Politics
Three civilians were killed in Cameroon's Far North when a vigilante tried to stop a suicide bomber whose explosive device detonated, regional and security sources said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Djakana, a village near the border with northeastern Nigeria, stronghold of the Islamist group which last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
A source close to the regional authorities told AFP that, including the bomber, there were "four dead and a number of wounded, one of whom was in critical condition."
The toll was confirmed by a security official.
The source said the bomber had been planning to detonate his explosives in the nearby town of Mora on Thursday, which is market day, but his plans were thwarted in Djakana where he was planning to spend the night.
"He was spotted by a member of Djakana's vigilance committee who tried to neutralise him" which caused the explosion, she said, indicating that the man who tried to stop him was among the dead.
Djakana, which lies just a few kilometres (miles) from the Nigerian border, has been hit by a number of attacks, including one on June 30 in which 11 people were killed.
Another three civilians were killed and 20 others wounded in another suicide bombing in Mora on August 21.
Mora is home to the headquarters of a multi-national force fighting Boko Haram, which groups troops from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger.
Boko Haram's seven-year insurgency has killed at least 20,000 people in Nigeria and border areas of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
It has also left more than 2.8 million homeless, fleeing attacks by militants who have ransacked villages across the poverty-stricken region.
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 3194
Anglophone lawyers and some of their Francophone counterparts will meet in Douala on Saturday, October 1 to raise their voices against the non-existence of an English version of four revised parts of the OHADA Law (Uniform Business Law).
Added to this, the lawyers want the Government to stop treating Anglophone lawyers with spite and create a level playing ground where Anglophone lawyers can practise their profession equitably alongside their Francophone counterparts.
The lawyers based in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, Yaounde and Douala, will deliberate on the disregard of an English version of the OHADA Law and the plight of Anglophone legal practitioners in general.
The chief coordinator of the event, Barrister Roland Abeng of Abeng Law Firm, made this disclosure at a press briefing in Douala on September 16.
The Moderator of the Cameroon Advocates Forum, Barrister Abeng said participation at the October 1 manifestation will be optional, hence no lawyer is obliged to be involved.
“It will be a manifestation by the willing. It will be a manifestation by those lawyers who can dare to stand up to fight against injustice.
It will be a manifestation by those Anglophone legal practitioners who have refused to remain docile in the face of persistent injustice; those who have refused to adopt the policy of speech and no action.
It will be a manifestation by our fair-minded Francophone colleagues who believe that injustice is a bad thing, even if they are not the victims,” Abeng told the press.
The barrister said they chose October 1 because it is a symbolic date in Cameroon: Reunification Day.
The OHADA Treaty
The Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law commonly known by the French acronym, OHADA, was established by the OHADA Treaty which was signed on October 17, 1993 at Port-Louis, Mauritius Island, and revised in Quebec, Canada, on October 17, 2008.
OHADA was created with the aim of harmonizing business law in Africa, in order to guarantee legal and judicial security for investors and companies in its member states. As of today, 17 African countries are members of OHADA.
Initially, Article 42 of the OHADA Treaty made French the only official language of the institution. But following protests by some member countries, the Article was amended in 2008 and English, Portuguese and Spanish were added to French as official languages of OHADA.
But when OHADA authorities failed to respect the text and produced the 2010 revised version of the OHADA Law in French only, Cameroon’s Ministry of Justice did not complain.
Abeng said Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau had since decided against waiting for OHADA, and translated the revised law into the official languages of their countries.
In Cameroon, the Minister of State for Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso, and the President of the National Commission of the OHADA Treaty, Justice George Gwanmesia, who is also the Secretary General in the Ministry of Justice, have both remained silent on two separate correspondences the President of the Cameroon Bar Council, Barrister Jackson Ngnie Kamga, addressed to them since May 13, 2016.
The correspondences, which were received at the ministry on May 17, address the issue of the non-existence of the English version of the revised OHADA Law.
The President of the Bar Council stated in the correspondences that he had received several complaints from many Anglophone lawyers, who said they are facing a lot of difficulties having to work with the French version of the revised OHADA Law.
Ngnie Kamga reminded the authorities that Cameroon is a bilingual country, and that as President of the Bar Council his mission is to facilitate the exercise of the legal profession by all lawyers in the country.
He also called on the authorities to ask the Permanent Secretariat of OHADA why the English version of the revised OHADA Law is not yet available, more than five years after its revision.
Meanwhile, Barrister Abeng said no matter the obligations of the OHADA authorities, culpability for the non-existence in the country of the English version of the revised OHADA Law falls squarely on Cameroonian authorities.
“I am from Cameroon which has English and French as the official languages, and a constitutional obligation for legal enactments to be published in both languages simultaneously before its applicability. It is the duty of the Ministry of Justice, which has an entire Directorate for Legislation and Documentation, to make sure that Roland Abeng, who is an Anglophone, and Jackson Ngnie Kamga, a Francophone, have texts in the languages they understand best, and at the same time. It should be the same scenario for the ‘Faculte de Droit’ of UNIYAO and the Faculty of Law for the University of Buea,” Abeng said.
Irony
Many Anglophone lawyers have observed that it is ironical that Justice George Gwanmesia, the President of the National Commission on the OHADA Treaty, is an Anglophone.
The same irony touches two senior Anglophone lawyers, Eta Besong Jr. and Francis Asanga Sama, predecessors of Ngnie Kamga as Bar Council Presidents, who were silent on the issue of the linguistically biased texts of the OHADA Law.
Anglophone Lawyers Marginalised
“The marginalisation of Anglophones should be rightly considered by all Cameroonians of goodwill as a national problem, and not just a problem for the Anglophones. The issue of the non-existence of the English version of the revised OHADA Law is a national problem.
There are many of my Francophone colleagues who have clients in Britain and other English-speaking countries, who also need this text in English,” said Abeng.
He added, “The Government talks of working hard to woo foreign investors, yet there is no English version of the revised Uniformed Business Law applicable in Cameroon, to give to investors from countries like the US, Nigeria, Britain, South Africa and so on.”
Abeng stressed that the fight he has taken up has nothing to do with politics. He said the fight by some Anglophone and Francophone lawyers for justice for all, is not only about those living today but for posterity as well.
“This is not politics. The question I keep asking myself, is why the authorities (OHADA and Ministry of Justice), would treat Anglophone legal practitioners, scholars, and all involved with the study and practice of law with spite?
Why can we not be allowed to practise our profession on a level playing ground with our Francophone colleagues?
Anglophone lawyers are forced to spend much of their time struggling to translate texts from French to English, before preparing our submissions.”
Anglophone Law students are also seriously affected.
“Our English-speaking law students at the University of Buea and other universities in the country are often obliged to work with French texts and at the end write the same exams as their French speaking colleagues,” Abeng said.
Cameroonpost
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 3656
At least eight people were killed in an attack on a church by suspected members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria on Sunday, local residents said on Monday.
The attack was carried out shortly after the morning service in Kwamjilari village, just about 30 kilometers east of Chibok town in Borno state.
The armed attackers were riding on bicycles.
“Some of the worshippers remained around the church and the gunmen opened fire and eight men died,” AFP reports Luka Damina to say from nearby Kautikeri village, where locals fled.
“Unknown to the residents, the gunmen had stationed some of their comrades on the road leading out of the village and they shot anyone who tried to flee.
“Many people ran into the bush with gunshot wounds. But so far we can only confirm eight deaths.”
The attackers also set homes on fire as well as maize farms that were almost ready for harvest.
A similar attack in the area last month left 10 people dead and saw 13 others kidnapped, while homes were looted and set on fire.
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 1680
"Boko Haram butchered nine people in front of me. That day I decided to leave my village," says Rachel Daviguidam, still devastated by the carnage she witnessed in September 2015.
One year on and this 30-year-old Cameroonian is still unable to get the images out of her mind.
And this mother of seven cannot see herself returning to her village of Golvadi in Cameroon's Far North, an area that has suffered multiple attacks by Boko Haram jihadists based just across the border in Nigeria.
Over the past year, Daviguidam and her husband and children have been living in Koza, a small town surrounded by mountains about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Maroua, capital of the Far North region.
Around 200,000 Cameroonians from the region have fled their villages in fear of the violence carried out by militants from Boko Haram, who last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Jihadists in this region kill, they torch entire villages, they loot and they steal livestock.
Sitting on the ground in Koza's stadium, this young mother cradles her youngest, who is just three months old, occasionally breastfeeding him.
Around her sit other displaced families.
- 'Life became intolerable' -
Nearby, hundreds of people are waiting in line to receive food handouts from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Over the past 15 months, the ICRC has organised food deliveries in Koza in a bid to combat malnutrition, says Ibrahim Dit Falke, a local who works for the organisation.
"Each household receives a package of 50 kilos (110 pounds) of rice, 25 kilos of maize flour, 25 kilos of black-eyed peas, 10 litres (20 pints) of oil, a kilo of salt and 12 kilos of enriched flour," he says.
In this area where many of the displaced have gathered, there have been numerous cases of malnutrition, some of them severe.
"We are in an area dominated by farming and agriculture, where most households make their living through agriculture," Dit Falke says.
"When you cut a household off from its fields, you cut it off from its livelihood."
As the food is handed out, Daviguidam, who comes from a Christian family, recounts her story.
"Life there became intolerable," she says.
"For three months, they would come to my house and flog me and my children," she explains.
"They said we were pagans.
"They demanded that we convert to Islam but we didn't want to."
If at the start, the Nigerian jihadists were only targeting Christians, they soon stopped making any distinction between Christians and Muslims, she says, as she gets up to go and collect her food package from a Red Cross volunteer.
- 'I can't cope' -
"I am happy to receive this gift," smiles another woman, Veved Nadama carrying a sack of rice on her head, as two other women help her carry the rest of the supplies.
For the past two years, this 25-year-old has lived in Koza since she fled the border town of Kerawa, which is home to 50,000 people and has been regularly targeted by Boko Haram.
"When they killed two pupils in the village, my husband and I decided to leave," says the mother of two.
"There was shooting all the time. We weren't able to sleep in our home, we preferred to hide in the bush."
Another of the displaced, Yauba Sumbi, says he's grateful for the sense of security in Koza, but like many others, he is haunted by what he witnessed.
"I am traumatised. I saw dead people, people with their throats cut," he says.
"I can't cope anymore."
He fled the border town of Amchide in 2014 with his wife but only two of his children.
"On the day we left, our neighbourhood was stormed by Boko Haram and there was shooting. We walked for three days and three nights through the bush" to reach Koza.
While part of the family managed to escape, he has had no news about his five other children who were unable to get out.
"I don't know if they are alive or dead, if they are in Nigeria or Cameroon," he says.
"God only knows."
France24
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 1903
President Paul Biya's press kit related to Cameroon's participation at the 71st Ordinary Session of the UN General Assembly.
The UN General Assembly will host a high-level summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach.
This is the first time the General Assembly has called for a summit at the Heads of State and Government level on large movements of refugees and migrants and it is a historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response. It is a watershed moment to strengthen governance of international migration and a unique opportunity for creating a more responsible, predictable system for responding to large movements of refugees and migrants.
According to UNHCR statistics for 2009, 99,957 refugees and individuals in refugee-like situations were resident in Cameroon.Fifty-thousand people from the Central African Republic live at the Garoua Boulaye refugee camp in eastern Cameroon. Some have been there since conflict in the C.A.R. erupted in 2013.
Over the past year, the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon have pushed back Boko Haram insurgents in north-east Nigeria and northern Cameroon, bringing greater security in some areas. But the insurgency remains a major threat to peace in the region.
The conflict has forced more than 200,000 people to flee to Cameroon, Chad and Niger following attacks on their villages in Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. The conflict has since 2014 spilled over into Cameroon, where some 170,000 Cameroonians are internally displaced in the north.
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 4224
Islamist militant group Boko Haram this week suffered after thirty eight of its fighters were killed during military search operations carried out by Niger and Chad troops in the Diffa region of southeast Niger, an official said on Friday.
Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the action and “on the enemy side; 38 terrorists killed,” Niger defence ministry spokesperson Moustapha Ledru said on state television.
Substantial quantities of weapons and munitions were also seized, Colonel Ledru added.
The joint army operations took place between Monday and Wednesday around the villages of Gueskerou and Toumour in southeastern Niger, he added.
According to villagers and NGO workers in Gueskerou, 30km from Diffa, Boko Haram elements attacked the town on Wednesday night, without killing anyone.
“The attack nonetheless caused a psychosis in the population” and “the assailants torched houses and stole food and medicines after pillaging shops and a pharmacy,” an NGO official told AFP.
The militant group’s insurgency has left at least 20000 people dead in Nigeria and border areas of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon and made more than 2.6 million homeless.
- Details
- Rita Akana
- Hits: 3076
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.
