Society

Gilbert Tsimi Evouna, Government Delegate to the Yaounde urban council made a costly mistake this morning at Palais des Congres, in the nation’s capital. In his welcome address to the Heads of State during the extraordinary summit of  CEEAC dedicated to the fight against Boko Haram today in Yaounde, Gilbert Evouna greeted all the heads of state present and left out President Ali Bongo of Gabon.

As the Government Delegate continued with his speech, a member of Protocol came blowing in his ear that he had failed by not recognising the Gabonese leader. Gilbert Tsimi Evouna fought back: "I forgot to mention His Excellency the President of the Republic of Gabon. You know, the secretaries at the last moment swallowed one sentence. I believe it is the sentence that carried the name of President Bongo”. He eventually retired to a round of applause from the crowd led by President Ali Bongo.

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Feb.2015

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In this Sunday's edition of The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE, Cameroon Concord's intelligence officers in Douala and Yaounde recently reported that violent crime in Cameroon cities is endemic and in many rural areas such as the Far North region worsening. The problem is particularly severe in this last years of the Biya administration. The Douala police force and those of the Far North region have recorded consistently rising rates of murder and attempted murder. Rates of armed robbery in both the South West and North West region are also very high.

Whatever the accuracy of crime statistics in Cameroon under President Biya, the emergence of Boko Haram and the perception of growing danger in urban centers such as Limbe, Douala, Bamenda, Yaounde, Bertoua and Maroua has generated widespread anxiety. Cameroon's Delegate for National Security Martin Mbarga Nguele has changed the job description given to him upon his appointment as the national police boss and he is now concentrating in fighting a hydra-headed war with a French company--Thales.

The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE is asking the question: Should Cameroonians be encouraged to invest in Nonstate or community-based policing or should President Paul Biya appoint a new Delegate General for National Security? 

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Feb.2015

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President Paul Biya celebrated his 82^nd birthday yesterday in the strictest of privacy. The festivities that held at state house recorded only very close family members and friends. The Cameroonian dictator shared his cake with his wife Chantal Biya, his offspring and some confidants. There was no happy birthday song this year from those overzealous party militants residing around the Etoudi locality.

The Cameroon Chief Executive was 49 years old when he inherited political power from another monstrous liability of a president- the late Ahmadou Ahidjo. President Biya has been in power for 33 years which is the longest in the history of Cameroon. In governance, his rhetoric has been far better than his record but a majority of the people have kept faith in him including the Francophone Beti-Ewondo military. He was married to Jeanne Irene (deceased) and then Chantal Biya.

Cameroon Concord says HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU Mr. President

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Feb.2015

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Cameroon Concord has obtained ample evidence that disgraced former minister and secretary general at the presidency of the republic Prof. Titus Edzoa has bought a membership card and renewed his commitment to the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM). Prof. Edzoa who also moonlighted as a private medical doctor to the President Biya family, spent 17 years in jail on charges of corruption. Edzoa Titus it should be recalled resigned as Minister of Public Health on April 20^th 1997 during an official assignment at Yaoundé Hilton Hotel.

The Edzoa Titus decision to purchase a new membership card recently has sent shock waves throughout the nation’s capital Yaoundé with some political commentators opining that the former minister is poised for a return to active politics. Released some 11 months ago from the Kondengui high security prison, the former hardliner in the Biya Francophone Beti-Ewondo government was quoted as saying he resigned from government and not from the CPDM and that he has been an activist inside the ruling party.

It is vital to include in this report that Prof. Titus Edzoa contrary to what he is claiming today, resigned from the government and the ruling CPDM party and declared his candidature for the post of president of the republic in 1997 before his kinsman President Biya concocted corruptions charges against him that eventually took him to prison.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Feb.2015

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The Joint Chiefs of Staff and commanders of the police and gendarmerie forces of Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe and Cameroon met in Yaoundé on Thursday the 12 of February in a security meeting aimed at developing a common strategy against the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram. Cameroon Concord understands that the military leaders were expected to make recommendations to be submitted to the Heads of State meeting slated for Monday, February 17, 2015 in Yaoundé. This is the second international conclave being held in the political capital of Cameroon in the space of a week.  Cameroon army chief of staff, Lt. General Rene Claude Meka told the forum that the situation in the Far North region of Cameroon and Gambaru in Nigeria is under control. General Rene Meka added that even though Boko Haram continues his attacks, “the combine Chad-Cameroon military presence in Fotokol and Gambaru has restored security in the area”.

As the war against Boko Haram intensifies, the perception that it is wedged by disaffected and jobless youths who oppose and hate Western Education is becoming pedestrian. The sophistication of the command and operational structures of Boko Haram leaves no one in doubt about this reality.    The weapons deployed to commit the ongoing pogrom appear to have been acquired and brought to the war zones through a complicated network. It is hard to believe that a conflict of this magnitude can occur without a complex network of individuals and organizations supporting Boko Haram’s criminal war effort. It may be reasonably suggested that it is a political establishment serving distinct interests in Nigeria and Cameroon. In Nigeria, it has never sought ransom for the many victims it has abducted. In Cameroon although officially classified as a nebulous or illusive enemy, it has turned abduction for ransom into a lucrative business. 

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Feb.2015

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Under the direct supervision and command of Cameroon’s Head of State President Biya, the Cameroonian army has strengthened its military positions in the Mayo-Tsanaga Division. Cameroon state radio and television has confirmed the news stating that the military presence on the southern front of the war has been strengthened following directives from the Commander-in-Chief. More operation command centres have been installed along the Mandara Mountains which is the natural border with Nigeria. The Cameroon army has also strengthened its mechanized divisions in the Mabass locality found in the district of Mokolo, Mayo-Tsanaga Division in the Far North region. Mabass village was completely burned down during the last Boko Haram attack on Fotokol. Boko Haram reportedly stole livestock, food and abducted 80 persons whose whereabouts are still unknown to this day.

As the war against Boko Haram intensifies, the perception that it is wedged by disaffected and jobless youths who oppose and hate Western Education is becoming pedestrian. The sophistication of the command and operational structures of Boko Haram leaves no one in doubt about this reality.    The weapons deployed to commit the ongoing pogrom appear to have been acquired and brought to the war zones through a complicated network. It is hard to believe that a conflict of this magnitude can occur without a complex network of individuals and organizations supporting Boko Haram’s criminal war effort. It may be reasonably suggested that it is a political establishment serving distinct interests in Nigeria and Cameroon. In Nigeria, it has never sought ransom for the many victims it has abducted. In Cameroon although officially classified as a nebulous or illusive enemy, it has turned abduction for ransom into a lucrative business. 

Boko Haram in Nigeria is a child of Nigerian history and the impunity of Northern Nigeria’s Military establishment. Armed conflict is part of Nigeria history. It is also a business which has enriched many.  People including generations unborn learn from history. The savaged brutality meted on civilians and civilian objects in Nigeria pre-exist Boko Haram. These acts of impunity were some of the methods deployed by successive military regimes, most of them from Northern Generals to accede and sustain power. The ongoing slaughter by Boko Haram follows the same pattern which in 1966 led to the Nigeria/Biafra War. The underlying cause of the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Southerners, mainly of the Ibo ethnic groups in the North was never comprehensively investigated, if at all.  There is no gainsaying that had the crimes been investigated, the result would have pointed to some powerful individuals within the Nigerian Military structure of Northern origin. For these, political power and control of the economy could only be attained through scapegoating communities whom they perceived as serious competitors.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Feb.2015

Hits: 2025