Politics

Grégoire Owona, Minister of Labour and Social Insurance who also moonlights as deputy secretary general of the Central Committee of the ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) has announced the holding of a national congress of the party this year. CPDM congress holds every five years with the most recent being that of September 2011. 

The minister Owona declaration did not make public the exact date and the agenda of the congress. However, some political commentators have opined that it will be to confirm the Cameroonian dictator as chairman of the party and candidate for the early presidential elections which normally should be held between September and October 2018.

The congress will also provide an opportunity for the national chairman to reorganize the politburo and the central committee. President Biya is not expected to face any competition within the party.

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Rita Akana in Yaounde

29.Mar.2016

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Newly-elected Benin president Patrice Talon plans to reduce presidential mandates to just one five-year term, he said late on Friday, after the constitutional court confirmed his election victory over prime minister Lionel Zinsou. Talon took 65.4 percent of the vote in last Sunday's run-off poll to decide who would replace President Thomas Boni Yayi, who is stepping down after serving two terms in office, the constitutional court said on Friday. 

The figures confirmed results that came out earlier in the week. "I will first and foremost tackle constitutional reform," Talon told reporters, reinforcing a promise made during campaigning. One term of five years would reduce presidential "complacency", he said. Benin presidents can currently serve two five-year terms.

The peaceful election was seen as reinforcing the democratic credentials of Benin, a bastion of stability in a region where elections are often marred by violence. By relinquishing power after serving two terms in office, Boni Yayi stands in contrast to leaders in other African nations, including Burundi, Rwanda and Congo Republic, who have altered their constitutions to extend their rule.

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Reuters

29.Mar.2016

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Cameroon is operating the Israeli Saymar Musketeer armoured vehicle, and using it for presidential protection. According to IHS Jane's Defence Weekly, Cameroon’s Presidential Guard Reconnaissance and Support Group includes a Musketeer platoon, as well as fire support, anti-aircraft, and anti-terrorist units. The publication reports that Cameroon's Presidential Guard is the first known user of the vehicle, which is based on a Toyota Land Cruiser chassis. Although one of the Musketeers was seen by IHS Jane's in the capital Yaounde during the official state visit by Italian President Sergio Mattarella on 18 March, it is believed the vehicles have been in service since 2014. The six-seat vehicle was seen earlier this month fitted with a remotely operated weapon station with a 7.62 mm FN MAG machinegun.

The Musketeer was unveiled in 2009 by Saymar, which subsequently was taken over by Elbit Systems. It features Stanag Level 1 ballistic protection, that can be upgraded to B7 level if requested, or Stanag Level 3. The vehicle is powered by a 4.2 litre Toyota diesel engine. IHS Jane's Defence Weekly reports that Cameroon’s Presidential Guard also has Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) RBY Mk 1 and RAM Mk III vehicles, with some of the RBY Mk 1s being armed with TCM-20 twin 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. 

Cameroon has received a variety of new military equipment in recent times, with its Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR) now equipped with Ratel 20 infantry fighting vehicles. Deliveries began in December 2015, according to a source quoted by IHS Jane’s, and the BIR now has 12 with its Light Intervention Units deployed to the Far North province, where the force is leading operations against Boko Haram militants. The Ratels join around two dozen LAV-150 Commando infantry fighting vehicles, 30 AML-90s, six AMX-10RCs, a dozen Ferrets, eight M-8s and half a dozen VBLs.

Some of the equipment Cameroon’s armed forces have acquired in the last five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), include five Type-07 armoured personnel carriers, six Type-07P/VN-1 infantry fighting vehicles, 12 WMA-301 Assault armoured fire support vehicles, four Z-9 helicopters and two P-108 patrol craft from China; a second hand OPV-54 patrol boat from France, two Mi-17 helicopters from Russia; two Aresa-3200 patrol craft and a single CN235 transport aircraft from Spain; and two Bell 412 helicopters from the United States.

Last year the United States ordered 15 Acmat Bastion armoured vehicles from France for Cameroon. Cameroon also received in February, the first two of six refurbished Mi-24 attack helicopters. They will be placed at the disposal of the BIR’s Operation Alpha Command, tasked with tackling Boko Haram militants in the Far North Province of Cameroon, joining two Mi-17s acquired from Russia in 2013 as well as Bell 412 and Gazelle helicopters, the latter equipped with HOT missiles.

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Defenceweb

29.Mar.2016

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Cameroon military has launched an operation code named “Tentacle” which the army leadership say its the last operation to clean the remnants of Boko Haram militants operating in the Cameroonian and Nigerian communities of Djibrili and Zamga. Cameroon Concord’s military informant revealed that Operation Tentacle” began on March 16, 2016 and has been supported by elements of the Joint Multinational Force (FMM). The troops commanded by Brigadier General Jacob Kodji, leader of the 4th Joint Military Region and commander of Operation Emergence 4 have reportedly killed 20 jihadist fighters and captured 12 others. 

The army seized heavy weapons including Boko Haram’s major war arsenal that was stationed in the locality. We were also reliably informed that Nigerian troops are conducting a similar operation on the other side of the border. This major operation comes after those of Ngoshe and Kumshe- that witnessed the destruction of two Boko Haram bases by the Cameroon army some few weeks ago. Cameroon military sources hinted that Boko Haram jihadists are showing signs of weakening. Our source added that the terrorists are now apparently scattered amid sporadic attacks from the armies of both Nigeria and Cameroon and are operating uncoordinated.

Ever since the expeditions of Ngoshe and Kumshe, clashes have become almost non-existent. Lieutenant Colonel Leopold Emile Nlate Ebale, Operations Bureau Chief of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR was quoted by Cameroon’s national daily newspaper Cameroon Tribune as saying "Before there was a kamikaze attack every two or three days, but after the last operations in Ngoshe and Kumshe, we have gone through three weeks without a suicide attack ". Under the direct supervision of Lieutenant Colonel Felix Cheka, the Cameroon army has installed a base known as South Zone Operation Alpha in the city of Kolofata that has painfully suffered repeated assaults from the jihadists. Lieutenant Colonel Felix Cheka and his men currently control an area of 2500 km2, covering all of Mayo-Tsanaga and Mayo-Sava divisions.

The Rapid Intervention Battalion has also opened another base in Kerawa, located at about seven kilometers from Kolofata where the Nigerian Islamic sect stepped up attacks some few months ago. The facility is called the 4th Light Response Unit (ULI). The South of the Far North region precisely at Achigachia is now being protected by the famous Koutaba legion including the Field Artillery Regiment from Nkongsamba.

Cameroon military spokesman, Colonel Didier Badjeck, during a recent press briefing noted that both Emergence 4 and Alpha-supported operations are intertwined and run in accordance with the strategic vision of the staff armed represented in the area by the commander of RMIA 4. Colonel Badjeck observed that “ Now it is no longer simply to prevent the infiltration of Boko Haram fighters and to cut off their networks but also to destroy their bases used for training, design, and implementation”.

The Cameroon army is now equipped with modern war machinery like drones that can scan the conflict zone. Military cooperation with France and the United States has contributed effectively to intelligence gathering which has been used for successful operations. According to Lieutenant Colonel Leopold Emile Nlate Ebale every major operation was preceded by several weeks of preparations focused mainly on intelligence information.

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

28.Mar.2016

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Five opposition candidates, who were defeated in Congo's recent presidential elections, have called for “peaceful” protests against the re-election of incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso for a new five-year term. Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who received more than 15 percent of the votes, and Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, who came third with almost 14 percent, as well as three other presidential candidates made the plea in a statement released on Saturday.

"We urge the Congolese people to fully exercise their sovereignty over a democratic victory through elections recognized by law: dead cities and other strikes, meetings and peaceful marches, until the verdict of the ballot boxes is respected," the statement read. The opposition figures described the circumstances surrounding last week’s polls as "an abuse of power," calling for the first post-election industrial action on March 29.

Sassou Nguesso won 60 percent of the votes cast in the March 20 elections, which were dismissed by the opposition as fraudulent. The 72-year-old former paratrooper colonel served as president from 1979 to 1992 and returned to power in 1997 following a civil war. He further won two successive terms in 2002 and 2009.

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Presstv

27.Mar.2016

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A suspected suicide bomber intercepted in northern Cameroon on Friday before she could blow herself up claimed to be one of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014, military and local government sources said.

Two girls carrying explosives were stopped by local self-defense forces in the village of Limani, in an area of northern Cameroon that has been the target of frequent suicide bombings in recent months.

They were then handed over to Cameroonian soldiers belonging to a multi-national force set up to take on Boko Haram.

In a high-profile attack that sparked a global outcry, Boko Haram militants raided the school in April 2014 while the girls were taking exams. They loaded 270 of them onto trucks, though around 50 escaped shortly afterwards.

"One of them indeed declared that she is one of the Chibok hostages. She is around 15. We are now verifying, because on the Nigerian side they have the names and photos of these girls," said local government administrator Raymond Roksdo.

Two military sources, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the press, also confirmed that the girl had claimed to have been one of the Chibok abductees.

"We need a few days to be able to confirm this information. We have to debrief all the men who were present and interrogate the two girls before we can say anything," one of the military sources said.

Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan was criticized for his slow reaction to the Chibok abductions, seen by many as indicative of his response to Boko Haram, which at its strongest held large swathes of northeastern Nigeria.

It was nearly a month before a fact-finding committee traveled to Chibok to establish whether the abduction actually happened and how many girls were missing.

Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated Jonathan in an election last year, ordered a new investigation into the kidnappings in January. [nL8N14Y501]

Joint operations between Nigeria and its neighbors Niger, Chad and Cameroon succeeded in driving Boko Haram from many of its strongholds in Nigeria last year.

However, as an 8,700-strong regional task force seeks to stamp them out once and for all, the Islamists have stepped up cross-border attacks and suicide bombings, many of them carried out by young girls.

(Reuters)

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Elangwe Pauline

26.Mar.2016

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