Politics
The politics of hate,rancor and bitterness is said to have taken a new twist in Wum,Menchum division, north west Cameroon.
The cold war that has been ongoing between the CPDM Menchum I section president, Chuo Cyprian Akwo showed its ugly last week at the CPDM headquarters in Yaoundé. Some four Menchum CPDM elite (names withheld for now) are said to have stormed the central committee of the party demanding the sacking of Chuo Cyprian who had emerged head high during the last reorganization exercise of the party.
It is unclear why the four well known political adversaries of Chuo Cyprain under took the sheepish move but a source at the CPDM central committee confided in us that they seemed to have been taken aback by the latter's success. Chuo Cyprian, it should be said,crushed both mayor Dighambong Anthony and Hon Wallang Richard to emerge victorious during the polls.
While at the central committee, the four CPDM lackeys are reported to have told Jean kweteu,the CPDM scribe that it was SDF militants who voted Chuo Cyprian during the hotly contested elections. Sadly enough,the CPDM scribe told them that it was a good thing that the current president had to convince opposition militants to vote him and moreover,the fact those referred to as hitherto SDF militants had CPDM cards remains a victory to the party.
They are said to have cunningly zoomed out of the central committee looking dejected and crestfallen.
Chuo Cyprian won last December polls in Wum described by observers as fair,credible and transparent. Commentators had described his victory as remarkable and historic. The man who currently works at the ministry of public health is said to have swung into action shortly after his victory.he last march launched a project for the construction of a party Secretariat in Wum.the old one had become more or less an eyesore.
Surface terracing pending official keep off the project is said to be taking place at the site at the moment.
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- Mua Patrick
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YOU will be fondly remembered as a dynamic patriot from manyu division. Some saw you as a controversial patriot,wanting to have all for yourself.
Some saw you as the Messiah of the manyu division. Truly,you died a great man,distinguishing yourself as a great manyu son,elite,father,leader and above all,the man whose courage and determination saw manyu sons and daughters in all of the best professional institutions in Cameroon,given a professional numerical strength above all or many of the divisions in the south West Region..Yet many of your own blood detested you because of you out spoken nature and your purported(will) to tilt your kins and kindred to where you thought guaranteed all good things in life.
SOME you achieved but some you were disillusioned but like "Spartan"you never gave up,for you believed in your convictions. Today you are just a shadow that in a short while,it is going to fade completely out of our memories,but one thing is clear,your input to your people will remain indelible and therefore "let the good be interred with their bones"Amen
Kinge John Lysonge
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- Kinge John Lysonge
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The entire administration, political and civil society leaders as well as traditional authorities assembled on the Bamenda commercial avenue Wednesday April 27, 2016 to welcome the new Senior Divisional Officer SDO to the division.
The handing over of command was between the outgoing SDO, NGUELE NGUELE Felix (now Governor of the South Region) and incoming SDO for MEZAM, SONGA Pierre Rene. The elegant ceremony took place at the Bamenda Grandstand, Commercial Avenue, grouping other administrative dignitaries, traditional ruler and religious authorities.
On issues to be tackled in the Division, the Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council pointed out that the new SDO should brilliantly continue the projects and dreams of the outgoing SDO and facilitate local administration in the MEZAM Division that carries seven Sub-Divisions and Councils.
After the ritual for the command handing-over, a presentation of the constituted corps was done to the new SDO by the 1st Assistant SDO for MEZAM, followed by a military match-pass which was heavily applauded by dignitaries and dance groups also present at the occasion.
Upon installation, the Governor of the North-West Region recommended to the new SDO to ensure the maintenance of order, the enforcement of law and regulations as well as arbitrate the preservation of peace and proper functioning of the external government services within the Division. Reminding him on the differences between BAMBOUTOS where he was SDO and MEZAM, the North-West Governor equally urged him to enhance democracy and the respect of human rights by honoring citizens and amongst others, encourage the peaceful settlement of all conflicts.
The ceremony ended with the signing and handing over of documents at the SDO's Office at Up Station Bamenda, as well as presentation of gifts to the out gone and newly installed SDOs
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- Bakah Derick
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Reports from Jeune Afrique Newspaper indicates that there is an upcoming International Summit on May 14 th in Abuja-Nigeria with the main theme being discussions on the war against Boko Haram. Among the heads of state expected is the President of the Republic Paul Biya.
Reports from some Cameroonian media outlets are already hinting that Mr Biya will attend the conference although the cabinet of the presidency has not officially announced his participation.
All four heads of states of countries of the Commission of the Lake Chad Basin are to attend this crucial summit .At the meeting, the African leaders are expected to discuss the security challenges affecting the four countries that share boundaries with each other.
It should be noted that in June of 205, president Buhari organized a similar summit which was
attended by three of the four African Heads of State in the Lake Chad Basin Commission.Presidents of Chad, Idriss Deby, Niger, Mahamadou_Issoufou and Republic of Benin, Boni Yayai, were all present at the summit, while Cameroon’s president Mr Biya was instead represented by his then Minister of Defence, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o.
Cameroonian media sources are hinting that the Head of State who is not a fan of Nigeria is finding it hard this time around to send a representative as the Nigerian Government indicated to him Mr Biya to respond personally to the invitation of Nigerian President Buhari, who visited Cameroon in July 2015.
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- Jackson Tantoh
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Four individuals believed to originate from Nigeria were arrested in Minawao refugee camp, in the Far North of Cameroon over alleged links to Boko Haram, security sources told APA on Sunday.According to reports, the suspected Boko Haram fighters were arrested during a routine security check following a tip-off.
Although the identities of the quartet have not been revealed, Cameroon’s Ministry of Defence which confirmed the arrests, said they had participated in attacks inside Cameroon.
They reportedly entered Nigeria’s Minawao refugee camp as routine security checks were being conducted by the Cameroonian army.
They had sought refuge among the local population, before appearing as refugees.
The arrests should bring the Cameroonian authorities to redouble their vigilance, especially as this is not the first time refugee camps are being directly linked with terrorists.
A few days ago, the defense and security forces had confirmed that two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Maroua were from this refugee camp.
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- Elangwe Pauline
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The military campaign by Nigeria and neighboring nations to combat the West African militant group Boko Haram has been hampered by a failure among those countries to share crucial intelligence — sometimes even within their own security services, American and other Western officials say.
Western partners have balked as well. The Pentagon and American intelligence services have struggled at times to provide information quickly about Boko Haram militants to the African countries — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — without violating restrictions on what can be shared from spy satellite imagery or electronic eavesdropping within rules for not disclosing sources and methods.
Until recently, Western officials and analysts said, Britain and the United States provided only sanitized intelligence reports to the Nigerian military. The countries feared that more detailed information might be misused by an army that human rights groups say has committed abuses against civilians as it battled Boko Haram, which has pledged loyalty to the Islamic State.
And a new intelligence “fusion center,” created in Chad as part of a multinational task force, has only recently overcome budget and staffing shortfalls, as well as lingering mistrust among the participating countries, to help coordinate operations.
“The big unanswered question right now is how much are all those five countries that are participating going to collaborate and work effectively,” Col. Robert Wilson, who commands American Special Forces in North and West Africa, said in a recent interview here, noting that Boko Haram moves easily across borders. Benin recently became the fifth country to join the coalition.
Even within the West African countries, interior ministries often do not share information about terrorist threats with their military counterparts.
In Cameroon, an elite special operations unit, the Rapid Intervention Brigade originally trained and equipped by Israel, now gets training and equipment from United States Navy SEALs and intelligence not handed over to other branches and units of its security services, Western analysts said. “It’s a confused mess,” said J. Peter Pham, the director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center in Washington.
American military and counterterrorism officials say intelligence sharing is a difficult issue, particularly outside established alliances. The United States confronted its own shortcomings after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when it became clear that the F.B.I. and C.I.A. each had information about the hijackers not shared with the other. In the wake of the Islamic State attacks in Paris and Brussels in the past year, the authorities in France and Belgium, as well as throughout Europe, are seeking to fill glaring gaps in intelligence sharing.
American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said it was a challenge to share sensitive intelligence with the West African allies fighting Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. The United States has different rules for what intelligence it shares with each country, and what one country can or cannot share with its neighbor — even though all are trying to fight a common regional enemy, Boko Haram.
“Because U.S. policy in Africa is for Africans to take the lead, a lot of the challenge is building trust among the partners themselves and not generating a dependence on what information we do have,” said Alice Hunt Friend, the Pentagon’s former principal director for African affairs.
American officials said progress was being made. Initially, it took up to two weeks to release information such as an aerial surveillance photo. Now, depending on the intelligence and the country, that is down to as little as an hour, American officials said. To help speed the release of information, American analysts are being encouraged to “write to release” — mostly meaning stripping information of sources and methods to ensure broader and faster distribution to partners without dumbing down the content. Drone photos provided by the United States recently helped the Nigerian Army avoid a major Boko Haram ambush.
Brig. Gen. Donald C. Bolduc, the top United States Special Operations commander for Africa, said that since Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, instituted military reforms in recent months, “my guys are now coffee-breath close to our partners in the Lake Chad basin.”
“As a result,” General Bolduc said in an interview last week, “we have developed relationships of trust.”
Since taking office last year, Mr. Buhari has begun a major push to rid the country of Boko Haram, which has assaulted northeastern Nigeria for years. In past months, the group has spread across borders to terrorize the country’s neighbors, too.
The nations in the Lake Chad region that have become Boko Haram’s new stamping grounds — Niger, Chad and Cameroon — have long been distrustful of one another. Mr. Buhari met with their leaders one by one, shoring up support for a campaign to join forces to fight the group.
Military efforts have freed thousands of hostages of Boko Haram, most of them women and children. Yet the effort to press them for information about fighters appears inconsistent. In some instances the hostages, some of whom have been raped, are taken to camps where humanitarian groups spend time interviewing each about psychological problems that he or she may suffer. But it appears that no one is asking about the tactics and locations of fighters, alongside whom many have lived for months.
In contrast, in Borno State in Nigeria, the military has been detaining and screening nearly everyone held hostage by Boko Haram in an effort to collect information and determine whether the individual formed an allegiance with the militants. The detentions sometimes last months, and include even children. At the Minawao refugee camp outside Maroua, Cameroon, near a part of the country where Boko Haram has launched numerous attacks, residents said no one had inquired about the fighters.
There are examples of success. A young woman trained as a bomber near the border between Cameroon and Nigeria dropped her explosives and instead ran to the authorities in the village she had been sent to blow up. Her information led to a major operation that captured and killed numerous militants, officials said.
Col. Didier Badjeck, a spokesman for the Cameroon Defense Ministry, praised the emerging cooperation among the nations. One recent operation involved 500 soldiers from Cameroon and Nigeria, and guidance from the multinational task force in Chad.
In particular, he said, intelligence from Americans has been pivotal to carrying out operations. “They’ve given us very good information, and we can verify it,” he said. “And they also have given us information that we don’t have.” Colonel Badjeck added, “It’s the first time Americans have been this involved in West Africa.”
NYT
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- Elangwe Pauline
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# 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.
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