SDF colleagues – like Hon. Joseph Wirba and yours truly – did not hesitate to referred to as “Pa”. This is the man who had millions chanting the “Papa eeeellleee… Yayayoooo” as he took to the soapbox. Twenty-seven years after, one thing is obvious: how the mighty have fallen! You would be ashamed to brag about such a record… except if you are Mr. Fru Ndi, who apparently does not know how not to.

Definitely irked by the fact that one parliamentarian (Hon. Joseph Wirba) has, indeed, stolen his political thunder, Mr. Fru Ndi used a recent media outing (interview granted Equinoxe TV and aired by CRTV) to find a very public way of hauling that Member of Parliament (MP) under the bus. The SDF leader is apparently so irked he cannot even bring himself into recognizing the MP by his name or title.

The Fru Ndi Rant, as it should be called, begins with words to the following effect: “One of the SDF parliamentarians, Joe Wirba… after he talked in parliament… He came. I congratulated him,” says Mr. Fru Ndi. Only a few seconds later, he admits: “I cautioned him”.

Question: which is which? Did Mr. Fru Ndi “congratulate” or “caution” Hon. Wirba? Did he do both?

The case Mr. Fru Ndi makes for the political crucifixion of Hon. Wirba accuses the MP of daring to be himself; not the SDF… of daring to speak up in support of Southern Cameroonians, whereas the SDF would have preferred their massacre. Ahmadou Ahidjo would have been very proud of Mr. Fru Ndi when he says the following of Hon. Wirba: “He talked more from a personal point of view - I, not we. He talked not from the point of view of the party”. Ni John Fru Ndi wants viewers to know he was generous with advice to Hon. Wirba. “He should make sure that when he is talking he is talking as an SDF member”. Translation? How dare anyone within the SDF outshine Fru Ndi? If Hon. Wirba had such a powerful speech, why did he not let the boss deliver it?

Like all rants, this one opens a window into Mr. Fru Ndi’s heart. What the viewer sees is a man who, after 27 years of “come-no-go” rule, remains anxious to advertise the party as “private” property; not open to those who, like Hon. Wirba, he lambasts as “opportunists”.

“Is the SDF a place for opportunists?”, he asks, really meaning to say: “only one opportunist is welcome here”. The SDF, he adds, is not “where you come and start your own thing and you are running in your direction and expect the party to follow you”.

Got that, Hon. Wirba? Don’t try to run for president or prime minister from the one seat Mr. Fru Nid already occupies. And, please know that no one who wants to still be around would join you. Not other MPs. Not the Divisional Coordinator of the SDF for Bui Division. Not the mayor. Never mind that thousands of the people turned out to encourage you at that rally. This is no longer the “power to the people” party.

What Does Cautioning Hon. Wirba Mean?

Even if it is hard, let us still try to understand what Mr. Fru Ndi cautioned Hon. Wirba about. Did the SDF leader caution the MP from Jakiri not to decry the rape of his niece at the University of Buea by security forces? Did he caution Hon. Wirba not to ask to many questions about colonialism? Questions like: “does the president know that the governors and SDOs sent to West Cameroon behave like colonizers”? Did Mr. Fru Ndi caution Hon. Wirba to keep quiet about being told by cabinet ministers that Southern Cameroonians were supposed to melt like cubes of sugar in a bowl of water? Did Mr. Fru Ndi caution Hon. Wirba not to tell the colonial regime that “the people of West Cameroon cannot be your slaves”? Did he caution Hon. Wirba to say, instead, that Yaounde conquered Buea in war? Would Mr. Fru Ndi have preferred no one accused Yaounde of having a “master plan to finish our culture” in West Cameroon?

When the SDF leader says Hon. Wirba did not speak on behalf of the party, is it because the SDF does not really stand for federalism? When Mr. Fru Ndi claims (with TV cameras rolling) that the MP from Jakiri did not speak for the party, can anyone imagine what Mr. Fru Ndi has said to the colonial regime (with the cameras off)? If Hon. Wirba got so much love from Mr. Fru Ndi for calling Southern Cameroons West Cameroon, what exactly has Mr. Ndi said about Hon. Nji, whose speech from the same floor of parliament, preferred the name Southern Cameroons? Imagine what the SDF leader feels about the MP from Bafut speaking up so eloquently on behalf of the people during a meeting with Premier Yang?

Happily, Mr. Fru Ndi’s rant educates Southern Cameroonians about the profound depths of dictatorship into which the SDF has sunk. MPs for the SDF, he says, are not authorized to hold any views of their own. They are legislators for the party. Never mind the people.

Without trading one evil for another, it is worth pointing out that even the ruling CPDM proved more tolerant of their MPs holding their own views. While still an MP for the CPDM, Hon. Paul Ayah Abine resigned from that party in January 2011, more than a year ahead of end of the term in 2012. The CPDM did not deliver him give him up for arrest until five years later.

Not Possible to Fool the People All the Time

By playing “cry baby”, Mr. Fru Ndi has brought attention to and highlighted the magnanimity of Hon. Wirba, as shown in his letter. Unlike Ni John Fru Ndi, Hon. Wirba knows that in Biya’s Cameroon “laws exist only on paper”. He knows that “the real law of the land is the absolute authority of the president” and that the president “rules by the barrel of the gun”.

However hard Mr. Fru Ndi tries, he and the SDF people like him and Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam have made a hostage won’t fool the people and won’t certainly undo what I call the Wirba Shine. Who has forgotten how Hon. Mbah Ndam claimed that the terrorism law which is now being used to imprison Southern Cameroonians did not curb civil liberties? Shortly after that counter-terrorism legislation was passed Hon. Mbah Ndam claimed that the law “has not limited the right of anybody”. He added that the law “has not deprived Cameroonians of their right to public manifestations (sic); it has not deprived political parties of holding public rallies and manifestations (sic) against evils committed by the government”. This is the same Hon. Mbah Ndam who claimed that “the military tribunal that exists in Cameroon today is no longer that murderous military tribunal of old”. He said the regime follows “due process”.

Just as Mr. Fru Ndi was the man of the hour in 1990, Hon. Wirba is the man of the hour today. Sadly, this is the same Fru Ndi who does not want to get out of the way for younger politicians like Hon. Wirba to follow despite being on record saying: “I have done my best. If citizens feel disgruntled with the regime, they should lead a protest march and I will support them”, adding: “Let them lead and I will follow”. Mr. Fru Ndi has never wanted to follow despite admitting two years ago that his party had failed Cameroonians and that he was giving up. “We have fought so hard to change things in parliament, but failed”, Mr. Fru Ndi confessed.

What is the logic of saying the above and then trying so hard to prevent Hon. Wirba from taking “the bold step to cry out against the regime’s systematic enslavement of the people of West Cameroon”? Those of us who, like Hon. Wirba, felt we developed a “Father-Son” relationship while working with Mr. Fru Ndi and the SDF, wonder why the SDF indulges in such betraying silence. Hon. Wirba is right. Mr. Fru Ndi no longer stands by or speaks up for the people. Not even when the people need him the most, as Hon. Wirba did. Mr. Fru Ndi’s “complete silence on such a capital issue” as the independence of Southern Cameroons - which also touches “every West Cameroonian at home or abroad” – enocurages the oppressors (the colonizers) to hunt all our people down with impunity. As in Hon. Wirba’s case, silence on the independence of Southern Cameroons has forced all of us Southern Cameroonians to realize that we are on our own. For with a democrat like Fru Ndi, no Southern Cameroonian needs a dictator.

Details

Ntumfoyn Boh Herbert

30.Mar.2017

Hits: 4044

His Excellency The National Chairman SDF Party
Your Excellency
7. March 2017

I hope you are in good health knowing that the upheavals in the country even denied you the opportunity to rest after your operation. We are lucky to have such a selfless leader in you who can sacrifice his health to be there for the people. God will continue blessing you for your countless sacrifices you are tirelessly making to serve your people. When the few fall to see your great efforts, the many will see, and that many includes God who sees and knows even what is hidden in every human heart. Thank you for the great work you arc doing for the nation.

 The times have been tough on me but I must apologize for the long silence. I was very well aware of what this violent government would want to do to me after what I said and did. The order for my arrest was given on the 20. of January 2017 by Mbarga Nguele on the instructions of the SG at the presidency In collaboration with the minister of Interior. I got the signals on the 19. of January and that same day they came for me. Using the old tactics you taught us from the 90s, I led them in my car to a secure location, parked the car there, went into the building and quickly took care of my safety. They spent that whole day and night waiting by the car before realizing what had happened.

There were friends, militants and relatives who kept reminding me that I had parliamentary immunity_ But I knew Cameroon better from our struggle at the inception of our great Party, in the early 1990s, that laws exist only on paper and the real law of the land, is the absolute authority of the President who rules by the barrel of the gun! With that in mind I took no chances and worked extra hard to stay safe. A week later I finally realized that the telex for my arrest had two names on it: Wirba JOSEPH SDF MP and AYAH PAUL ABINE I
I have attached a copy to this letter.

 Your Excellency, as your son and one of those who stood up to be counted at the birth of the SDF, I owe you the truth about how I feel. My truth is that during this very trying moment, you my leader did not stand by me or even speak up for me when I needed it most! I may be wrong my Chairman, but I think that your complete silence on such a capital issue I raised, and which touched every West Cameroonian at home and abroad at heart, encouraged our oppressors to hunt me down with impunity! Your silence made me realize that I was on my own, and being a man who can stand on his own feet, I went ahead to defend our people and myself the best way I could. And thanks be to God the People stood by me, defended me, protected me and kept me safe.

 When I took the bold step to cry out against the regime's systematic enslavement of the people of West Cameroon, I knew what the consequences could be; disapproval and rejection from some, jail, exile and even death. I have no regrets at all. if the price i have to pay for standing up for our people my life, then it is a price i stand ready to pay.

Thanks a million Your Excellency and best wishes of good health to you.

Details

Rita Akana

29.Mar.2017

Hits: 5141

Gathered around the "Alternance 2018" movement, the opposition parties had planned to nominate a candidate in March to take their vote in the election. The initiative has so far gone comatose

"Alternance 2018", a movement of the civil society created by Florent Ndzana, proposed to organize in March the very first primaries of the Cameroonian opposition. But his initiative remains, so far, a far fetched dream

The opposition remains deeply divided over the choice of a single candidate for the 2018 presidential election while the Cameroon People Democratic Movement (CPDM) celebrated on March 24 its 32 years in power.

According to the chronogram adopted by the civil society movement "Alternance 2018", it was on March 15th that the primaries had to begin with a view to choosing the Cameroonian opposition candidate in next year's presidential election .

The date of 15 March has come, but was not respected when due. 

"The primaries are still in sight. We have run into many administrative barriers and  the reluctance of some people. However, the leaders of the parties have  agree to organize the primaries to designate a Cameroonian opposition candidate, "said Marie Jeanne Abega, regional delegate of the" Alternance 2018 "movement for the central region of Yaoundé.

According to her, a dozen opposition political parties and as many civil society organizations have already signed up to the 2018 Alternative movement.

A move that calls for a massive vote in favor of a single opposition candidate to overcome the CPDM, the ruling party for 32 years in Cameroon.

History recalls that the failure of a single opposition candidate had already been recorded in 2004.

John Fru Ndi, president of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), rejected the choice of his opponent Adamou Ndam Njoya of the UDC.

Fru Ndi had been eliminated because he did not speak French, one of the official languages of Cameroon. A criterion that is still contained in the declaration of candidature proposed by the Alternance 2018 movement to the leaders of the political parties of the Cameroonian opposition.

Nevertheless, since 2004, the main political forces of the opposition are divided on the idea of a single candidature.

"The actors who currently dominate the main opposition parties have so much mistrust and distrust among them," said Cameroon political scientist Njoya Moussa.

Added to this is the fact that John Fru Ndi's party does not want to share his leadership.

"In the opposition, the SDF believes that any regrouping of political formations must be done around it. However,  critics say this is the behind the  the failure of the opposition in Cameroon, "adds the teacher Njoya Moussa.

The position of the SDF has not changed on this principle of natural leadership.

"The SDF assumes and deserves its political place in the opposition,"  a memeber  of this party tells Camcord

The political hunt to the old guard of the opposition.

For its part, the union for the brotherhood UFP of Olivier Bile, adheres to the initiative of Alternance 2018 to nominate an opposition candidate for the 2018 presidential in Cameroon, but under one condition.

"We are political actors who want to bring a new dynamic to the future. It must now begin with these primaries, which for us constitute a non-negotiable condition, "affirms the president of the UFP,

The Cameroon people party of Edith Kah Walla welcomes with less enthusiasm the option of presenting a single candidate of the opposition.

"It is important to have credible elections in Cameroon. An election with two rounds clears of itself, the candidate that the opposition will support. But the current regime does not want a two-round presidential election, "said Edith Kah Walla, president of the Cameroon People Party.

With so many differences, some Cameroonians are skeptical about a single opposition candidacy during the 2018 presidential election.

Details

Rita Akana

28.Mar.2017

Hits: 8429