Politics
Cameroon's women and children have suffered disproportionately in the country's five-year separatist conflict. But a report by the International Crisis Group says the role of women has expanded from just being victims to being rebels and peacemakers.
The anglophone separatist conflict in the country’s western regions has severely impacted women and put them at greater risk of violence.
Brussels-based think tank the International Crisis Group (ICG), in a report released Wednesday, says women have suffered more than the region’s men since armed conflict broke out in 2017.
"Some of the violence women have suffered include kidnaping, rape, torture and execution," said Arrey Elvis Ntui, the ICG’s senior consulting analyst for Cameroon. "The conflict has destroyed critical medical infrastructure thereby depriving women of access to health. It has further exposed them to other ills like trafficking and sexual exploitation. The authorities should persecute those who are responsible for crimes and include women in the peace process. Separatists must ensure an effective end to the school sabotage and stop the practice of requiring women to serve them in their camps."
Cameroon’s separatist groups deny abusing women — and say that some women have joined their forces freely.
Capo Daniel is deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), one of the biggest rebel groups in Cameroon.
"It is unfortunate that the Crisis Group will target the Ambazonian forces for something that is not substantiated. There have been no circumstances where women have been seen in our camps against their will. There are members within our forces who are women, who are volunteers," he said.
Rights activists accuse government troops of abusing women too, though officials deny it.
Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa, Cameroon's minister of Women's Empowerment and the Family, says Cameroon is working with female peace campaigners in initiatives to end the conflict.
"The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family along with women leaders stepped up to express their indignation on the murder of their sisters and children by secessionists in the North West and South West regions. The government has made the promotion of human rights of its citizens a major concern," she said.
More than a thousand Cameroonian women converged in Yaounde last August for a first-ever peace convention to try to end the conflict.
They asked rebels and government troops to lay down their guns so peace could return to the restive regions, but fighting has continued.
Violence erupted in Cameroon’s western regions in 2017 after English-speaking teachers and lawyers protested against discrimination by the country's French-speaking majority. The military responded with a crackdown and separatists took up arms.
The United Nations says about 3,500 people have been killed and at least 700,000 displaced, with women and children the most affected.
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Dr. Tita Emmanuel, the president of the faction of the Interim Government of Ambazonia has just resigned. Barely a few days into power, the newly appointed president decided to let go of his position.
He was elected president of the Interim Government (IG) on February 17 by a dissident faction of the Ambazonian movement fighting for the independence of the people of Southern Cameroons. Today February 22, 2022, Dr Tita Emmanuel, a pharmacist based in Florida in the USA ??, gave up his post.
In his letter of resignation, Dr. Tita explains:
Dear Compatriots, I joined this revolution like most of you to fight the enemy, take our country back and fight anything and anyone who stands in our way. I was one of those who believed that the Restoration Council had a genuine case against the President as presented by some of our compatriots, and I believed that if properly impeached he should be replaced but I was mistaken. I am objective, and I believe in institutions and in the supremacy of the constitution. I engaged in this process of change - the purported nomination and election to the office of President of Ambazonia, to replace our current President, with the belief that it was the right thing to do, but with the intention to also investigate and be sure that history will not put me on the wrong side. Fellow compatriots, I have some alarming discoveries which have caused me to reconsider my judgment today.
My conscience will not allow me to continue in what appears to be an enterprise of hate that has the propensity to destroy our struggle Iota free homeland. I discovered after close observation and investigation that most of what Chairman KOMETA and his group based their so-called impeachment on were innuendos and fabrication.
I was not given a single credible proof. And from the integrity of my heart, I have decided that I won't be part of a project founded on lies. I believe that our house - the IG needs some fixes. I also believe that the struggle needs some fixes, but we can not do these through hate and self-destruction. I want to ask Ambazonians or anyone who thought before now, that I thing the wrong side to forgive toe. But I also believe that if I didn't do this, I probably wouldn't have discovered the true intentions of the masterminds of these enterprises of hate against our struggle. Some time in the future I will speak to you and others in greater detail about toy discoveries and all the reasons that informed toy decision to withdraw from the flawed process of replacing the president of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia Dr. Samuel lkome Sako; and even if our intentions were good and the process wasn't flawed, and everything was done in full legality and constitutionality, toy family's security is paramount at this time.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and understanding.
Emmanuel NJI TITA, PHARM.D, RPH SoS of the Department of HSS. (A.KA. Interim President-Elect )-
Tuesday, 22nd February 2022 CC,
The President Of FRA
The Restoration Council
The Ethics Committee
The Cabinet of FRA
The People of Ambazonia
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The Minister of state, Secretary General at Cameroon's presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh heading to the 6th European Union-African Union summit in Brussels, Belgium where he'll represent Cameroon's ailing president Paul Biya at the gathering.
According to the Organizing Committee of the sixth “European Union – African Union” summit to be held in the capital of Belgium from February 17 to 18, 2022, the objective will be to launch an unambitious Africa-Europe investment package taking into account global challenges such as climate change and the current health crisis.
Cameroon's Biya was invited to take part in this summit, however, in a press release we obtained coming from the civil cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, it stated that the 89-year-old man has chosen his Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to be his representative.
The document also indicates that the Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella and the Cameroonian ambassadors to the European Union and the African Union will be part of the official delegation to accompany his super minister.
The organizing committee explains in a press release that the sixth summit constitutes a unique opportunity to lay the foundations for a renewed and deepened partnership between the AU and the EU benefiting from a political commitment at the highest level based on trust. And a clear understanding of the mutual interests of the two continental organizations.
“Leaders should discuss how both continents can boost prosperity. The aim is to launch an ambitious Africa-Europe investment package taking into account global challenges such as climate change and the current health crisis. They should also discuss tools and solutions to promote stability and security through a renewed peace and security architecture,” the statement read.
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Today is a sad day for Ambazonia. We lost General Ebube and some fighters in Alabakum, Bamenda. These valiant ADF soldiers like others have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. We must make a commitment to continue supporting those left behind until Cameroun gets out of Amba
— Mark Bareta (@MarkBareta) February 16, 2022
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Rival Ambazonian groups in Cameroon have clashed this month, causing an undetermined number of casualties. The fighting was triggered by power struggles within the separatist movement.
Separatist leaders say rivalries among various armed groups are greatly affecting the movement’s fight to carve out an independent English-speaking state from largely French-speaking Cameroon.
Capo Daniel is deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, ADF, one of the two biggest separatist groups. The other separatist group is known as the Ambazonia Restoration Forces.
Ambazonia is the name of the state that separatists are attempting to create.
Daniel says the groups clashed after separatist political leaders voted to impeach Samuel Sako Ikome, the president of what the separatists call their interim government, or IG.
"We have seen forces distancing themselves from command and control as a result of the impeachment of Sako Ikome and the further splintering of the IG group and we have seen field marshal who is supposed to be the overall commander of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces desperately trying to command loyalty from forces who have denied aligning themselves with him," he said.
Lekeaka Oliver, known as the field marshal, leads the Ambazonia Restoration Forces.
On Monday, separatists on social media platforms said Oliver’s group was clashing with the ADF in six towns across western Cameroon. The message noted casualties but gave no details.
Cameroon’s military says the fighting has been bloody in Kumbo, an English-speaking northwestern town. The military says at least 15 fighters have either been killed or wounded.
In Kumbo, a self-proclaimed separatist who goes by the name Mad Dog says he is leading attacks against separatists who support Lekeaka Oliver. He accuses Oliver of corrupt practices.
Mad Dog says he has not received guns, ammunition or congratulatory messages from Lekeaka since becoming the leader of separatist fighters in Kumbo nearly five years ago. He says henceforth, Lekeaka's orders will not be respected in Kumbo. Mad Dog says he strongly believes that the self-proclaimed field marshal is a Cameroonian government agent pretending to be fighting to liberate English speakers in the majority French-speaking country.
On February 2nd, the legislative arm of the self-declared Ambazonia interim government, known as the Restoration Council, passed a vote to impeach Sako Ikome. The Restoration Council accuses Ikome of corruption, embezzlement of funds and illegal deals with the government of Cameroon.
Ikome has denied the charges.
Former separatist spokesperson Eric Tataw says the infighting may discourage separatist fighters.
"My brothers of Ambazonia must come together. This is the time because if we continue, the division is going to dampen the spirits of our people [fighters]. I urge my brothers and sisters to come together. Let's put our hands on deck and fight one enemy, which is the Cameroonian government," he said.
Cameroon’s separatist conflict erupted in 2017 after teachers and lawyers in the North- and Southwest regions, where English is the predominant language, protested alleged discrimination by the country’s French-speaking majority.
The U.N. says the war has killed several thousand people and forced more than 500,000 to flee their homes.
VOA
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For the past five years there has been conflict in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, with no solution or end in sight. There have been political, social and cultural differences and antagonisms for several decades. But the current conflict began in 2016 when lawyers and teachers started protesting over the increasing use of French in the legal and educational systems in these regions, known as Anglophone Cameroon.
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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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.# 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.
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