Politics

Cameroon, situated politically in Central Africa and geographically in West Africa is reputed for its uneven distribution of development projects.

If the architects of the reunification of Cameroon were still alive, then they would not only be regarded as traitors but they would have to explain why the 1961 plebiscite wherein they encouraged Southern Cameroonians to sign for a 50/50 economic development and political power sharing is yet to yield any fruits.

50 years after the reunification of the former British and French Cameroons, the former is not just deserted and abandoned to itself in the socio-economic and political aspects of life but equally, none of the clauses of the reunification is being respected.
French speaking regions developing very fast

In French-speaking regions of #Cameroon which constitute 80 percent of the national territory and population, the development of air, land and water transport systems is evolving at the speed of light. Talking about #air transport, the French-speaking part of Cameroon can as of now boast of at least three international airports namely, the Douala, Yaounde and Garoua airports not forgetting the newly created national travel routes to Bafoussam. These are  now all operational.
With the plethora of air routes already established in Francophone Cameroon, one will expect at least more from a nation which reunified on a 50/50 basis. Anglophones  compose the minority, occupying barely 20% of the national territory with two regions, the North West and South West.
English speaking infrastructure a ghost of the old days

Air transport which originally started in the English Speaking part of Cameroon is today a ghost of its former self. The Tiko airport constructed by the Germans during the pre-colonial period around the 1940s is today a mirror of what it used to be.

As the Female African Cup of Nations to be hosted by the South West and Center regions was announced, Anglophones in the South West Region breathed a sigh of relief as it was proclaimed that the Tiko airport was to be renovated and used to transport teams before, during and after the competition in Limbe.

As expected, the project died a natural death and recently the main road leading to the airport that was linked by an age-old bridge constructed during the pre-colonial period collapsed, handicapping the residents of the area and putting the road users in a difficult situation.

In the North West Region, the story is a similar one. A demarcated piece of land in Bali -Nyonga that at first was set aside for the construction of the Bamenda International airport has been turned into a hunting ground where idle youths go for hunting.
The Bafut military airstrip

A tiny one found in Bafut and used by the military has in recent years received a lot of criticism due to its soft nature of the ground which does not permit heavy aircraft above a certain number of tons to land on it.

Anglophone pressure groups, trade unions, lawyers and teachers among others have continued to decry the unjust treatment and uneven distribution of development projects even though they say their regions (North West and south West) are the breadbasket of Cameroon, having all the mineral deposits.
Calls for separation

While a group of individuals have classified themselves under the banner of the Ambazonia republic and are calling for the separation of the former British Southern Cameroons, the majority of the population remains indifferent with some focusing their minds on having just their daily bread.  

It has been announced that air routes will be extended to Bamenda. #reunification of Cameroon

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Amos Fofung

20.Oct.2016

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Rita Akana

19.Oct.2016

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Militants of the Cameroon Peoples’ Democratic Movement, CPDM, in Meme IB (Fiango) summoned for reconciliation on October 13, ended up trading insults at each other.

The meeting which held in a popular Hotel in Kumba II at the behest of the CPDM Meme Divisional Coordinator, Benjamin Mutanga Itoe, reportedly turned into a forum for insults among militants.

Steps taken to reconcile the warring camps of the Section collapsed at the last minutes. 

Information from the in-camera gathering holds that militants who dreamt of taking over control of Kumba II in 2013 surfaced with campaign posters.

The Post further gathered that Barrister Philip Awutah Atuba, one of the frontline militants of the party during the legislative elections condemned the character of certain individuals.

Awutah is quoted as having told the militants that, but for some money doublers, whose faces appeared on the campaign posters, the CPDM would have won in Kumba II.

He is said to have opened the old campaign posters pointing to the space the faces of certain individuals occupied.

The man of law said certain individuals with controversial backgrounds known in the society contributed to the defeat of the party.

Participants at the meeting who spoke to The Post on conditions of anonymity, said as Awutah ended his presentation, the Section President, Jocab Mbatchou Kay, sprang to his feet from the high table and challenged Awutah’s diction.

The Section President is said to have taken exception to Awutah’s comments and considered it detrimental to the Section at a time when it was looking forward to gathering steam.

Other militants also faulted the man of law for defending certain individuals in court, who are accused of grabbing land from the population. The militants told Benjamin Itoe that all those heading the party in Kumba II contributed to its failure.

Other militants pointed accusing fingers at the former Government Delegate to the Defunct Kumba Urban Council, Caven Nnoko Mbele, for contributing to the present challenges facing the party in Meme IB.

Nnoko Mbele, though hailed for peacefully reorganising the Section, was faulted for failing to reconcile the lists that emerged in 2013.

Gov’t Delegate Regrets Investment

Meanwhile, Kumba City Council Government Delegate, Victor Nkelle Ngoh, is said to have expressed regrets over huge investments made in the Section. Ngoh reportedly frowned at the inability of those heading the party to deliver the goods, despite multiple appeal letters sent to his office.

The City Council boss reportedly urged the warring factions to unite and overthrow the SDF.

Ngoh is quoted as having told the militants that the SDF Grand Councillors were less collaborative with his development vision for Kumba. Robert Ayuk, another militant is said to have retorted that Philip Awutah, Richard Njikam and other frontrunners of the party must share the blame.

Did The Imam Reject Reconciliation?

Reports hold that the Assistant Imam of the Fiango Central Mosque, Nasirou Ibrahim, who is enjoying the backing of many militants, failed to conclude on reconciling with the Mbatchou- led team.

Nasirou, who lost the Section Presidential race in 2015, was about endorsing the reconciliation meeting, when a cross section of militants in the hall shouted “don’t agree.”

Secret Meeting Held Ahead Of Reconciliation

Meantime, reports hold that a day before the reconciliation move, militants of the opposing camps held a secret meeting and mapped out strategies to frustrate the Benjamin Itoe-led reconciliation conclave.

Itoe is being criticised for neglecting other members of the bureau and working alone.

A militant of the party questioned why even the Charge de Mission has been side-lined on such serious matters. A second meeting has been scheduled for October 18 to finalise the reconciliation process.

Despite the gloomy start in Meme IB, the former Minister recorded success in Meme IC (Mambanda), where the reconciliation meeting reportedly went on without hitches.

The greatest Section to reconcile, observers hold, is Meme IA, where the strings between Itoe and the Nfon are strained.

Cameroonpostnewsline

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Rita Akana

19.Oct.2016

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 A suspicious package containing "components used in the making of explosives" were seized on Teusday, 18. October 2016  at the "Lux Travel" travel agency in Maroua. Two suspects who came to retrieve the "package" sent from Ngaoundere were arrested by elements of the BIR.According to a statement by the head of Lux Travel agency in Maroua.The Far North region of Cameroon, has been under a state of emergency and lock-down for security reasons.

Security sources said that since 2012, Boko Haram has set up a web of contacts in Cameroon enabling the extremist group to nab Western hostages and set up a trafficking network dealing in arms, vehicles and merchandise. 

In 2014, Cameroon went into battle to crack the network but has not managed to dismantle it. And ever since the Cameroonian army joined a regional military alliance to fight Boko Haram, the north has become a favoured target for the Islamists.

The porous border enables attackers to travel easily into Cameroon, where they can target gathering places such as markets and mosques.

In general, the explosives kill in a radius of around 50 metres (yards), said an officer from the rapid intervention battalion (BIR) tasked with battling Boko Haram.

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Rita Akana

18.Oct.2016

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The absence of the Head of State and wife has been a call for concern, as all Cameroonians keep wandering if their leader has surrendered powers to an unknown ruler.

Since he left the country on Sept. 16th on invitation to attend the UN General Assembly, there are no signs of his return, eventhough he is working in abstentia, appointing SDOs and firing others, sending his Ministers to represent him where he was supposed to be in person.

The rest of what we hear about him is the disgrace CODE is giving him wherever he goes, the numerous memorandums by different traditional rulers airing their own selfish grievances, the fights in the CPDM, where even top militants themselves are not sure of what is happening to the party etc.. 

"L'Epevier Newspaper" of today Oct. 17 got curious on the subject as well, but outlined that the First Lady had requested her husband to remove some of his Officials in place, and replace them with her own people, which became a bone of contention for the couple.

This unfounded story can however have some grounds, because the Head of State's long stay out of the country with eleven of his most trusted personnel, is an indication that they are working out something that will only be unfolded upon their arrival.

Whatever it is, one thing is certain. President Biya has had it up to the throat, and now that things are hot all round for him, he will rather prefer to do his best to kick whoever or whatever obstacle that has had a hand in his present crisis.

henrietteslounge.com

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Miss Tatchter

18.Oct.2016

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The Islamic State-allied faction of Boko Haram which last week freed 21 of more than 200 Chibok girls kidnapped in April 2014 in northeast Nigeria is willing to negotiate the release of 83 more of the girls, the president's spokesman said on Sunday.

Around 220 girls were taken from their school in 2014 in Chibok in northeastern Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state, killing thousands and displacing more than 2 million people.

A faction of the militant group released 21 of the girls on Thursday after the Red Cross and the Swiss government brokered a deal. They were brought from the northeastern city of Maiduguri to the capital Abuja to meet state officials.

"These 21 released girls are supposed to be tale bearers to tell the Nigerian government that this faction of Boko Haram has 83 more Chibok girls," Garba Shehu, spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

"The faction said it is ready to negotiate if the government is willing to sit down with them," said Shehu, adding that the state is prepared to negotiate with the branch of Boko Haram.

The Islamic State-allied splinter group said the rest of the kidnapped Chibok girls were with the part of Boko Haram under the control of figurehead Abubakar Shekau, according to Shehu.

Boko Haram has apparently split with a big group moving away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to guidance from the Iraq- and Syria-based Islamic State, which in August named Musab al-Barnawi as its new leader for West Africa.

But that appointment was later dismissed in a 10-minute audio clip on social media by a man purporting to be Shekau, exposing divisions within the jihadist group that has plagued Nigeria and neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Thursday denied reports that the state had swapped captured Boko Haram fighters for their release and said he was not aware if any ransom had been paid. He said a Nigerian army operation against Boko Haram would continue.

In recent days, the Nigerian army has been carrying out an offensive in the Sambisa forest, a stronghold of Boko Haram.

The militants controlled a swathe of land around the size of Belgium at the start of 2015, but Nigeria's army has recaptured most of the territory. The group still stages suicide bombings in the northeast, as well as in neighboring Niger and Cameroon.

Reuters

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Rita Akana

17.Oct.2016

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