Politics

Newly appointed Nigerian Consul General to the Southwest and Northwest Regions of Cameroon, Mallam Muhamed Arzika, has warned his compatriots, resident in Cameroon to refrain from secessionist and terrorist activities that may jeopardise the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The diplomat was addressing the Nigerian community in the two Regions of Cameroon during his maiden outing.

According him, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon enjoy fruitful bilateral ties that must not be compromised, especially as both countries battle insecurity pose by Boko Haram.

He frowned at some Nigerians who are incarcerated in some prisons in Cameroon, challenging them to ask themselves why they are detained.

He blamed some of them for being ignorant of the laws governing their stay in Cameroon and enjoined them to always concert with their families back home before travelling out of Nigeria.

He advised them to desist from the unnecessary quest for big, fast and cheap money, which he said often land them into serious problems.

He pledged to work with the Superintendent of Prisons and other judicial officials in Cameroon to facilitate the release of Nigerian prisoners with minor crimes and those with little fines to pay, while reiterating the need for them to stay out of trouble.

Other speakers like the President of the Nigerian Union in Bamenda, Samuel Ebere, said despite the little misunderstandings, Nigerian communities in Cameroon live in peace, but for the fact that most of them are reticent to procure the Residence Permit.

The Consul General promised to look into the Residence Permit issue in collaboration with the Immigration authorities of Cameroon.

To the Nigerian prisoners, the Consul General came along with a huge consignment of food stuff, medicines and toiletries.

Details

Abeh Valery

25.Aug.2017

Hits: 1817

An infuriated politician of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) in Meme Division, South West Region of Cameroon, Lawson Tabot Bakia, has expressed disgust at the indifference of the Ministers of Basic and Secondary Education over  school resumption in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon.

Tabot is enraged by the fact that since November 21, 2016, pupils and students in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have not been to schools because of the indefinite strike action declared by the Anglophone Teachers’ Trade Unions.

With the resumption of the 2017/2018 academic year expected to commence in less than 12 days, the politician is worried that none of the two Ministers, who are supposed to be crusading for school resumption have shown any interest for the resumption of schools in the violence-plagued Regions.

Tabot vented out his frustration on the sidelines of a CPDM Section in Kumba recently.

" I frown largely at the authorities of Government Secondary schools and I am even against the Ministers... we are less than 12 days  to school reopening, there has been no transfers. The Ministers are aware that there are some principals and head teachers in these schools who are the cause of children not going to school. They are supposed to have caused some transfers, so that everybody is aware and equally there are supposed to have published the book lists. But the book list was only published two days ago," Tabot stated.

He further lamented that the Ministers have gone mute even to make public announcements in churches and on the media for admissions and other back to school activities.

He told the press that, the CPDM has the right as the ruling party to call on the population to send their children back to school for the forthcoming academic year.

 “We are not talking about the Anglophone Problem. We are asking that children should go back to school...as a leading party; we have a right to call on our population to go back to school. It is our right. As a ruling party, it is our right to stand and make our voices heard that schools should resume. Our children should not stay in the house," the Section President appealed.

Details

Abeh Valery

25.Aug.2017

Hits: 2352

Police arrested Hans Achomba, a Cameroonian freelance journalist and documentary film-maker, in Bamenda on January 23, 2017, according to his wife, Lilian Shiya.

According to a notice that Shiya photographed outside the military tribunal offices where Achomba appeared, he is accused of complicity of hostility against the fatherland, secession, propagation of false news, insurrection, incitement to civil war, and complicity in acts of terrorism.

Shiya said that court proceedings were held in French, despite Achomba being an English speaker.

Police arrested Achomba after the journalist was seen speaking to a cyclist about why he was on the streets on a "Ghost Town" day--the name Cameroonians gave to a series of protests, strikes, and shutdowns in the country's English-speaking regions.

During questioning, police checked Achomba's cell phone and saw photographs of him wearing a political T-shirt at a rally called by opposition parliamentarian Joseph Wirba, that authorities banned, Shiya said. Police also found his press card, she said.

When police questioned Achomba, he told them he had worked in South Africa. A large Cameroonian community that authorities believe are fueling the unrest in the English-speaking regions lives in South Africa.

"They drew conclusions that he was gathering facts to send or make news on the recent Anglophone riots as he also had pictures and videos of street demonstrations," Shiya told CPJ

"They were questioning why he was in South Africa and the fact that he returned to Cameroon for [our] wedding didn't seem to make a difference," she said.

Achomba makes documentaries for the state-run Chinese broadcaster CCTV. He produces documentaries on wildlife as well as politicians such as Namibia's founding father, Sam Nujoma, and that late Mozambican president Samora Machel. At the time of his arrest he was producing a two-part documentary about the Southern Cameroons' struggle for liberation, according to a journalist, who spoke with CPJ on condition on the anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Achomba was transferred to police headquarters in Yaoundé in the early hours of January 24, 2017. He was kept in crowded cells with no toilet for three weeks, before being moved to Kondengui prison, Shiya said.

The journalist's wife added that when she first saw her husband after his arrest, he looked like he had been beaten. His feet were swollen and he could hardly walk. Shiya said that her husband told her that police used batons to beat him on the soles and top of his feet. They stepped on his stomach and crotch and threatened to cut off his fingers.

"They were making comments about him getting married and told him he would not see me anymore," she told CPJ.

Cameroon's president's office and the official government spokesperson did not immediately respond to CPJ's request for comment.

Shiya said that she travelled to Yaoundé, about 230 miles from their home in Bamenda, for a few months to see her husband more regularly, but because she was pregnant at the time of his arrest she had to return home. The couple's baby boy, Alex, was born while Achomba was in custody.

cpj.org

Details

Rita Akana

23.Aug.2017

Hits: 2843

In an interview granted at his residence today Cardinal Tumi reechoed that there has never been any marriage between British Cameroons and French Cameroon. They are living as concubines, the Cardinal said. The man of God who was ordained bishop in 1980 said : “They signed nothing at Foumban.

Prime Minister John Ngu Foncha (who was a former Catholic teacher) did not have the power to negotiate, because Cameroons was under the tutelage of France and England.

The French who supported Ahidjo, were at the conference. But England and the United Nations who were to validate the act, were not present. There has never been a document about what happened in Foumban. People went there to drink wine. 

Details

Rita Akana

23.Aug.2017

Hits: 2674

Southern Cameroonians both home and abroad must become more resolute now than before. The resistance home in terms of ghost towns and school shut down must be maintained and intensified. The United Nations and its members must continue to see that things home are different. Home forces must continue to make ground ungovernable.

United Nations meet in New York in September and one of the item on the agenda directly concerns us. Point number 72 on the United Nations Agenda reads " The Right Of Peoples To Self Determination". This is where our case shall be discussed in the UN. As AU court in Banjul which is an auxiliary arm of the UN declared years ago that Southern Cameroons is a "People" and more recently the same AU Human Rights office which called for the release of Balla et al declared similar statement as we are a "People". In international law, and according to the UN charter, a people refers to those with right to self determination and yes Southern Cameroons has the right to self Determination. Now, we are seeing that the UN meeting in September has that item on the agenda, off course it is open. 

This is where all Southern Cameroonians come in. We must give our unflinching and united support to the Southern Cameroons Governing Council and its constituent members so that they continue to do their back door negotiations and diplomacy quietly that will enable a member state to raise up our issue when agenda number 72 comes up in the United Nations General Assembly. This is capable and possible to happen but the Governing Council and others must go into deep diplomacy like they are currently doing.

However, physically they will need our support for this to happen in the UN.

1. All Southern Cameroonians back home must be unified in shutting down schools, courts and observing ghost towns. This is a MUST and a duty.

2. Ground forces must be able to take some secured risks now and escalate the issue to ungovernable levels. The UN needs to see these two happening above greatly.

3. More importantly, all Southern Cameroonians in the United states must rally in New York during the one week of UN GA on a daily basis. They must sleep and camp at the UN in New  York protesting and organising events. They should move there with their mattresses. During this one week camping, large screens must be projected showing the shootings and killings of our people, showing the names of all those abducted, showing the brutality of our lawyers, showing the maiming and sewage rubbing of University students and the marks on their bodies. In fact, all photos must be projected. This must be a one week event during the entire UN GA. We must camp there, produce flyers, burned CDs, brochures and share to all police officers, passer-byes and all those entering the UN GA. The noise must be loud for the UN to know that they have to finish the decolonisation of Southern Cameroons as Britain failed to achieve.

Once the above are done, the governing council and its members are doing their back door diplomacy quietly without revealing any detail information.

Yes, agenda 72 on the UN GA concerns us but we must seize it and do things that will warrant it to be discussed at the UN GA. Aware that most of the powers lie in the UN Security Council, the talking of the Southern Cameroons Case at the UN GA will be a big fat step in our restoration agenda that will change the dynamics once and for all. yes, we can.

Share this until all Southern Cameroonians must have read.

Mark Bareta

Details

Baretanews

23.Aug.2017

Hits: 2208

Dear honourable exco members of the Southern Cameroons Council in Belgium,
Dear Southern Cameroonians,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening,

The governing council of Belgium salutes you all.

We have all been witnesses to the prevailing state of affairs in Belgium and in our forums.

We deem it necessary at this point in time to sound this robust warning to all those propagating divisive tendencies,  insults and distractions within  our community in Belgium.

The principle of Democracy, which we dearly uphold, does not call for division, insults nor undermining the existence of other opinions. These variation of opinions must however be expressed within limits to the existence of that of others. Coexistence of these diverse opinions is necessary and constitute a solid foundation wherein our struggle must stand, in order to be successful.

It is undeniable that there is a deliberate willingness to institute some cracks in Southern Cameroons Belgium but, it is also our collective responsibility to repel such forces of darkness whose intentions are only to divide and weaken.

Bringing about unity in our struggle is the primary duty to all comrades in general, no matter your opinion or your group. Uniting all groups and opinions in Southern Cameroons Belgium has always been our main objective. This is the sole reason that motivated the name “Southern Cameroons Belgium”.  Therefore, Southern Cameroons Belgium is a unifying forum and shall be so. There should be therefore no prevalence nor the promotion of any group in Belgium. If any group must exist, there should be no competition with Southern Cameroons Belgium, but  complementarity for the sake of our struggle.

This present Interim Council of Southern Cameroon Belgium has been able to secure legalisation and registration of Southern Cameroons in Belgium. We have therefore acquired the legal capacity to carry on our activities without any interference from who ever. We reserve the right to institute legal actions against any obstruction to our proper functioning.

We wish to assure every Southern Cameroonian in Belgium that our unity cannot be tempered with. This is the reason why we have endorsed SCACUF as a group that has brought about a platform of unity for all the groups within our struggle. We have the duty not only to support but also to sustain SCACUF. In the future, we shall constitute a SCACUF secretariat. We believe all groups in Belgium and the diaspora as a whole are following this path.

We therefore take the opportunity to inform every Southern Cameroonian in Belgium about the upcoming visit of the chair person of the Governing Council who is presently our Interim President.

We are appealing to everybody to converge at the Zaventem International Airport on  Thursday the 24th of August 2017 at 7 am to give a historic welcome to the Chairperson and his delegation made of The deputy Chairperson Mr. Tassang Wilfred, The Secretary General Mr Milan Atam and the great Professor Carlson Anyangwe.

The reasons for this visit are twofold; diplomatic and fundraising. From Brussels, the delegation shall proceed to Munich Germany, only to be back in Brussels on the 30th and 31st  of  August 2017 for a town hall meeting with All Southern Cameroonians in Belgium, Holland and France.

We are expected to exhibit our cultural values of  Southern Cameroons during his welcome. All cultural dance groups in Belgium and beyond are invited to come out and dance during this event. Bring out your traditional dresses. This is the long awaited moment we have been clamouring for since our struggle ignited. You cannot afford not to be a participant to this welcome. We need to send a strong message to LRC and the world at large that we are capable of governing ourselves. The Chairman himself has instructed this.

Logistics, security and protocol services are underway for the event. A security team of minimum 20 men shall be needed. Those interested to serve in this team should contact the following comrades;

 Sama Thomas of Antwerp for registration. His Telephone number is: 0466291252.

For protocol team, contact comrade Marcellus Atanga. Tel: 0466205809

There is a fund that has been created to take care of the delegation while in Belgium. we the Exco members have taken the commitment to contribute 100 euros each for this event.

We are calling on every Southern Cameroonian in Belgium to be part of this fund. Be proud to bring in your modest support to this event. For your contribution, contact the following: 

For Antwerpen contact: SCB Treasurer Diba Dickson tel:0466 27 95 07
For Brussels contact chair lady of fundraising committee: Anna Fien: Tel: 0485 99 19 65
For all Leuven contact SCB Sec Gen.  Ufa Uygnns Tel:0465 92 76 71
For all other cities do it directly in the SCB account if you cannot get to these people incharge.

SOUTHERN CAMEROONS BELGIUM BANK ACCOUNT
IBAN: BE57 6304 0696 1135
BIC: BBRUBEBB

ADDRESS: ING BANK BELGIUM
PALAIS DE JUSTICE
PLACE POELAERT 1,  1000 BRUXELLES

 Remember to sign against your name and the amount you donate.

We also take the opportunity to remind all Southern Cameroonians in Belgium, of our upcoming elections, to put in place a permanent executive which shall be charged to run the affairs of Southern Cameroons Belgium for the next two years. Elections are scheduled for the 09th of September 2017 in Antwerp, Address: Carnotstraat 78, 2060 Antwerp. Check out the eligibility rules in the communique with the electoral committee.

At the level of Europe, all countries have to pay 600 euros each to take care of the flight tickets and transportation of the delegation around Europe. The delegation will visit 6 countries in Europe, Belgium being one of them.

We shall be updating you from time to time, as we progress into the organisation phase of this grand and historic event.

Thank you all for your commitment to the struggle.


Our struggle continues and God bless our projected Nation.

Barrister Ndeh Tangie David

Chairperson Southern Cameroons Belgium via Alhaji Ahmadu   Communications Department

Details

Rita Akana

23.Aug.2017

Hits: 2746