Politics

Martha, 44 and a resident of Mbengwi in the North West Region of Cameroon was arrested on Thursday 3rd August,2017. This arrest was laid right in front of her kids( age range between 8-25years), her sister Bridget Agei and her aunt Christina Tah.

From eye witness accounts, two men came to her house that also hosts a liquor joint and demanded to buy drinks. She told them that she couldn't serve them first of all because she had family visitors and above all, her stock was empty. The men then called a bike rider to pick them up. Three minutes after the customers took of, uniform officers showed up and asked for the two men. Someone pointed to the direction they took and the police men went after them,apprehended them to her house. The commissioner of police came and asked for guns that were in their keeping. 

They all said they hadn't guns on them and an instant body search was carried out on them. Southern Cameroon adherent cards were alledgedly found on the men  and they were ferried straight to the charge office. At 10.30am that same day, some police officers came and took Martha away telling everyone around that the Senior Divisional Officer wanted to have a chat with her. She was brought back to her house later that sameday, all her children and relatives sent out at that time for them to conduct a search. Her house was frantically ransacked but nothing was discovered.

They then took her back claiming that they needed to take some statements from her. She willingly got into their car and followed them. The following morning, her brothers Elias and Joel, her sister Bridget and her aunt went to the Mbengwi charge office to look for her but were told that she had been whisked-off to Bamenda.

When they arrived Bamenda, they were also told that she was not there until a smart sister of hers tipped one of the officers on duty who led her to see Martha. She was seen in a very disturbing physical and psychological condition. She had been tortured to the extent that her eyes were all swollen and she had marks all over her face.

That was the last time any family member set eyes on her. They were later informed that she had been transferred to Yaounde. On Monday 7th, the whole family went to the Kondengui maximum prison to look for her but to their greatest shock, they were told that the group that was arrested in Mbengwi was slated for execution today August 14.

Since then,we learned that they have been transferred to the SED concentration camp and no one has heard her or seen her again. Her family are now languishing in utter bewilderment and wondering what must have become of her or what the future holds for her. They are praying that people of good will should intervene so that their whereabouts should be known and her release secured. 

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Mbi James

14.Aug.2017

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AYAH PAUL UNDER MORE TORTURE
At the time of my official assignment as Advocate General of the Supreme Court of Cameroon, my University classmate, Mr. Ndjodo Luc, was of the same grade and seniority in the legal profession as myself. But by law in force, he could not be my head of Department because I was/am older than him by two years. In this particular case, Ayah the ‘anglophone’ was not only marginalized but he lost even his position as a second class ‘citizen’. A francophone judge of index 1115 was appointed the deputy head of department, relegating Ayah the Anglophone on index 1400 to the third position. 

This was just the starting point of my road to Calvary. Even as I embraced all the ignominy in stunning resignation, I waited for six months before being given an office. When the first consignment of new vehicles came, Ayah was given but a second hand official car which shortly went bad. I then took to my boss a list of spare parts needed for repairs but the latter, The Procureur General, hurled the list at me, insisting that the list must be translated into French before he would even look at it.
By the list of ‘seniority’ made by the court, I was the 9th (Number 1 Anglophone) in a descending order. What was all the stranger was that I was not given a new official vehicle even when the second consignment of fifteen new vehicles came. As a result, I had to go to work often by taxi. How could we get to this? It is no news that I went for 17 months without salary which has been confiscated by the state. That money, some of which was due as far back as 2013, is being owed me, even as these words are being written. I was therefore left without even a personal car!

Surprising as it is that, in the face of all these trials, I remained calm and uncomplaining; it is anyone’s guess that a conspiracy was still hatched to get rid of me. May I spare the readers the boredom of their re-reading a narrative of all that I have gone through in recent times. But I would be doing no-one justice if I failed to recount that I have been in captivity seven months now without an inkling of the reason for my ordeal and that by God’s grace I am still alive. Nor do I find it superfluous to repeat the plots and intrigues to see me dead ‘’naturally’’.

It is no news that after withholding my 17 months arrears of salary, they have sent me on retirement to further send me to an early grave in a two-pronged attack. As a sudden cardiac patient (which condition developed as a result of this aggression on me) put on a special diet, disconnecting my salary is a lethal injection. And being in captivity, I would not be able to follow up the payment of my pension. Bringing me even food as prescribed would cease; of course…..
As for Ndjodo Luc, why give me such a long rope? He has withheld my allowance for the second quarter of the year on the curious ground that I must hand over as a condition precedent. There can be nothing short of malice here because it is he who has to notify the decree of my retirement to me. He has not done so yet. It would be insulting to suppose that, at his level, Mr Procureur General does not know that notification comes before handing-over. His action then should be nothing short of persecution – torture!
And to buttress that, Mr Procureur General is eager to seal the only crevice that sustains my life, he broke into my office within weeks of my unofficial information that I am retired and installed someone in it. The very Procureur General who took six months to give me an office! God alone knows where all my personal effects in the office are after this official breaking – in (robbery)…

In an attempt to stem the conspiracy against me and in frantic struggle for survival, I wrote to Mr. Procureur General, demanding notification of the decree of my retirement. In my captivity, the letter was via the Secretary of State for Defense – another University classmate, Mr. Jean Baptiste Bokam. It is dead silence since the letter landed on Mr. Bokam’s table about July 25, 2017.
Gosh! So many war fronts against a single individual – Ayah Paul the Anglophone: a sudden cardiac patient whose blood pressure rose to close to 280 (276 to be precise) during the last cardiac crisis! The Price of being outlandish! The price of being ‘anglophone’! The price for standing by the truth at all times and against all odds!
Solace! My God is alive! 

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Rita Akana

14.Aug.2017

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Akuroh John Mbah from the SCACUF advocacy committee announces major victories, re-iterates need for 3 days ghost towns . A must watch.

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Rita Akana

13.Aug.2017

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The Bishop of Mamfe, His Lordship Andrew Fuanya Nkea, says a wave of dangerous events is lurking over Cameroon.

According to the Prelate, Cameroon is living through perilous times where relativism has given way to absolutism.

To him, more and more Cameroonians are involved in crimes in a country where corruption has been elevated to a virtuous act and a way of life, while patriotism has been slaughtered on the altar of personal self-aggrandisement.

Bishop Nkea was speaking at the Saints Peter and Paul University Parish Buea, on Saturday, August 5, while delivering a homily during a Requiem Mass organised in honour of deceased Sports Commentator, Zachary Tokoto Nkwo.

Mgr. Nkea’s homily was predicated on the theme; “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” The Bishop of Mamfe said he borrowed the phrase “danger for Cameroon” from late Zachary Nkwo. This phrase, he said was often used by the deceased each time he was running commentaries on radio.

According to him, Zachary Nkwo’s use of the aforementioned phrase was not intended for the Cameroonian audience that barely listened to his commentaries on radio, but rather the danger alerts were often directed to the players on the pitch to fall back and defend the colours of their father land. The Prelate said the phrase “Danger for Cameroon” has today become a very apt phase in a crisis-ridden Cameroon that needs people to stand up and defend it.

He lamented that the respect for human rights has become very irrelevant in Cameroon as people are assassinated without remorse.

The courts, the Chief Shepherd of Mamfe went on, has lost their credibility as justice is not only manipulated by the rich and powerful at the detriment of the poor, but that the courts are being used as institutions for scores settling.

Mgr. Nkea further bewailed that some people are constantly struggling to defile the sanctity of the church.

This, he said, explains why Men of God have been dragged to court, while others have been assassinated for speaking the truth.

The Bishop warned that Cameroonians must repent from their evil ways and seek God’s face to avert the looming danger.

The former Rector of the St. Thomas Aquinas’ Major Seminary Bambui, said though Zachary Nkwo was not an ardent church goer, he loved God and did his job well.

He recalled an incident some years back when he (Nkea) was still a Priest serving in Buea Diocese. “One Sunday I was celebrating Mass at St. Martin de Porres Parish Bokwango, after seeing Uncle Zach’s wife and children in church without their father, I asked his wife where the husband was and she said he “is at home father”’’.

After Mass, I got into my car and drove straight to Uncle Zach’s house. Behold I met Zach behind the house and started chiding him for not coming to Church. After absorbing my fury, Zach in his usual composed, recollected and his taciturn mood asked me in a soft voice “Fr. have you had breakfast?” the Prelate recounted.

Mgr. Nkea said after asking him such a question, he further said “what goes around comes around. Fr I will come to church.” The Requiem Mass was presided at by the Bishop of Kumbo, His Lordship George Nkuo and concelebrated by a college of priests.

Only A Confused Gov’t Can Fight The Church

Mgr. Nkea’s Episcopal warnings came a few days after celebrated Nigerian Cleric, Apostle Johnson Suleman during his crusade in Limbe warned that any Government that is fighting against the church is a confused Government.

Cameroonpost.

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Rita Akana

13.Aug.2017

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For the past 72 hours, the Northwest and Southwest Regional capitals have been teeming with heavily armed military officers.

The population of Bamenda and Buea, Monday, August 7, woke up and discovered major streets in their Region inundated with uniform officers.

Our military source, who refused to be named for fear of victimisation, said they were drafted into the Southwest and Northwest Regions after Government, acting from a tip-off and military intelligence reports, learnt that they could be an attack on the two Anglophone Regions.

According to him, it was in bid to pre-empt any attack that  hundreds of them were ferried in at the depth of the night with armoured vehicles and weapons and stationed at strategic positions to secure the city and fight back in case of an attempt on Buea or Bamenda.

The heavy presence of military officers in Buea, chief town of the Southwest Region, has also led to a corresponding increase in the number of citizens in police and gendarme custody, as those found at certain period of the day without their national identity cards are ferried into custody.

Tongues are already wagging that the troops may have been drafted in on Sunday breaking Monday when there was an unexplained black out in Buea.

It is even rumoured that the blackout was used to slip in the troops into the Regions.

Many people who spoke to  this reporter  said, the energy company, ENEO, has become a citizenly friendly company in recent months.

According to them, before ceasing electricity, the company often issued media announcements, informing the population that there will be no electricity from a certain period of the day.

“But the August 6 blackout, which lasted for over one day, was unprecedented. This was unlike ENEO, which often informs its clients about any blackout, so I knew that something was amiss,” our one of our respondents said.

Meanwhile, our military source said the troops, which were ferried into Buea and Bamenda and are now residing in camps and ‘not very comfortable with the weather conditions of the two Regions, characterised by heavy rain fall and extreme cold.

In a bid to battle the harsh climatic conditions, constant exercises, punctuated by brief breaks, midnight roll calls have been instituted to keep the troops alert and ready to quell any attack.

Communications between the troops and their family members are have been barred during working hours. Strict military discipline has also been instituted, to prevent the troops from careless drinking in bars, which is considered dangerous to their mission.

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Abeh Valery

12.Aug.2017

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Second Letter

The Indivisible Nature of Freedom

“Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one.”

This is an extract of the amazing Berlin speech of President John F Kennedy in which he spoke the words that rocked Berlin and, through it the entire universe: “Ich been ein Berliner”. In fact, he was saying if one person is not free regardless of her/his origin no one can claim to be free. This speech inspired the hash tag “#je suis Charlie Hebdo”, after the barbaric murder perpetrated by terrorists at the office of the French Newspaper Charlie Hebdo. In solidarity with the pain and indignation that gripped Paris and the French, the whole world was one. As a matter of fact President Kennedy was himself inspired by an 18th century report of a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC. By simply stating “civis rumanus sum” the Latin phrase for “I am a Roman citizen” one could lay a claim to the right for the same protection as the Roman Citizen.

So, when my learned colleagues described to me what happened during the last hearing in the Yaounde Military Tribunal of July 29, 2017, in the case of Agbor Bala, Dr. Fontem, Mancho Bibixy and others, I was greatly saddened and troubled. Saddened and troubled because, it could have been you or I, not because we are Anglophones or Francophones, but because we are supposed to be citizens of the same country. This is a trial in which all the accused persons are Anglophones and all those judging and prosecuting are Francophones. Two courageous high ranking gentlemen in uniform, knowing the potential consequences of not conforming and in defiance of any threat they could face from the powers that be, told the truth and affirmed not to have seen the persons in court commit any of the acts of violence that supposedly took place, and of which the defendants were accused. These star witnesses opening the famous case therefore provided statements and seen these citizens set free. But no, they are still in prison.

They are incarcerated for seeking their rights, and peacefully asking for better conditions for their professions and a better life for all. They did so by proclaiming their citizenship – citizenship, which they believed, afforded them the right to freedom of expression, the right to protection and a guaranteed solution to their grievances. Instead, they met with unparalleled repression, arrests, relocation and a trial that has taken eight months just to start, with no end in sight.

Instead of being the citizens they wanted to be, they are now being called Anglophones, terrorists and secessionists. Any other Cameroonian be they Francophone or Anglophone could have raised the issue of injustice and bad governance. It is one that is becoming pervasive throughout our society. You and I are out free. It is because we have resigned ourselves to the current state of affairs. We have come to accept that it is proper for some to embezzle public funds and not be called to account, for some to abuse of their powers and engage in the crudest form of nepotism, all the while lecturing others about the love of country and attempting to distract us from this reality and attempting to divide us through branding and labeling. Even the courageous prosecutor in the Military Tribunal who had followed the case from the beginning found himself transferred to Ebolowa. Is it because he refused to oppose bail? Is it because he paid special attention to the procedure code? This code, which guarantees your rights and my rights?

Freedom is indivisible. We cannot pretend to enjoy any freedom when our fellow citizens are incarcerated unjustly. Justice Ayah Paul, of the highest jurisdiction of our land, a secondary school classmate of mine (known in school in the most premonitory manner as “the incorruptible judge” after a school play in which he was the judge- we were only 16 years old then) will have just gone past 200 days of detention. We still have to find out, why. Many Cameroonians Anglophone and Francophone, many of the respectable leaders in our society, Bar Leaders from many countries, the United Nations many, the international Crisis Group, the African Union and several others, have pleaded for these victims who are fighting for our freedom to be set free.

A Cleric in his sermon at the funeral service for Bishop Jean Marie Bala (another mystery of our country) had this to say. “True power is not violent, true power constructs peace, true power builds the development of the wholesome nature of the human being”. In this poignant homily, Reverend Father Joseph Akonga Essomba says, in this life, there are those who will be considered as being mad just because they are not worrying about themselves but about the importance of their mission here on earth. Is this why those who fight for our freedoms and well being are branded terrorists? Are there some people who feel threatened and terrified by the truth?

My Francophone sisters and brothers I say this. We must now proclaim the indivisible nature of freedom. As a nation we are you and you are we. I have no problem saying I am francophone if it means identifying myself with what is right and what contributes to the building of our nation.

Let all the francophones who read this take to their social media accounts and proclaim the unifying message in this time of crisis: “I am Anglophone”. This message will confound and threaten all those who wish to divide us for their own selfish purposes. Even beyond your social media, let your neighbors, your colleagues, your classmates, and other acquaintances, know that you stand with them in opposition to injustice and you will be steadfast in defending their rights.

Yes, you must proclaim it “ I am Anglophone” and you will thus in the words of the Rev. Father Akonga be negating the answer of Cain, of the Bible, to the voice that asked him where was his brother Abel. Cain answered, “am I my brother’s keeper? Yes we are! Affirmed the Rev. Father with vehemence, “ we are brothers’ keepers” That is why the enslavement of one of us is the enslavement of all. Freedom is indeed indivisible. Each and everyone should affirm, “ I am Anglophone” So we can all be called terrorists even if that is the prize we have to pay to salvage our nation. Epictetus the Greek Philosopher said something we might as well reflect upon “No man is free who is not master of himself” That is what Cameroonians need now. Freedom that allows them to be themselves. One that respects their diversity and makes of it a unique form of richness. One that gives them equal opportunity and equality before the law. One that rewards hard work and integrity and refuses impunity. One that will cause them to able scream proudly: “this is Cameroon, my homeland my dear fatherland!”

Akere Muna
@AkereMuna
#Cameroon

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Akere Muna

12.Aug.2017

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