Politics
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's ruling party challenged his defeat in a Dec. 1 election at the Supreme Court on Tuesday as West African leaders failed to reach a deal that would see him accept the result and end a deepening political crisis.
Soldiers also seized the headquarters of the national elections commission and sealed it off just hours before the mediation delegation representing regional bloc ECOWAS touched down in the tiny riverside nation.
Jammeh, who has ruled Gambia since taking power in a 1994 coup and is accused of widespread rights abuses, initially conceded defeat to his main challenger, Adama Barrow. But in a dramatic about-face that drew international condemnation he then rejected the poll results last Friday.
The legal petition filed by the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction now raises the prospect that Barrow's narrow victory, which was poised to end years of Jammeh's autocratic rule, may be overturned.
"The petition prays that it be determined that the said Adama Barrow was not duly elected or returned as president and that the said election was void," read the text of the document submitted to the court and seen by Reuters.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel peace laureate, led the ECOWAS delegation that also included Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana's John Mahama, who lost an election last week and conceded defeat.
"It is not time for a deal. It is not something that can happen in one day. It is something that we have to work on," Johnson Sirleaf said as the presidents prepared to leave Gambia.
Regional leaders will discuss the crisis at an ECOWAS summit in Nigeria on Saturday, she said, adding Jammeh had given her assurances that peace and stability would be preserved.
But in an apparent sign that Jammeh was further entrenching his position, security forces seized control of the Independent Electoral Commission headquarters, which holds the original poll records.
"The military came to my office and said I am not to touch anything and told me to leave," said commission chairman Alieu Momarr Njai. "I am worried for my safety."
Reuters
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 1799
Cameroon's Minister of Communication says that Government can't dialogue with the SCNC until they constitute themselves into a political party. Issa Tchiroma Bakary was speaking in Yaounde Saturday as he gave government's position on the upheavals in the English-speaking regions of the country.
Reacting to a question, from Kini Nsom, journalist at The Post newspaper and member of the National Press Card Commission, he reiterated that the SCNC is an illegal movement and can't discuss with Biya unless they operate under a legalised political platform.
Tchiroma strongly condemned the recent hoisting of the Ambazonian flag in Bamenda and later Kumba. Promising a harsh dose of sanctions on scape goats. "Perpetrators of the protests will face the rigor of the law and receive the rightly deserved punishment for the abuses .The state will leave no stone unturned to keep the laws of the republic. The government will fulfill its mission of protecting the population, property and guarantee freedom of movement of citizens. " he warned.
The former critic, now disciple of the Biya regime mocked recent calls for a return to federalism by angry Anglophones, qualifying it as "Secessionist."
The communication minister also promised to track down social media activists who "derail" public opinion. "The state will do everything in its power with support of friendly countries to search, arrest and take to court those who are misinforming, inciting hatred on social media." he hammered.
While expressing the sympathy of the head of state to families whose closed ones were shot in Bamenda, the songbird backed the trigger happy soldiers for, "handling the street protest professionally and with strict respect for human rights."
Tchiroma also said the head of state has not given a deaf ear to the demands of the striking lawyers and teachers and that proper solutions will be reached to put the situation under control. He maintains that, "there is no Anglophone problem."
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 2649
The President of the Cameroon Peoples Party, CPP has lashed out at government for its recklessness resulting in the death of people in Bamenda. Edith Kah Walla has blamed administrative and security forces for not banning the CPDM party in a city that has "expressed its rejection of the current government."
FULL STATEMENT HERE IN:
STOP THE KILLING IN #BAMENDA !
Today, live bullets were fired on the youth of Bamenda as they took to the streets to protest the holding of a CPDM rally in their town.
The reason for political parties declaring meetings in Cameroon is to enable the forces of law and order to determine whether the security situation will allow the meeting to hold without risk to human beings.
Everyday in this country opposition parties are told they cannot hold their meetings because hey might trouble public order (trouble à l'ordre public).
Are you meaning to tell me that when the CPDM decided to hold its meeting in #Bamenda at this very moment when #Bamenda has loudly and clearly expressed its rejection of the current government;
The divisional officer, the senior divisional officer, the governor, the heads of different armed forces branches, the President of the Republic who happens to be the president of that particular party, NOBODY, not one of these people could imagine that with #Bamenda being in the state it is, having this meeting was not a good idea?
Since yesterday, #Bamenda Boys were circulating messages on social media that they would not stand for a CPDM Unity March in their town, still no one thought that this political party's meeting should be cancelled?
Would any opposition party have been allowed to hold a meeting, not to talk of a march in these conditions? Why oh why has our government lost all of its senses?!?!
It would be amusing, were it not for the fact that those children lying on the ground are our children, not theirs.
It would be amusing were it not for the fact that this government has pushed people to the edge to the point where a significant number want leave the union.
It would be amusing were it not for the fact that this is our lives, the lives of our children, our present our future.
We are not amused.
Today more than ever, we must stand in solidarity with the anglophone regions. Francophones must stand up and cry out against the state murder of our children, leaders must stand up, join hands and take whatever action necessary to stop this killing.
Reports from Bamenda talk of 5, 6, 10, 16 dead. Whatever the actual figure it is too many. We cannot stand by and watch. We must take action. We must come together and put an end to the killing of our children.
- Details
- Peter Nsoesie
- Hits: 2962
Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical province have written a press statement appealing to teachers to call off their strike.
While in the same release the clergymen openly saluted the government for their unflinching strive to negotiate with the teachers from the anglophone expression of Cameroon.
They asked the teachers not to mix themselves with political.
This particular release has brought mixed feelings to some Christians who thinks the mouths of the clergymen have been rubbed with groundnut oil.
Cameroontoday
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 4357
As Prime Minister Yang Philemon and CPDM SG Kuete lead their militants for the supposed showdown at Bongo square in Buea today, yesterday's effervescent and cracking spectacle at the Molyko stadium also situated in Buea, should be keeping them in limbo. Cameroons Opposition party (SDF) chairman John Fru Ndi himself who was star man yesterday must also be ruminating over the show which surely must have given him more to think than he ever imagined when he conceived the idea
The first of take home lessons from that event is that Anglophones no longer talk of a problem. They have the solution which ranges from moderate (federalism) to extremist (sessesion).
Anglophones have a VOICE . For the young and old to have FEARLESSLY raised messages of independence and sessesion despite heavy security is something that must have given the Governor, the DO and the Mayor a traumatizing night. It is a psychological defeat for a regime which has always thought it could supress such ideas with brute force and motions of support
The SDF is the only party in the country that has so far taken to heart this problem. Unlike other parties who limit themselves to circulars, the SDF has remained firm in its stance.
Though Fru Ndi could have used the event to pull a publicity stunt for his party, but the people have a louder voice that can not be drowned by any party coming into the struggle. That is why the senior citizen could not preach his philosophy of Federalism as he saw mammoth calls for independence overshadowed any agenda he wanted to disseminate.
CPDM rallies in Buea today and Bamenda Thursday do not reflect the views of the population who are increasingly disgruntled with govt indifference and provocative acts of violence.
Dialogue right now remains the way out. The head of state should personally interfer and resolve this ASAP. The population must remain responsible and stay away from any conflict with security forces.
The UN should be warming up to adress the matter if national avenues have been exhausted
- Details
- Peter Nsoesie
- Hits: 4081
Flying in aid workers by helicopter to remote, hard-to-reach areas previously cut off from help by Boko Haram violence across northeast Nigeria has provided more than 45,000 people with aid over the past week, the United Nations said Thursday.
Many of those receiving aid have received little or no assistance so far, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said.
A military push against the jihadist group Boko Haram has enabled troops to enter remote parts of northeast Nigeria in the last few months, but insecurity and the fear of violence has restricted access to some areas by road for many aid agencies.
Many children at risk
Some 4.6 million people are going hungry across the region, of whom two million need food aid urgently, the WFP said.
"These missions help avert famine and aim to reach tens of thousands of hungry people stranded in remote areas or in areas difficult to access due to insecurity," WFP's country director for Nigeria, Sory Ouane, said in a statement.
Around 400,000 children are at risk from famine in the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe — 75,000 of whom could die from hunger within months, the United Nations says.
"Our teams will carry out emergency missions as long as needed," Ouane added.
More help on the way
The WFP plans to fly in teams of aid workers across the northeast a dozen times a month — backed up by food delivered by road where possible — to provide support to some 300,000 people.
In some parts of the region, more than half of children under the age of five are malnourished, according to the WFP.
But hunger and malnutrition rates have improved hugely in areas that have become accessible in recent months, Ouane said.
Militants displace thousands
Boko Haram militants have killed about 15,000 people and displaced some 2.6 million in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria during a seven-year campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate.
The Islamist group still launches deadly attacks despite having been driven out of much of the territory it held in 2014.
VOA
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 2387
Subcategories
Biya Article Count: 73
# Paul Biya and his regime
Explore the political landscape of Cameroon under the rule of Paul Biya, the longest-serving president in Africa who has been in power since 1982. Our Paul Biya and his regime section examines the policies, actions, and controversies of his government, as well as the opposition movements, civil society groups, and international actors that challenge or support his leadership. You'll also find profiles, interviews, and opinions on the key figures and events that shape the political dynamics of Cameroon.
Southern Cameroons Article Count: 549
.# Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia
Learn more about the history, culture, and politics of Ambazonia, the Anglophone regions of Cameroon that have been seeking self-determination and independence from the Francophone-dominated central government. Our Southern Cameroons section covers the ongoing conflict, the humanitarian crisis, the human rights violations, and the peace efforts in the region. You'll also find stories that highlight the rich and diverse heritage, traditions, and aspirations of the Southern Cameroonian people.
Editorial Article Count: 885
# Opinion
Get insights and perspectives on the issues that matter to Cameroon and the world with our opinion section. We feature opinions from our editors, columnists, and guest writers, who share their views and analysis on various topics, such as politics, economy, culture, and society. Our opinion section also welcomes contributions from our readers, who can submit their own opinions and comments. Join the conversation and express your opinions with our opinion section.
