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Details: Editorial

In recent days, a wave of hysterical abuse has been raining down on Cameroon’s minister of water and power, Basile Atangana Kouna, for the Beti-heavy list of candidates admitted for training in his ministry as solar power technicians and engineers. The outrage is bipartisan, coming in equal measure from the Beti elite, who are incensed that by publishing this list of Beti-only candidates, he has given more ammunition to the West Cameroon Resistance to attack a regime that’s already on the ropes. Mathias Eric Owona Nguini, a Beti university don, calls it a “list of shame that has shocked all the regions of the country, including the Beti regions.” The newspaper “L’Emergance “ angrily accused the minister of attempting to destabilize the regime.

The list has indeed shocked most Francophones, as it provides further irrefutable evidence to bolster the case West Cameroonians have been making for weeks. Namely, that the entire system has been rigged to favor the tribe in power and the Francophones have supinely accepted it.

The shock and outrage being expressed by the rest of the francophone regions shows that a light bulb has finally gone on in their brains. Biya and his gang realize this and are beginning to panic. Such lists are a common practice in government ministries, even those supposedly run by West Cameroonians who so fear losing their perches and perquisites that they dare not even include the names of their own siblings who might have performed better in the selection examinations.

In an interview with a local paper on Wednesday, Minister Kouna said these candidates were being recruited to work in their regions only (Center and South) and that recruitment in the other regions would follow that model to take account of language, availability and cultural practices.

If you believe him, then I have a bridge over the Menchum Falls to sell to you, cheap.
But what he intimated would make eminent sense if only it were true. It would mean that we should have had our own teacher training colleges (or ‘normal schools’ in English*), training local men and women to teach in their towns or villages of origin. You would get true commitment from these teachers and better results from their schools. The same would hold true for the other professions – police, nurses, doctors, etc. In the same vein, we would elect our own local governments (the chimera in the 20 year-old “Decentralization Law”) from governors to village councils. That is actually the old West Cameroon model.

But back to that light bulb that is stealing the sleep from the gilded rooms in Etoudi. There is a growing chorus of ordinary Francophones raising their voices in strident support of our cause. From call-in shows on French radio and television networks to online forums and street demonstrations, the Francophones are following the lead of West Cameroonians. There’s even a demonstration planned for Paris, France – France! – this week to support our cause.

Recent history shows us that it is nothing new for West Cameroonians to show the way in that benighted republic and many Francophones now readily concede that. I still remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when we had to fight with these people to get their children to wear uniforms to school. All their school children used to look like street urchins. They finally succumbed to our logic but resented us for it for years because we were right all along.

In an online video doing the rounds these days, francophone lawyer Jean de Dieu Momo is giving his East Cameroon brethren a tutorial in the leadership West Cameroonians have exhibited since independence. He points out that the ‘office de baccalaureat’ came about thanks to our fight for an independent GCE board (which we have partly lost back thanks to Anglophone government stooges). Momo reminds everyone that the multiparty system, many of whose numerous well-fed leaders now shout about ‘national unity,’ was only achieved when John Fru Ndi and a band of intrepid young West Cameroonians marched from Ntarikon to City Chemist Roundabout and were fired on by francophone gendarmes, killing six of them.

This is the kind of history Biya does not want Francophones to be reminded of, for fear that it could be contagious.

There are signs that the regime has become practically paralyzed by fear, given the very unorthodox methods of the West Cameroonian peaceful resistance movement. That the ruling CPDM party has been effectively banned from Bamenda by popular fiat; that the usually reliable tactic of diving our two provinces has failed abjectly this time, with Musonge and his jingoistic elite being booed out of Buea; that Philemon Yang and Paul Atanga Nji are basically persona non gratae anywhere in West Cameroon now, was already troubling enough.

But what must be giving the regime true nightmares was the shocking spectacle in Bamenda on Wednesday, February 22. That was when a company of soldiers in military trucks from Yaounde paraded the streets of the city with the newly won African Cup of Nations and basically no one came out to see them. And if you want further proof that CRTV has sunk to the depths of journalistic depravity, you would notice that the newscasts of that Wednesday evening didn’t mention the Cup visit to Bamenda. Because of this alone, you can ignore the photo shopped pictures now making the rounds of the internet, showing adoring crowds welcoming the cup in Bamenda as the fakes they really are.
This is the stuff of waking nightmares for the regime. As we say at home, football is Biya’s ‘final joker,’ the magic bullet, the stuff he has used the most to perpetuate his rule over the years. He uses it as the prime drug, the ‘opium of the people,’ dispensed to the country in large doses during periods of extreme crisis, to keep the population subdued. It has always worked. So to see it fail so spectacularly is stomach churning for the regime.
If they were any wiser they should have seen this coming after Victoria turned its back on the Women’s Cup matches. But they never learn.

They still cannot come to terms with a defiant population that ignores presidential decrees, government edicts, ministerial decisions and governors’ orders. They probably thought they could outwait us or find a balm to salve the wounds of a West Cameroon tired of strikes, ghost towns and unschooled children. The Nations’ Cup, they thought, would begin to break down the resistance. They thought wrong. Maybe now they begin to understand what we mean. We are fed up and we won’t take it anymore. And the people are just, for the most part, peacefully staying in their homes.

Details: Rita Akana; 26.Feb.2017; Hits: 3290

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Details: Editorial

It was a sunny day in Douala and people were going about their normal activities as I drove into Bepanda from shooting in Limbe. Suddenly there was commotion in the place, as I wound down to find out what was happening, I heard cries of indignation and before I could ask passersby what was happening, my eyes beheld what in other spheres would have been a sacrilege of the first order; a statue of one of the venerated architect of our statehood, John Ngu Foncha was being dragged along the streets by a policeman looking angry that someone dared to honour someone who ought to be placed on the "slaughter" of history.

That day, I understood what it meant to be regarded as an "enemy" in a house you believe to be your own. That incident did not make me a militant for for change or for Anglophone renaissance, it simply strengthened my resolve not to be on the wrong side of history. It made me understand the need not to be on the fence when it mattered most to be in the fray. I knew from that moment that even in God's Kingdom, the "Red Line" had been crossed.

I am sorry if I appear to be taking so much of your time, but it may be nice of you if you follow me through this journey. It is 4,30 am where I am battling with my health and I have been winning this battle against sickness because of hope; the joy to see that what only ten years ago seemed a forlorn dream is about to happen in my lifetime; that Anglophones are nearing the finishing line.

The events of the past two days, the unfortunate and astronomical rise of conspiracy theories meant to cast a shadow on that lofty dream sent me into tears all night, but at this moment, the tears are gone. The reality is here; that the hour just before dawn is the darkest! Darkness does mot give up to light without a fight; that is why Christians hang on the Biblical quote which says tears will last an entire night, but joy comes in the morning.

We are all Wrong
The stone throwing and insult trading going on right now should have have been expected. If Simon Peter could deny Jesus Christ his master whom he so loved three times in just one night, then we should be allowed to make our mistakes. And shamefully I also got caught in the fray, in fact we are all wrong. A lot of us may even be the true authors of what we are accused of, but we must remember that it took Jesus- God to rebuke the devil who had exploited Peter's weakness to tempt his master. Thus the famous phrase " get thee behind me Lucifer". Jesus rebuked the devil and not Peter.

No wonder, one-time US President, Theodore Roosevelt once said "He who makes mo mistakes, makes no progress". The mistakes we have all made these past few days have shaken the foundation of our unity so violently and all of us can now see that our house is still on sandy soil. This should be God's perfect plan to let us heal our land, takeaway our imperfections and drain off the bad blood so that we enter into the new country more united and more resolute to do good to one another than it would have been the case.

All of Us are Winners
When you see a man eat and drink and then tells you " God is a fool", do not hate him, do not chastise him, just seek to understand that he is undergoing a transformation. It has got right to the point where that which we hold sacred is in the market place and no one can tell for sure today with whom lies the truth; we shall all be winners in this if we put down our arms and think of the common good of all. Let the healing process begin now and end no more. We must he's ourselves first before calling on others to do same. Wherever you are and whatever you were planning to do to hit the "other" camp, put down your arms and try rather to contribute in making peace. That is how we shall all emerge as winners.

Details: Rita Akana; 25.Feb.2017; Hits: 3074

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Details: Editorial

Editorial
Statement on the arrest and detention
of The SUN’s Political Desk Editor,
Atia Tilarious Azhonwi and two others

We were alerted on Thursday, February 9 about the arrest and detention of our Political Desk Editor and Fako Bureau Chief, Atia Tilarious Azhonwi and two other journalists; Amos Fufong of The Guardian Post Newspaper and Mofor.... of The Voice of The Voiceless Newspaper at the Molyko neighbourhood in Buea at about 10 Pm.
The head office quickly dispatched a team made up of The Sun’s Managing Editor/CEO, Wasso Norbert Binde and Editor, Elah Geoffrey Mbong to Buea very early the next day to find out the circumstances that led to their arrest and demand for their immediate release.
On reaching Buea, and after checking at the Central Police Station and later at the Molyko precinct, where their arrest was confirmed, we were asked to come back in two hours.
On our return to the Molyko precinct, we met the trio who had already been removed from the cell to the holding area, stripped of their shoes and shirts, understandably distraught and visibly shaken. Mofor already had a punctured lip and wounds on his feet and was in cuffs-wounds he later said he sustained from police assault.
The police commissioner, realising we were journalists (by this time we had been joined by a few Buea-based reporters) pushed to justify the arrest of the trio. He called on the journalists one after another to admit that they have committed an offence.
Mofor admitted he has committed an offense but Atia and Fufong raised their hands in objection. The commissioner then went ahead to state that they had intelligence report that Mofor who is based in Bamenda was coming to Buea to distribute some pro Southern Cameroon National Council, SCNC (now outlawed) tracts. He said on Mofor’s arrival in Buea, plainclothes officers had tracked his movements and discovered that he had kept the bag containing the tracts in Amos’ house and further went into town trying to recruit some bike riders to help him circulate them.
He said Mofor was later apprehended flagrant delicto and taken to the station where he attempted to fight the officers. “That is where he sustained his injuries.” He said
Mofor admitted to having transported some three thousand tracts from Bamenda but said the tracts did not call for any form of violence.
The Commissioner also faulted Amos Fofung for keeping a bag that contained what has been considered illegal in his house but Amos said he had no idea what was in the bag and was just doing a favour for an old acquaintance who needed help after travelling the whole night. He insisted that he was shocked to later learn of the content of the bag.
To Atia, the Commissioner said he has flunked the warning from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL) against propagating false information by having strike and ghost town-related messages in his phone. Atia was quick to point out that he has never forwarded any strike-related message and does not have control over who sends him a text message. The commissioner said he should have deleted the messages as soon as he received them. Atia told him that he has always done so except for the ones that came in after his arrest and when his phone was in the commissioner’s keeping.
The commissioner also accused Atia and Amos of feeding the leaders of the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC, with information- accusations which the duo vehemently denied.
Upon the demand for the release of the duo who had visibly not committed any offence, the commissioner confessed that the matter is above his level and his hands were tied. He said several police units were involved in the operation and that there was nothing he could do.
We later contacted several relevant authorities who assured us of intervening within their limits of power and we were sent home with a glimmer of assurance that at least Atia Tilarious and Amos Fufong would be set free on that same day. We learned that the Divisional Officer, D.O. of Buea... later paid them a visit and asked them a few questions.
After failing to get the news of their release later that they, our team mobilised for a second day of intervention only to be informed early in the morning by some colleagues in Buea that the trio were transferred to the judicial police on the evening of Friday, February 10 and transported to Yaounde in the night.
After several attempts to get the location where they were being held, we later learned they were being detained at the Judicial Police headquarters in Yaounde. All attempts by our lawyers and other concerned individuals to get to them proved futile as the officials said they were under strict orders not to let anyone see them. They have been held incommunicado since their arrest and no official charges have been filed against them yet.
An eye witness to their arrest, another journalist (names withheld) told us that on that fateful day of their arrest, he was with Atia and Amos who had just come back from a trip to Douala, discussing by the roadside when two pickup vehicles loaded with police officers flashed in front of them. The police had with them a handcuffed and battered Mofor whom they asked to point at the door of the house where he had kept his bag upon arrival in Buea. The three journalists curiously followed the team to find out what was going on only to find out that Amos’ house was fingered and ransacked. They pleaded for information and were told that Mofor was under arrest for having tracts in his possession.
They were all later rounded up and lumped into the police vans for further questioning at the station, our witness said he was later asked to get off the police van with no explanation as to why Atia and Fofung were being taken to the station and not him.
We wish to state here that this is not the first time Atia Tilarious has been arrested. About three weeks before, Atia Tilarious was whisked into a police van while distributing newspapers along the streets of Buea. He was taken to the same police station by the same commissioner who ordered him to surrender his phones and USB key. These items were searched for well over an hour before they were returned to him after nothing incriminating was found. He was asked to go home with no explanation as to why he was arrested in the first place.
In the light of the above, The Management and Staff of The SUN Newspaper condemn in very strong terms, the arrest and detention of our Political Desk Editor, Atia Tilarious without due process and call for his immediate release as well as that of The Guardian Post Buea reporter, Amos Fufong.

By Editor

Details: The SUN Newspaper; 20.Feb.2017; Hits: 4326

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Details: Editorial

If social media was present 30 years ago, nations should have been freed a long time ago. Now you have the chance to free yourselves. And coordination is all you need.

In truth, no political-oriented struggle has ever been won without the use of propaganda because chiseling out an implanted political system requires political approaches. And political changes can never rule out propaganda.

That explains why there is no credible, fair, objective, balanced and accurate institutional media. Talk less of the social media - - citizen's media. Agenda setting theory explains all.

You should expect propaganda from citizens in every country because man is a political being. It is part of the political game. Protagonists and antagonists play the game.

The case becomes even worst when the internet is shut down and peoples rely on third and fourth parties for information and dissemination. Whom do you blame? The people or government?

The ultimate goal is to win the struggle using non-violent approaches as in our case. And if some parties have chosen to use a non-violent propaganda approach, that is another approach as long as it remains non-violent.

As a peace journalism researcher, we have never come to a final conclusion on how to deal away with propaganda journalism even after applying peace journalism theory that gives all relevant parties a voice in conflicts or crisis transformation. This is because asking the media to preach only peace-oriented materials still means encouraging peace propaganda too.

Propaganda has come to stay in contemporary politics, the case of Southern Cameroons and Cameroun. Play to it and win or leave it and lose. There are no saints but no guns among us. Get on the social media and sell your case to the world because your stories and images and videos speak volumes.

In all the cases the UN has intervened in since 1945, propaganda was used by all parties, citing available data. Even the UN is a political organization whose member states all effectively use propaganda state media.

To me, politics is both a means and an end in itself. So beware of those who criticize your propaganda because their own existing propaganda could be failing them. La Republic spies will tell you how propaganda will not call in the UN. The UN is not a religious body.

Details: Tapang Ivo; 18.Feb.2017; Hits: 3670

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Details: Editorial

When through ignorance, foolhardiness, idiocy, 18th century societal governance exaction, and multiform gross miscalculations we have decided to turn our own country into the real Heart of Darkness perceived through the scribbles of Conrad, then there should be no question of how and where I have to cry, blubber or wail out laud. Everyone (including right thinking francophones and of course the usual plethora of ill-informed, half-baked pseudo intellectuals) seems to have an incredible something to articulate about how the crisis in our country should have or should not have been handled! Thank God we all have opinions and approaches. Thank God we all know what others should have or shouldn't have done. Thank God all our individual solutions are the best ever!

The issue here therefore, is one of 25 million solutions to a single crisis. Oh yes, 25 million. If we agree that the ongoing crisis has gone off hand, then let us be unassuming enough to put our finger on how the derailment sparked off. If we think the Lawyers and Teachers were never supposed to have voiced out the grievances and the gripe we all suffer, then we should rethink our pretentious claims to patriotism. In all homes, the adolescent who questions the parents has always been the intelligent one; the hope of that family!

The dumb, meek, and candy addict remains a disgrace for through such will nothing but ignominy befall the family. If the Lawyers and Teachers speak out, and we decide to give a false, forged and bogus coloring to their plight, then we have ourselves to blame for the unfortunate/ adverse upshot. As a first reaction (coming rather late) to the lawyers and teachers, the President set up a committee to dialogue with the leaders of these professional corps. But we, yes, I say WE because I have been coerced into accepting that I am part of the voodoo miscalculations that have littered this panoramic scene from inception till date. I accept! WE decided to keep aside the commissions and organize a classic march of the CPDM instead. If you like you can ask me what is wrong in that. "Nothing!" I would say but my Dear Patriot... Did the Lawyers and Teachers complain that their dear party has not marched for long??

Let's drum it down our heads (for those who have any) that derailment number 3 was this unorthodox "patriotic" decision. I put it number three because I think WE actually started by sending police to brutalize the lawyers as a token of our love for our country! I put it no. 3 because the students pulled out of their hostels in nightgowns and suffocated in sewage could not have been striking in that attire. And even if they were, that kind of treatment clearly spells it out that the security men never never considered those children to be humans, let alone they being Cameroonian! I say no. 3 to remind us that refusing to dialogue with Cameroonians when we do dialogue with Boko Haram and exchange captives is gruesome! I say no. 3 because after the shocking images of torn testicles on social media, “patriots” like Cameroon Tribune organized a funeral for the burnt flag!!!

I say number three because those who advice the President did not tell him that Anglophone Cameroonians including some francophones all over the world have been out demonstrating. Rather WE told him that teachers and lawyers were being "manipulated". Who has succeeded to manipulate everybody just like that? If such exists, then that entity deserves the leadership of the people.

If it’s a war of manipulation, why is gov't unable to manipulate? I earlier mentioned 25 million answers to a single question. For an Anglophone problem, Senator Musonge whom I respect very much, decided on his own solution, leaving Achidi Achu to decide on a parallel or perhaps a rival one?

Do our so-called elite urinate in their pants when it comes to telling the head of state what they think? Do they know that to have designated the PM and his Chief of Cabinet from the beginning, the president can claim that the buffoonery came from them? Why on earth did the PM accept to go and march? May be that is the real Anglophone problem; panic and confusion at the helm.

May be the Anglophones need their own “National Media” because if we are on an Anglophone problem, why is CRTV letting more francophones to talk about it than those concerned? If it is an Anglophone problem, why do we think pictures (fake or real) of pupils marching on February 11can be any form of solution? If this historic approach may have been taught by the French colonial masters, and must have succeeded in the former French colonies, We (You and I) find it humiliatingly worthless in such a context.

This outcome was glaringly predictable! WE, yes, WE have to stop aggravating this problem in the name patriotism and stop turning the "one and indivisible" into a laughing stock. People who are not Cameroonian have been calling to ask me if there is no sane human among the 25 million. Some of us and many more by airing out semi-sane proposals would have helped orientate even the approach to dialogue which seems to have been designed by souls foreign to negotiation and conflict resolution. When begun, dialogue should never be halted because it takes the parties to sentiments more acrimonious and rancorous than the initial state of mind (I still remember my diplomacy course). Theory? This has happened unfortunately!

For those who truly love this land, WE, again, WE should stop trying to address the striking public. Decision-making is the preserve to the governor not the oppressed. Telling people to stop ghost town with the lame excuse that it is detrimental to their businesses is by its very nature stupidity. When I go on hunger strike I don’t need a minister to tell me that food nourishes the body. As from now, the striking public can never stop asking to be given the treatment they deserve and will extend the demands with each act of repression.

Technically and scientifically, the group/groups are now too varied and multifaceted to get messages from any Elite, Fon, or even Union leaders. After the Buea sewage gruesome images, secessionists increased by 2000 % and as the days go by, many are swearing never to accept gendarmes parading our villages and harassing our grandmothers in French! The sooner a reasonable speech full of apologies is made in this country with a clear agenda for the remake, the better. WE, should tell the President what WE know is the way out. We think that if some government is too big to respect us, then we legitimately need a modest government at our level. I see that as a human right. We know it! We also know for instance that the use of words that cannot help the situation is babble squandering and may breed the unintended instead.

If people hear extremist three times, the next thing we will hear is “Nous sommes les extrèmistes!” Knack ma hand!!! A lot about life is predictable but it unfortunately requires common sense to predict the logical sequence of occurrences, not tricks. My brother Owona Nguini writes that the government will go wild with repression. I think so too but I equally know the state of mind of the average Anglophone: “Chop fire”, they call themselves. We still remember that as a means to chip away at the death of six at the launching of the SDF, “Official News”, that is CRTV, told us that Fru Ndi had escaped to Nigeria!!! Are WE at it again? I hate déjà vu especially when it brings shame and disgrace. Some of us still have self-pride. In times of conflict, if your contribution does not seek to support the oppressed or the victim, keep your mouth shut. Spare your wife and children the embarrassment of being reminded of your shortcomings. WE are worried because we love this country!!! I really mean we, not WE. I here plead with my so-called “patriots” to understand that we, LOVE THIS COUNTRY more than them!!!

Details: Dr Nguh Jam; 17.Feb.2017; Hits: 5193

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Details: Editorial

The case of Ayah Paul Ebine, supreme court judge arrested by the Biya regime has exposed the frailty of the political structure and to a broader extends, the separation of power between these structures in Cameroon.

A democratic government normally has 3 branches; the executive, legislative, and judiciary with each being totally independent.The purpose of the judicial branch is to interpret the Constitution and other laws. The judicial branch is independent from the executive and legislative branches in order to hold them in check.

In Cameroon, the executive branch of government has usurp all the powers, turning the judiciary and legislative to mere spectators taking orders from the authoritarian regime of the supreme Emperor who in this case is the 85 year old, ailing president Paul Biya. In a country where the ruling party has won all elections since multiparty was reinstated in 1990, democracy is practised only on paper. President Biya's democracy is a sham. He appoints hand-picked judges to the judiciary who are his stooges and will stop at nothing to satisfy him. The judiciary is not independent in Cameroon. In this fallacy, anyone who questions Biya is seen as an enemy of the state and civilians are regularly dragged to the Military courts. The case of Justice Chi Valantine, formally of the Manyu & Fako High Courts and currently Deputy Attorney General for the West Province, arrested following orders from the supreme executive president only proofs the weakness of the judiciary.

It is important to note that the legislative and judiciary are normally checks and balances vis a vis the executive. Once there is no balance of power, the executive becomes a monopolistic government totally disconnected from the realities facing the population. The legislative branch in Cameroon has been turned to hand clappers who represent their selfish interest rather than that of the citizens. The CPDM has reportedly rigged elections in Cameroon to gain majority in the Assembly and Senate, so as to easily implement its centralized policies. The result is a failed state where the constitution has constantly been violated by the president. All bills tabled by the government in Parliament are voted and promulgated into law regardless of their legality. This has led to a disparity between the government and the governed.

The crack down by the Biya regime on English speaking judges in Cameroon and a call by Southern Cameroonians in their majority for Parliamentarians to walk out of the Assembly in Yaoundé, is a refusal by the Anglophones to accept the bureaucratic nature of government. Reports say the government is in a deadlock. Francophone judges are beginning to question why justice Ayah Paul and others were arrested. What an embarrassment to a regime that is facing the toughest opposition to its policies in 35 years.

Cameroon needs an overhaul of its political system. The judiciary and legislative should be totally independent for good governance to prevail. Underdevelopment, corruption, favouritism, poverty, huge international debt are all a result of this poor bureaucratic system. While the government can quickly accuse English speaking Cameroonians of depriving their children of the basic right of education, and foster its claims of manipulation from those it term 'extremists', its of utmost importance to restructure the running of state affairs and only a return to federalism will address these ills. Not even the best political analyse can project the outcome of the Anglophone problem in Cameroon. Government should call for frank dialogue before its too late⁠⁠⁠⁠.