Politics

The dust is yet to settle on the much talk about disputed presidential election in Gabon. The election did not only attract international observers, it was closely monitored by Cameroonians who took keen interest in the pre elections, elections and post elections. In fact Gabon is the second country after Cote d’Ivoire (2010-2011) whose presidential elections kept Cameroonians divided over who becomes the next president.

Gabon and Cameroon: Two Countries, same culture

A number of factors including geopolitical, linguistic and socio-economic aspects played a major role in the attention. Geographically Gabon is located just south of Cameroon, hence making movement to and from Gabon very easy. Many Cameroonian businessmen sell their goods in Gabon; several others live there and have established empires.
The people speak one language and have almost same way of life, even though many have been quick to say Gabonese are lazy.

Ali Bongo Ondimba, son of late president, Omar Bongo whose stay in power and long standing friendship with Paul Biya, made them birds of the same feathers. Paul Biya is seen as the political god father to Ali Bongo whom his father before dying is said to have told Mr Biya that he should take care of his son.

Cameroonian media also played a huge role in the elections, reporting live and setting the agenda, giving rendezvous to homes .Elections in Gabon now became a must watch event thanks to the afore mentioned aspects.

But Cameroon Concord noticed that away from these aspects, they were more issues that made the elections unprecedented in the history of Gabon’s presidential polls.

Enter Ping and The Ping Pong Game

Perhaps what made the elections more interesting were the men who stood as candidates. The fact that Jean Ping, former AU chairman had succeeded to bring closer to him former prime minister , Casmir Oye Mba and former National Assembly Speaker, Guy Nzouba who are forces to reckon with. Jean Ping was seen as the man who will put an end to the Bongo dynasty by stopping Ali Bongo from winning a second term. Majority of Gabonese therefore paid less attention to the Chinese origin of Mr Ping to give a sanction vote against Bongo, whom they think incarnates the Bongo dynasty, a name they want to erase from their dictionary. The opposition coalition led by Ping brought fears within the PDG of Mr Bongo who was forced to cancel the Franksville campaign.

But Ping began his Ping-Pong game when he unilaterally announced his victory even before official results from CENAP, the country’s electoral commission. Ping will the next day explain to the press what he meant by his declaration which was already seen as a speech geared at fuelling violence.

The attempt by Ping to also bring foreign forces into Gabon to make him win by hook or crook shows how desperate he was to have power at 73, his telephone discussion with Ivorian adviser at the presidency, MAMADI Diane, has widely gained him the title, Sellout Even if Mr Ping had won the elections, his call on the international community and his allegiance towards France goes without saying that he is the candidate of the international community.

Mr Ping was equally caught in his own cobweb when he was reminded how in 2011 when he was still the AU Chairman, he refused a recount of the Ivorian polls despite calls from Gbagbo, saying it will be injustice to Ouattara who according to him had won.
This international community, especially France which has been at the origin of several presidential choices has gone into work since the results were disputed. French Television have been shamelessly portraying Gabon as a failed state and going as far as saying Ali Bongo is not from Gabon, that he stole the polls. What power does France have to ask for a recount of votes in Gabon or any other African Country?

Even though it is very evident that Ali Bongo might have rigged the elections in his favour, especially in his home city Haut Ougue, with startling results of 99.98% of participation, only compared to North Korean elections, the fact that the dynamic president whose 7 year development program has beaten the over 40 years spent by his father, did not or not openly solicited help from France gives him more support than someone who has put Gabon on Sale.

Ali Bongos victory however came to confirm that it is very difficult and will remain difficult to beat an incumbent from the Central African sub region. Sit tight leaders who will use any means to rig elections. Gabon just like Cameroon, Congo, Chad and Equatorial Guinea have beaten records for longest serving presidents in Africa starting from late Omar Bongo to Paul Biya.

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Prince Hanson Nfor

06.Sep.2016

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The 2016 voter registration exercise in Cameroon is now history as it officially wrapped up yesterday August 31, at midnight in all the ELECAM Council Branches in the country as prescribed by Section 74 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Code. Elections Cameroon local branches in Yaounde witnessed unprecedented turnout of last minute electors who thronged registration centres planted in major road junctions in the capital city such as Rondpoint Nlongkak, Carrefour Obili, Terminus Minboman and Omnisport amongst others .

At the Casino Supermarket area of the Central Post Office Roundabout, seven Biometric registration kits were mounted, representing the seven sub-divisions of Mfoundi Division. Apart from the registration pool downtown Yaounde, ELECAM Council branches in the different sub-divisions have all deployed staff to road junctions in their respective areas. In addition to these, the Mfoundi Divisional Branch Head, Florent Léopold Ehongo Bessala, told Cameroon Tribune that a mobile caravan equipped with public address system was also used to attract potential electors in the neighbourhoods. 

The last day’s itinerary, he stated, was communicated through the media, pasted in public administrative buildings and Councils reminding Cameroonians to register before the deadline August 31 midnight. “Turnout in all the registration points was massive”, he noted. Emmanuel Atok, one of the electors who registered yesterday told Cameroon Tribune he did not want to miss the opportunity to enrol on the voters’ list.

In the Yaounde VI Council area, for instance, the Head of the Council Branch told Cameroon Tribune that the turnout had been impressive in makeshift registration centres in Carrefour GP Melen and in Mendong neighbourhoods. By press time, ELECAM Board members in the Centre Region were in the different council areas of Mfoundi to assess voter registration exercise on the last day. Mfoundi Division has registered more than 55,000 new voters since the start of the revision exercise on January 2, 2016.

Cameroon Tribune

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Rita Akana

01.Sep.2016

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 Hundreds, including the 15 Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC activists, arrested almost two months ago and charged with illegal assembly, protested at the Buea Court of First Instance, South West Region, on August 30 2016.

The protests were sparked off outside the court premises when the judges made what was described by the defense counsels, led by Senior Bar Council member, Barrister Nkea Emmanuel, as attempts at delaying  justice. People identified as family members of the suspected detainees,curious onlookers  and hundreds of activists who reportedly traveled from different parts Cameroon, West of the Mungo, to witness the trial, joined the protests.

With placards, some of which read “Freedom of Association,” Freedom of Speech,” security forces mounted heavy guard around the court premises, as close to 50 lawyers defended the activists. 

The presiding Magistrate, heading a college of three, Mrs Beatrice Nambangi apparently viewing the mounting tension and pressure reportedly upheld the preliminary objection of the defense. She however  put the accused at the disposal of the legal department.

 The lawyers argued that the suspects were charged under the old penal code which had been repealed on the 12 July 2016 ,when the new code was promulgated and was already in force.

Though the State Prosecutor reportedly tried to impress on the Court with the argument that they were not yet in possession of the new code, the Learned Judge sent the accused to the legal department for them to be charged under the new penal code. Lawyers simply stated that it was not the role of the Court to send them back to the legal department as the Court was now acting like a party in the proceedings.

While the activists were reportedly almost threatening not to be taken back to jail, the lawyers put up stiff resistance at the State Counsel’s office, demanding that the matter be simply thrown out of court. One of the respected voices in the clamour for the Independence of Ambazonia (former UN Trust Territory of the British Southern Cameroons under the UK, ) veteran  politician, senior citizen and statesman,  Mola Njoh Litumbe, during the mounting tension was spotted, appealing for calm, confident in the lawyers.

The State Counsel  finally granted bail to all the 15 Southern Cameroons National Council , SCNC activists, and adjourned the matter to September 5, 2016.
According to Cheveing Scholar, Barrister Ajong Stanislus the case has no merit and would have supposed to be dismissed. “The court had ruled that the accused were charged under a non-extant law, the substance of the preliminary objection of the defense. It was simply logical for the matter to be dismissed,” he said.

To many observers present at the Buea Court of First Instance, this August 30 2016, the release of the activists was greatly due to the mobilization of Southern Cameroonians and activists. It is reported that more than 25 of the lawyers traveled from different parts of the country to join those of the South West, to defend the activists.

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Solomon Amabo

31.Aug.2016

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Tongues are still waging as to why Dr. Peter Alange Abety took that decision to rename a street without informing the council. Yet, some critics suspect that even President Paul Biya may also think the decision is contradictory given that he (Biya) had warned that "Let politics be for politicians and schools for students". What is unclear is whether UBa authorities will implement the decision given the varied interpretations. To the mayor of Tubah, Dr. Abety always like to get people in projects that are illegal. He is quoted to have said that even the law naming streets was not respected and the procedure not followed. Besides, the mayor Tanjong Martin also added that his office received no application to that effect and threatened to pull down the billboard. He further explains that even the Fon of Bambili was not aware and did not even understand where the street Abety was naming was.  

The Mayor of Tubah Council, Tanjong Martin has frowned at Dr. Abety's decision to rename one of the streets at the University of Bamenda as "Paul Biya Avenue". This was the outcome of the joint CPDM Section conference that took place in Bambili last August 27, 2016, presided by Dr. Abety, Section President for Mezam V, Tubah.

The Anglo-Saxon University of Bamenda is the fruit of the collective effort of North Westerners and Cameroonians who believe in quality education. It is neither the property of Bambili people, nor Tubah nor CPDM. But Peter Abety thinks it belongs to Bambili people with him as custodian.

The Eye Newspaper

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Rita Akana

31.Aug.2016

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Rita Akana

30.Aug.2016

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Authorities in Cameroon must provide answers about the whereabouts of 130 men and boys still unaccounted for 20 months after they were arrested in a crackdown on suspected Boko Haram members, Amnesty International said today on the International Day of the Disappeared.

“The Cameroonian authorities must come clean about the fate of these 130 missing men and boys. The government’s continued failure to reveal their whereabouts adds insult to injury to the families who have already waited a long time for news of their loved ones,” said Alioune Tine, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Regional Director.

The missing people were among more than 200 arrested during a cordon-and-search operation in the villages of Magdeme and Doublé – Far North region - on 27 December 2014. Of those arrested, at least 25 died in custody on the night of the arrests, with another 45 transferred to Maroua prison the day after. Three have died since due to dire conditions in detention.

In the same operation, the security forces also unlawfully killed at least nine civilians, including a child, and destroyed more than 70 homes and other buildings.

Amnesty International considers the 130 people who were arrested and are still missing to be victims of enforced disappearance, a crime under international law. The organization is calling on Cameroon to immediately disclose their whereabouts, ensure independent, thorough and effective investigations into these disappearances and bring those responsible to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.

Amnesty International has communicated a complete list of the names of all those who disappeared to Cameroon’s Minister of Defense, Minister of Justice and the Head of military operations in the north. However, their families have still received no information from officials.

One woman whose husband and two sons are missing told Amnesty International: 

“We really don’t know what to do… I have been to Maroua prison eight times… we are asking for help. We want the authorities to tell us where our loved ones are.”

Another man described the security forces’ operation that led to the arrests:

“We heard shots being fired all around… Everyone wondered what was happening. There were soldiers everywhere. Then, they [soldiers] took some of the men, stripped them and beat them before going to look for those who were hiding in their houses. Then they [soldiers] rounded them up and loaded them into their trucks. We searched for them everywhere after that but couldn’t find them.”

According to the authorities, the 25 men and boys who died in detention were held in a makeshift cell at the Gendarmerie’s headquarters of Maroua, the main city in the Far North region. They have never revealed the identity of the victims, the cause and circumstances of their deaths, or their place of burial to their families.

In March 2015, the authorities announced that an internal inquiry within the Ministry of Defense was being undertaken to investigate the deaths. The results of this inquiry were not communicated publicly and only one person -- Colonel Zé Onguéné Charles, Head of the Gendarmerie in the Far North region when the incident occurred -- is facing trial. The charges against him, however, are limited to “negligence and breach of custody rules”.

Amnesty International has also documented an additional 17 cases of suspected enforced disappearances of people accused of supporting Boko Haram in the Far North region between June 2014 and June 2016.

“The authorities must conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into what happened in Magdeme and Doublé, and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. They must also provide full and effective reparation to the families of the victims,” said Alioune Tine.

Background

The Far North region of Cameroon has suffered repeated attacks from Boko Haram since late 2013. Between July 2015 and August 2016 Boko Haram conducted more than 200 attacks, including nearly 40 suicide bombings in the Far North region, killing at least 500 people.

In order to combat Boko Haram, Cameroon has deployed at least 2000 troops of the BIR (Rapid Intervention Battalion) alongside forces from the BIM (Mobile Intervention Battalion) in the Far North region.

While the security forces play a crucial role in protecting the population from Boko Haram’s attacks, they have also committed human rights violations on a significant scale including arbitrary arrest, excessive use of force, extra-judicial executions, illegal and incommunicado detention, torture and enforced disappearances.

Amnesty International’s Protect Our Rights campaign will run from 30 August 2016 until December 2017. The campaign will seek to protect the human rights of those caught between abuses committed by Boko Haram and human rights violations committed by the Cameroonian authorities and security forces in their fight against Boko Haram.

Amnesty International

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Rita Akana

30.Aug.2016

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