http://cameroonjournal.com Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:34:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.3 https://i1.wp.com/cameroonjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/FAVICON.png?fit=32%2C29 http://cameroonjournal.com 32 32 79252525 CPDM Bows to Pressure From Anglophone Activists, Confines Anniversary Celebration Indoors http://cameroonjournal.com/cpdm-bows-to-pressure-from-anglophone-activists-confines-anniversary-celebration-indoors/ http://cameroonjournal.com/cpdm-bows-to-pressure-from-anglophone-activists-confines-anniversary-celebration-indoors/#respond Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:36:51 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1612 [...]]]> PM Philemon Yang
PM Philemon Yang

By Pang Joseph, Thursday, March 23, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Bamenda – North West CPDM leadership appears to be coming to terms with the shaky socio-political climate in the Anglophone regions of the country. This is evidenced in the modification on its anniversary programme to be celebrated tomorrow, Friday, March 24.

At a recent regional planning committee meeting chaired by PM Yang Philemon, it was agreed that the anniversary celebrations in the North West be toned down in acknowledgement of the socio-political crisis currently plaguing the region. CPDM party bigwigs of the region admitted that it will not be safe for their members to come out in pump and fanfare like in previous years. In this light, celebrations in Bamenda have been strictly restricted to Bamenda Congress Hall, the party’s head office in the North West. The usual parade at the Commercial Avenue has been called off for fear of violent confrontation with the public.

The event planners also decided that instead of outdoor events, celebrations be held equally indoors in other towns and villages that are not very volatile at the moment. In places considered to be hotspots areas, there will be no celebrations at all. Members were advised to stay away from particular neighborhoods like Cow Street and Atuakom neighborhoods in the city of Bamenda.

The party is taking such precautions after the 8 December 2016 incident where PM Yang and the party’s scribe, Jean Kuete and a host of militants were barricaded from leaving Ayaba Hotel by protesters. The bloody protest led to the death of many with others arrested and whisked off to Yaoundé. It is the deadliest confrontation between protesters and security officers since the strike started.




In the build-up to tomorrow’s party anniversary, text messages have been circulating in both the South West and North West Regions from activists declaring severe ghost town and warning people of serious consequences should they join the CPDM in celebrations on Friday.

Coincidentally, the CPDM was born on March 2, 1985 in Bamenda. In a country where alternative voices are strangled, such a meeting, had it been that of an opposition party, would have been banned by gov’t on security grounds just like the SDF meeting two weeks ago in Douala was banned by administrative authorities.

However, until the ruling CPDM opens up real dialogue with all stake holders in the current crisis for lasting peace, it may never as before find freedom in organizing public gatherings as the case has been in the past. At least, not in the Northwest and Southwest Regions.


 

 

 

 




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NW Governor Calls for Creation of Vigilante Groups to Stop Arson Attacks http://cameroonjournal.com/nw-governor-calls-for-creation-of-vigilante-groups-to-stop-arson-attacks/ http://cameroonjournal.com/nw-governor-calls-for-creation-of-vigilante-groups-to-stop-arson-attacks/#respond Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:27:34 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1610 [...]]]>
North West Governor, Adolphe LELE L’AFRIQUE

By Pang Joseph, Thursday, March 23, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Bamenda – Adolph Lele Lafrique, Governor of the North West Region has challenged inhabitants to create vigilante groups to counteract frequent arson attacks in the region.

Lele Lafrique made the appeal while he chaired a security meeting of the region yesterday, Wednesday, March 22. The visibly frustrated Governor expressed concerns that despite the heavy militarization of major towns and villages of the North West, unidentified individuals may still go around burning down public institutions without being arrested. To him the only way curb the problem would be the creation of vigilante groups in neighborhoods.

The meeting that was attended by security chiefs of the region, regional heads, and traditional authorities also had participation of representatives of political parties.

After making his appeal, participants took the Governor to task, challenging him to petition the government to reinstate internet in the region, release all detainees and demilitarized the streets of major towns and villages. Some local politicians, who spoke at the meeting including the SDF Youth Wing Coordinator, Ndonwi, challenged the government to bring back the internet and instead of disrupting it, he said gov’t should learn how to counteract hate messages by being proactive communicators.

Lele Lafrique seized on the gathering to once more call on children to get back to school. As usual, the Governor promised them security. But stake holders who were visibly dissatisfied responded that the military presence in the streets creates more fear in the minds of the people than security.

The meeting came on the hills of the burning of Bamenda food market last Tuesday, March 14, by yet to be identified persons. Similar attacks have been recorded in some schools in the region – especially the University of Bamenda Medical School and CENAJES, where despite the call for school boycott by the Consortium, some students and teachers especially of the Francophone extraction continued to hold clandestine lectures.

Whether inhabitants will adhere to the Governor’s call for the creation of vigilante groups remain to be seen. A similar call was made last month by former PM Musonge and his cronies in the South West Region, but the plan died even before participants could leave the Buea ceremonial ground. Despite all the militarization of the two regions, the stalemate over Anglophones crisis still continues with the government turning a blind eye on the demands of people in the two regions.





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Ayah’s Lawyers to File Appeal Against Illegal Detention http://cameroonjournal.com/ayahs-lawyers-to-file-appeal-against-illegal-detention/ http://cameroonjournal.com/ayahs-lawyers-to-file-appeal-against-illegal-detention/#respond Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:21:34 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1608 [...]]]> Ayah Paul Abine
Ayah Paul Abine, serving Advocate General of the Supreme Court of Cameroon

By Folegwe II Menky, March 23, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Yaounde – An appeal to counter the decision of the Mfoundi High Court remanding Ayah Paul Abine will be filed at the Court of Appeal of the Centre Region, Ayah’s lawyers have said.

Ndong Christopher Nveh, one of the defense counsels, told The Cameroon Journal by telephone they are working on an appeal which they will file in good time. “We will file the appeal before the five day window frame elapses,” Ndong disclosed.

On Tuesday, the Mfoundi High Court rejected a Habeas Corpus demanding the unconditional release of the Deputy Attorney General of the Supreme Court. Ayah was arrested and has since January 21, been incarcerated at the National Gendarmerie Headquarters in Yaoundé.

Luc Kisob, another defense lawyer, is quoted by another publication as upholding that Ayah’s arrest was illegal. Affirming that nobody is above the law, the attorney-at-law said “what they [Ayah’s lawyers] are saying is that the law should be respected if proceedings have to be carried out against anybody.”

On March 6, Ayah’s lawyers filed a petition to the President of the Mfoundi High Court, saying their client was taken away from his residence in the presence of his family and transferred with military aid to Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie, SED. “He [Ayah] discovered that no judicial proceeding had been initiated against him by the state of Cameroon for wrongdoings which he has ignored,” the lawyers told The Cameroon Journal then.

Going by Barrister Ndong, the Military Prosecutor [‘Commissaire du Gouvernement’], who is reported to have ordered the arrest, violated Ayah’s rights as a Magistrate as well as legal procedures.

The attorney cited Section 629, Sub 1 & 2, of the Criminal Procedure Code which reads: “(1) Where a judicial or legal officer is likely to be charged with committing an offence, the competent Procureur General [Attorney General] shall request the President of the Supreme Court to appoint an investigating magistrate as well as three other magistrates of a grade at least equal to that of the magistrate incriminated and they shall, if necessary, hear and determine the matter at first instance.

“(2) The President of the Supreme Court shall, in addition, indicate the town wherein the case shall be heard.”




Considering that the legal procedures leading to Ayah’s arrest and subsequent detention were “grossly violated,” his lawyers were basking on Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code to cause the President of the Mfoundi High Court to immediately release Ayah. Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates, inter alia, that the sanction against the infringement of any rule of criminal procedure shall be an absolute nullity.

But the Mfoundi High Court sitting in Yaoundé turned down the plea by Ayah’s lawyers, upholding the detention of the chairman of the opposition Popular Action Party. The lawyers are now bent of getting the Court of Appeal of the Center Region to reverse the decision of the lower court and free Ayah.


 

 




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‘Objection Your Honour,’ Agbor Balla Should be Tried in Civilian Court – Int’l Bar Tells Yaoundé http://cameroonjournal.com/exception-your-honour-agbor-balla-should-be-tried-in-civilian-court-intl-bar-tells-yaounde/ http://cameroonjournal.com/exception-your-honour-agbor-balla-should-be-tried-in-civilian-court-intl-bar-tells-yaounde/#respond Thu, 23 Mar 2017 00:07:05 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1606 [...]]]> Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla
Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla

By Folegwe II Menky, March 23, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Yaoundé – International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, IBAHRI, has restated its call to Yaoundé authorities to conduct the trial of Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla in a civilian court, and not in a military tribunal.

In a statement sent to our newsroom Wednesday, the world’s leading organisation of international legal practitioners – bar associations and law societies, also noted that Agbor Balla’s trial should be “without interference, and in adherence with international norms of legal and transparent due process.”

IBAHRI had on February 13, called for a fair trial for Balla, who is standing trial at the Yaoundé Military Tribunal alongside Dr. Fontem A. Neba and Mancho Bibixy. Their case which has been adjourned on two occasions comes up again today.

According to Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Co-chair of IBAHRI, “the arrest of Barrister Agbor-Balla by military authorities that now intend to prosecute, judge and sentence him is deeply troubling to the IBAHRI and the international community.”

While raising fears that the trial may henceforth be held in-camera at the Military Tribunal, the London-based outfit called on the Government of Cameroon to respect the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary and ensure that judicial proceedings are conducted fairly.

IBAHRI noted that Agbor Balla’s “rights as an individual and a professional to personal liberty, free expression, association, protection from arbitrary arrest and the right to a fair trial,” have been denied him.

“The IBAHRI implores the Government of the Republic of Cameroon to observe the recommendations found in the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in 2003, to which Cameroon is a signatory.

“Decisively, Principle L provides that “Military Courts should not in any circumstances whatsoever have jurisdiction over civilians’.

“Attempts to conflate Barrister Agbor-Balla’s actions with those of a terrorist in order to justify the use of such military tribunals are disingenuous, shocking and wrong, and pose a clear threat to the independence of the judiciary,” Ambassador (ret.) Hans Corell, Co-chair of IBAHRI, said.

Agbor Balla and co. are standing trial for terrorism, rebellion against the state, incitement of civil unrest, amongst others, charges which could attract the death penalty going by the  Penal Code and the Law on the suppression of acts of terrorism in Cameroon.


 

 




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Yaounde High Court Denies Release for Ayah Paul http://cameroonjournal.com/yaounde-high-court-denies-release-for-ayah-paul/ http://cameroonjournal.com/yaounde-high-court-denies-release-for-ayah-paul/#respond Tue, 21 Mar 2017 21:25:08 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1604 [...]]]> Supreme Court Advocate, Ayah Paul Abine.
Detained Supreme Court Advocate, Ayah Paul Abine.

By Folegwe II Menky, March 21, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Yaounde – Ayah Paul Abine, Advocate General of the Supreme Court, will have to remain behind bars for an unspecified period at the National Gendarmerie Headquarters in Yaounde, contrary to the expectation of his lawyers before Tuesday’s appearance in Mfoundi High Court.

A Habeas Corpus filed on behalf of the detained magistrate requesting the President of the Mfoundi High Court to free Ayah, was Tuesday, March 21, turned down by an examining magistrate during a session held in chamber. Barrister Ndong Christopher Nveh, one of the defense counsels, told The Cameroon Journal by press time Tuesday, they were yet to be served a copy of the judgment so they can understand the reasons for the court’s rejection.

Ayah, who has been incarcerated since January 21, was taken back to his detention cell at the National Gendarmerie Headquarters after the court denied his freedom.

On March 6, Ayah’s lawyers had addressed a letter to the President of the Mfoundi High Court, stating the illegality under which their client was taken away from his residence and transferred with military aid to Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie, SED. “He [Ayah] discovered that no judicial proceeding had been initiated against him by the State of Cameroon for wrongdoings which he has ignored,” the lawyers told The Cameroon Journal then.

Going by Barrister Ndong, the Military Prosecutor [‘Commissaire du Gouvernement’], who is reported to have ordered the arrest, violated Ayah’s rights as a magistrate as well as legal procedures.

The attorney cited Section 629, Sub 1 & 2, of the Criminal Procedure Code which reads: “(1) Where a judicial or legal officer is likely to be charged with committing an offence, the competent Procureur General [Attorney General] shall request the President of the Supreme Court to appoint an investigating magistrate as well as three other magistrates of a grade at least equal to that of the magistrate incriminated and they shall, if necessary, hear and determine the matter at first instance.

“(2) The President of the Supreme Court shall, in addition, indicate the town wherein the case shall be heard.”

Considering that the legal procedures leading to Ayah’s arrest and subsequent detention were “grossly violated,” his lawyers were basking on Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code to cause the President of the Mfoundi High Court to immediately release Ayah. Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates, inter alia, that the sanction against the infringement of any rule of criminal procedure shall be an absolute nullity.

But the Mfoundi High Court sitting in Yaounde turned down the plea by Ayah’s lawyers, holding the detention of the chairman of the opposition Popular Action Party.





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“Come What May,” I Am Not Afraid to Face The Biya’s Regime – Akere Muna http://cameroonjournal.com/come-what-may-i-am-not-afraid-to-face-the-biyas-regime-akere-muna/ http://cameroonjournal.com/come-what-may-i-am-not-afraid-to-face-the-biyas-regime-akere-muna/#respond Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:37:51 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1601 [...]]]> Barrister Akere Muna
Barrister Akere Muna

By Martin Ndeh, March 21, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Yaoundé – Barrister Akere Muna has said he is not by any means afraid of confronting the Biya’s regime in the face of present sufferings and blatant violation of human rights  against Anglophone Cameroonians. Muna was reacting to a bailiff’s summons dropped in his office at the Muna Foundation, Monday March 20, instructing him to report to the Defence Secretariat in Yaoundé for questioning.

Muna who in a statement to his well wishers acknowledged receipt of the summons, said he received it while  about leaving for South Africa. He states that he will immediately report to the Secretariat with the summons once he’s back from South Africa before adding that, “Cameroon is my home and I am prepared to face whatever awaits me.” Below is the full text of Muna’s consolation statement to his sympathizers.


I have been flooded by calls and messages from many Cameroonians who seemed worried for my safety. I hereby state the facts, as I know them, to avoid any unfounded rumors.

On Monday 20th March 2017 at around 15.00 hrs. a bailiff dropped at the Muna Foundation, a letter addressed to the President of the Bar Council, Batonnier Jackson Ngnie Kamga. He was told that he should take the letter to him, he refused and walked away.

My staff brought the letter to me, which stated that investigations had commenced against me at the central investigation unit of the “Secretariat a la Defence,” ordinarily known as SED. In the letter, Batonnier was asked to accompany at 9.00 to the Central Investigation department on Wednesday, March 2017.

SED is where the Anglophone lawyers and Anglophone activists have been taken to. I immediately wrote to the Secretary of State informing him that I was delivering a keynote address in Johannesburg on Wednesday, March 22nd, and that I will be back on Thursday and will ask the Batonnier to accompany me on Friday March 25th.

Today March 21st, I boarded a Rwandair Flight 10.05 from Douala and left for Johannesburg. I will defer to the summons and be present on Friday. I understand the worry of many well-wishers who are asking me to stay away. Cameroon is my home and I am prepared to face whatever awaits me.

Any lawyer who is worth anything cannot sit by in the face of suffering and blatant violation of the basic and fundamental rights of any other human being. By remaining sheep for too long, I am afraid we have turned some people in our government into emboldened wolves. The comfort of my home and my office cannot justify my silence in the face of what we are going through in our country right now. Come what may.


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High Court to Rule on Paul Ayah’s Case Tomorrow http://cameroonjournal.com/high-court-to-rule-on-paul-ayahs-case-tomorrow/ http://cameroonjournal.com/high-court-to-rule-on-paul-ayahs-case-tomorrow/#respond Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:08:27 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1599 [...]]]> Ayah Paul Abine,
Ayah Paul Abine, arrested Supreme Court Advocate and leader of the opposition Popular Action Party.

By Folegwe II Menky, March 20, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Yaoundé – The fate of the Advocate General of the Supreme Court, Ayah Paul Abine, who has been incarcerated since January 21, will be known on Tuesday, March 21, as the Mfoundi High Court sitting in Yaounde is expected to rule on it.

Ayah’s lawyers had on March 6, filed a Habeas Corpus, requesting the President of the Mfoundi High Court to free the magistrate.

Barrister Ndong Christopher Nveh, one of the defense counsels, told The Cameroon Journal that it was only when the case came up in chambers on March 16, “that the legal department claimed they had informed Ayah of the charges against him.”

During last Thursday’s hearing in the chambers of the President of the Mfoundi High Court, Barristers Maurice Kamto, Ndong Christopher Nveh, Mbufor John and Luc Kisob noted that their client was arrested on a Saturday, which is in total violation of provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. “Also, we argued that our client – a sitting magistrate – was arrested with an ‘Avis de Recherche’ as though he was a street boy,” Ndong said.

Barrister Ndong quoted Ayah Paul as telling the examining magistrate he was highly disappointed with the manner with which he was arrested and detained.

When the case comes up tomorrow in chambers, the magistrate is expected to rule on a Habeas Corpus filed on behalf of Ayah by his counsels. The court’s decision will either free Ayah or remand the chairman of the opposition Popular Action Party in custody, jurists say.

Barristers Nveh and Luke Mirac Chengayam, respectively representing CNN & Partners Law Firm and Kisob Law Office, had earlier said Ayah’s arrest and detention were mired in irregularities.

Ayah was whisked off from his Tam Tam Weekend residence in Yaounde in the evening of Saturday January 21, and has since been in detention at the Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie (SED).

In a letter dated March 6, to the President of the Mfoundi High Court, Ayah’s defense counsels said their client was taken away from his residence in the presence of his family and transferred with military aid to SED. “He [Ayah] discovered that no judicial proceeding had been initiated against him by the state of Cameroon for wrongdoings which he has ignored.”

Going by Barrister Nveh, the Military Prosecutor (‘Commissaire du Gouvernement’), who is reported to have ordered the arrest, violated Ayah’s rights as a magistrate as well as legal procedures.

Nveh cited Section 629, Sub 1 & 2, of the Criminal Procedure Code which reads: “(1) Where a judicial or legal officer is likely to be charged with committing an offence, the competent Procureur General [State Counsel] shall request the President of the Supreme Court to appoint an investigating magistrate as well as three other magistrates of a grade at least equal to that of the magistrate incriminated and they shall, if necessary, hear and determine the matter at first instance.

“(2) The President of the Supreme Court shall, in addition, indicate the town wherein the case shall be heard.”




Considering that the legal procedures leading to Ayah’s arrest and subsequent detention were “grossly violated,” his lawyers are basking on Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code to cause the President of the Mfoundi High Court to immediately release Ayah. Section 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code stipulates, inter alia, that the sanction against the infringement of any rule of criminal procedure shall be an absolute nullity.

Ayah is still being held in detention at SED, with reliable sources indicating that since his lawyers filed a petition for his release, security has been reinforced around Ayah’s cell at the National Gendarmerie headquarters.





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End Crackdown, Release Detainees and Resolve Crisis – CIVICUS Alliance to Cameroon Gov’t http://cameroonjournal.com/end-crackdown-release-detainees-and-resolve-crisis-civicus-alliance-to-cameroon-govt/ http://cameroonjournal.com/end-crackdown-release-detainees-and-resolve-crisis-civicus-alliance-to-cameroon-govt/#respond Mon, 20 Mar 2017 16:21:50 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1597 [...]]]> Over the last six months, hundreds of activists and ordinary citizens have been arbitrarily arrested, physically assaulted and tortured as part of an ongoing crackdown in Cameroon. Since 17 January 2017, an internet and media blackout has been imposed in the South West and North West Regions which are the only two Anglophone territories in the country.

In the media statement below, issued on Monday, March 20, CIVICUS Alliance, an international network of over 3600 civil society organizations, calls on the government of Cameroon to end the pervasive crackdown against English speaking Cameroonians.


Arrested Consortium president Felix Agbor Balla, seen here at Gendarmerie Headquarters in Yaounde.
Arrested Consortium president Felix Agbor Balla, seen here at Gendarmerie Headquarters in Yaounde.

Global civil society alliance, CIVICUS urges an end to the pervasive crackdown against English speaking Cameroonians as three respected civil society members – Barrister Felix Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem Neba and Mancho Bibixy – are due to appear before a Military Tribunal in the capital Yaoundé on 23 March 2017.

“These three activists are facing a suite of highly questionable accusations including hostility against the government, secession, civil war, propagation of false information, collective resistance and incitement to take up arms for simple acts of peaceful

Dr. Fontem A. Neba
Dr. Fontem A. Neba

protest,” said Mandeep Tiwana from CIVICUS. “We urge the Cameroonian government to end this judicial farce and engage in dialogue to end the political crisis facing the country.”
 
Barrister Felix Agbor Balla and Dr Fontem Neba are the President and Secretary General respectively of CACSC, a network of civil society organisations, unions and citizens of Anglophone Cameroon advocating for and seeking dialogue around the rights of English speaking Cameroonians. They were arbitrarily arrested on 17 January 2017 and have been detained at the Kondengui Central Prison in the capital Yaoundé since then.  Civil society activist Mancho Bibixy was arrested in Bamenda, North West Region shortly after mid-night on 19 January 2016. 
 

Since October 2016 citizens, lawyers and teachers’ unions of Anglophone Cameroon have stepped up their efforts to raise concerns over the suppression of the identity of Anglophone Cameroon. They are calling for a review of the imposition of civil law practices and civil law trained judges in courts which have common law tradition, as well as raised concerns about the challenges faced by teachers, students and civil servants in Anglophone Cameroon. 
 
Over the last six months, the South West and North West regions have been heavily militarised to prevent the exercise of democratic rights. Hundreds of activists and ordinary citizens have been arbitrarily arrested, physically assaulted and tortured as part of an ongoing crackdown. There are reports on deaths in detention and enforced disappearances. Since 17 January 2017, an internet and media blackout has been imposed in the South West and North West Regions which are the only two Anglophone territories in the country.
 
Kumi Naidoo, launch director of the Africans Rising Movement which recently conducted a fact finding mission to the country has expressed “deep disappointment at the largely deafening silence of the African Union, Commonwealth, Francophonie and the UN, while more than five million people face an internet and cellular communications blockade and have clearly been subjected to an excessive security crackdown in response to mostly peaceful protests.”
 




CIVICUS urges the international community to engage Cameroon’s government to release imprisoned civil society activists and ordinary citizens, restore democratic rights and urgently resolve the political crisis facing the country.
 
Cameroon is rated as repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor.


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EDITORIAL: Cameroon, a Country Where Rats Are Appointed to Keep Guard Over Groundnuts http://cameroonjournal.com/editorial-cameroon-a-country-where-rats-are-appointed-to-keep-guard-over-groundnuts/ http://cameroonjournal.com/editorial-cameroon-a-country-where-rats-are-appointed-to-keep-guard-over-groundnuts/#respond Sat, 18 Mar 2017 17:48:59 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1573 [...]]]> Peter Musonge Mafany
Peter Musonge Mafany

Friday, March 17, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Washington D.C – In a special bilingual 5pm newscast on Wednesday, March 15, CRTV reported that President Biya has appointed former Prime Minister, Peter Mafany Musonge, to head the President’s newly created National Commission for the promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.

The appointment of Musonge to lord over the Commission is a threat to the very usefulness (if any), of an initiative that has already been severely assaulted over questions of its usefulness and timing.

At the Cameroon Journal, we wish to bring to the attention of the public the fact that, it was only last month that Peter Musonge summoned and chaired a kind of a meeting in Buea where he spewed out hate speech against Cameroonians of the Northwest origin, blaming the current Anglophones crisis to North Westerners, which he condescendingly referred to as “Bamenda people.”

At that meeting, Musonge and his cronies, got so obsessed with denigrating North westerners to the extend they called for their purging from the Southwest when they suggested the creation of vigilante groups to attack and destroy businesses owned and operated by Northwesters.

In his own words, Musonge said, “It is time for South West to take back its destiny in its hands.” He insinuated that, it was the violence from “Bamenda that has prevented his people (South Westerners) from sending back their children to school,” that if the “Bamenda people” are chased out, South Westerners would go back to their normal course of life. These are the words of the man that President Biya has appointed to build unity.

That President Biya, aware of such a track record and the unpopularity of Musonge in Anglophone Cameroon would yet, go ahead to appoint him leader of what he deems to be a unity building organization, beats our imagination. Mr. Biya has once again demonstrated how insensitive and careless he is as a leader when it comes to proffering lasting solutions to the crisis plaguing the nation.

At The Cameroon Journal, we ask, how will Musonge promote unity and multiculturalism when he does not even believe that Cameroonians and North westerners in particular, have the right to live in any part of the country?  How will Musonge promote other cultures when he is on record describing some citizens as “invaders?” How will Musonge promote unity in diversity when he does not believe in diversity? How will Musonge promote other cultures when he has referred to some as “cam no go,” etc.

We note here that in civilized societies where human dignity influences appointment making, such statements from Musonge would have disqualified him from holding any public office for life. Unfortunately, we are talking about Cameroon, a country where the old never go on retirement, and they are answerable only to the President – not to the people, – the interest of the common man counts for nothing. Cameroon is essentially a country where rats are appointed to keep guard over groundnuts. Musonge’s case is such a glaring example.

The appointment of Musonge and all the old guards over the meaningless and money squandering commission on Bilingualism and multiculturalism is once more another indication that Paul Bya means no serious business in resolving the crisis that is quickly crippling the economy of Cameroon. Even thinking of using people like Musonge should be proof enough that Paul Biya cares less about the demands of Southern Cameroonians. If anything, it should by now be very clear to Anglophones that the only solution to this crisis isn’t in some commission, it is in total independence for Southern Cameroons. The work of this commission must be fiercely resisted by Southern Cameroonians everywhere; it should not be allowed to hold any form of talks, investigations and implementation of its resolutions in the Southern Cameroons territory.

Do Southern Cameroonians really need a commission to have Francophone teachers out of their schools and colleges? Do Southern Cameroonians need a commission to have Francophone Magistrates withdrawn from their court rooms? Do Southern Cameroonians need some commission to tell them how many Ministerial positions Anglophones ought to have in Cameroon? Do we need a commission to proscribe Francophone Governors, SDOs and DOs in our territory?

Do we need a commission to resolve the fact that SONARA ought to be paying taxes to Limbe city Council, that taxes from Timber exploitation ought to be paid to councils in Meme, Ndian and Manyu? Do we need a commission for every ministry in Yaounde to function in a bilingual setting? The answer is no. We are well aware that in Cameroon, Paul Biya roles by Presidential decree, if he were that serious in resolving the current Anglophone demands, it would take him just a presidential decree and all these things would be history.

All we need now is an independent Southern Cameroons, our Southern Cameroons. Musonge should be stoned should he come around trying to hold any meeting of that Commission in the Southwest or Northwest. It’s a shame that at his age, Peter Musonge cannot speak truth to power to save his people.


 

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FROM THE PUBLISHER: Changes Coming to The Cameroon Journal http://cameroonjournal.com/from-the-publisher-changes-coming-to-the-cameroon-journal/ http://cameroonjournal.com/from-the-publisher-changes-coming-to-the-cameroon-journal/#comments Fri, 17 Mar 2017 01:35:47 +0000 http://cameroonjournal.com/?p=1565 [...]]]>
Chris A. Fobeneh, Publisher of The Cameroon Journal.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Cameroon Journal, Washington D.C – Beginning April 1st. 2017, access to Breaking News category in The Cameroon Journal will be by subscription only. It is a painful choice we are making, but that which must be made if we must continue to render the service we do.

The Cameroon Journal is possibly the only Cameroon news publication online that actually owns and pays reporters on the ground to cover news. However, since the shutdown of Internet service in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, our reporters have had to resort to commuting to the West and Littoral Regions to file in reports.

This has not only constituted additional financial burden to them, it is hampering the consistent flow of reports as used to be when Internet was readily within their reach. Be reminded that The Cameroon Journal is based in the USA and we rely solely on the Internet for daily transmission of stories.

 We have tried to fund raise to take care of these additional responsibilities, but met with no success. As a result, stories no longer flow to our newsroom consistently as they used to. We have contemplated even shutting down the publication all together, but came to the realization that it is exactly what the Biya regime wants  – the very reason why they  shut down the Internet. Besides, we have put in five solid years to what has become Cameroon’s main source of news online and we are not about to just let it die, especially with consideration to the role The Cameroon Journal is playing in the ongoing struggle for the independence of the Southern Cameroons.

We have reasoned that if the 14-16 thousand people who visit The Cameroon Journal news site on a daily basis would donate just $1.00 a month, we did be able to continue to run the publication absolutely free of charge. But until then, the only way for us to continue publishing and meeting the financial needs of our reporters is to turn to subscription only access.

Subscription fee will be $2.00 a month to start, and $3.00 recurring every month. We have PayPal as subscription agent – so that there are no concerns or fears about credit/debit card security.

We did also like to take this opportunity to announce the launch of our second daily publication called BiyaMustGo.com. This site will be launched on April 1st. It will be a website focused exclusively on the deeds and misdeeds of the 35 years old Biya’s regime, mixed with educative features, commentary/Opinion and news.


 

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