9 February Twin Polls:

Kupe Muanenguba Elites Preach Peace, Love as CPDM Victory Is Sure
Elites of the CPDM in Kupe Muanenguba joined ranks with grassroots militants in a grand campaign launch, on Sunday 26 January, in Bangem, saying they cannot go to sleep even as victory for the CPDM is sure on 9 February.
By Ngube Elvis Ewane in Bangem

Minister Elung urged militants to uphold peace, unity, compassion

CPDM elite in Kupe Muanenguba on Sunday 26 January launched divisional campaigns for the 9 February twin municipal/legislative elections with a call for militants to shun fear and turn out massively on voting day, to demonstrate the strength of their party as the sole political force in the division.
    The elites made the call in the series of speeches that were made as they launched campaigns ahead of the 9 February twin elections in Bangem.
    Presiding over the impressively attended launching ceremony, the head of the CPDM divisional campaign commission for Kupe Muanenguba, Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, called on militants to exercise love, humility, integrity and solidarity during the campaigns.
    “Our campaigns should be characterized by love, humility, human integrity… We should focus on results. The elites should join ranks with the grassroots to ensure a massive victory for the CPDM,” Prof. Ngolle Ngolle commanded, further exhorting militants to come out in their numbers Sunday 9 February and exercise their civic duty by voting to give their party an overwhelming victory.
    Describing the flagbearers for the two parliamentary constituencies and three councils in Kupe Muanenguba as people of vision, Prof. Ngolle Ngolle, who doubles as the Provost of the CPDM Academy and Head of the party’s Permanent Divisional Delegation to K/M, called on militants to give the candidates the needed support.
    Prescribing proximity, door-to-door campaigns, Ngolle Ngolle cautioned militants to be disciplined and go about the campaigns in love and peace.

Courageous Leadership:

Elung Paul Re-Mobilizes Tombel CPDM Towards Emphatic Victory on 9 Feb.
The CPDM campaign manager for Tombel, Minister ASG of the Presidency, Paul Elung Che, has launched CPDM election campaigns in Tombel, with a call for militants to shun fear and show love and compassion for one another especially as victory for CPDM is sure on voting day
By Mekede Eric Mesumbe in Tombel

Minister Elung in warm handshake with the Chief of Tombel

The moving CPDM campaign train arrived in Tombel on Tuesday to a hilarious welcome by militants. At the head of the train was Minister, ASG of the Presidency, Elung Paul Che, who is the CPDM campaign manager for Tombel.
    Launching campaigns at the Tombel town hall, Minister Elung told militants to ensure a door-to-door campaigns with the guiding mantra being peace and compassion for the fellow man.
    He urged the militants to shun fear and to come in their numbers on 9 February so as to re-enact the age-old alliance they signed with the CPDM this, by ensuring an emphatic victory for the party in both the municipal as well as the legislative elections.
    Acknowledging the context of the times marked by insecurity, Elung Paul enjoined CPDM militants to consolidate the return of peace and normalcy in Tombel which has permitted formerly displaced families to return to their homes.
    The launching was occasion for the Minister to present the candidates for parliament and the leader of the council list, incumbent Mayor Rose Ngassa, to the public. He called on militants to vote massively for the CPDM so as to give legitimacy to the victory is already theirs.

Boosting Tourism, Development:

PM Dion Ngute Inaugurates 92 Rooms Hotel in Ebolowa
Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute Thursday inaugurated the 3-Star Bengo Hotel with a call for the elites and people of Ebolowa and the entire South region to maximize the advantages that the ultra-modern hotel brings to the city.
By a correspondent in Ebolowa

Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute inaugurating the 92 rooms hotel in Ebolowa

Ebolowa, the capital of the South region now has an ultra-modern hotel. The 92-rooms, 3-star Bengo Hotel was inaugurated by the PM, Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, on Thursday 30 January, in the presence of political, administrative and traditional elite of Ebolowa and the South region.
    The Bengo Hotel, whose construction started in 2009 as part of preparations for the hosting of the National Agricultural Show in Ebolowa in 2011, was only completed recently by the Chinese Company that won the contract for its construction.
Inaugurating the 3-star tourism outfit, Dion Ngute hailed the head of state for instructing its construction, saying it would go a long way in alleviating the poor living conditions of the people of Ebolowa by boosting tourism and socio-economic development of the city.

Ahead of CHAN 2020:

Governor Institutes Compulsory ‘Keep Douala Clean’ Days
Littoral Governor, Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, has set aside Thursday as the day for compulsory weekly cleaning campaigns in the Douala 2 and 4 council areas of the economic capital city.
    The Governor made the announcement during visits he paid on Thursday to some markets and localities in the Douala 2 and 4 councils including notably the Bonassama, Grand Hangar (Douala 4) and the Guellem Market in Duoala 2.

World Customs Day Celebration:

Customs Officials Tasked To Fight Contraband
By Doh Bertrand Nua in Yaounde

Customs boss presents gifts to retired personnel

The Minister of Finance has tasked Customs officials in Cameroon to go beyond their traditional mission of raising customs revenue and work towards protecting the economy by intensifying the fight against the importation of illicit and contraband products.
    Louis Paul Motaze, gave the directives Tuesday 28 January 2020 at the Yaounde 101 Military Air Base. It was during a ceremony to commemorate the 2020 International Customs Day. The event was under the theme “Customs fostering sustainability for people, Prosperity and the Planet”.
    “The customs has to work to make sure that our realisation as far as revenues are concern are met, protect our country by protecting the frontiers. We have been visiting what has been seized in the boundaries and we know the customs department is working hard about that,” Motaze said, adding, that they will try to meet the targets after embarking in a programme with the IMF in 2020 because of the hardworking nature of his collaborators in the Customs department.

Anglophone Crisis:

Agbor Balla Rejects Special Status, Reiterates Stance for Two-State Federation as Solution
Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Anyior aka Agbor Balla, Founder/CEO of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA, has in a rare outing rubbished measures so far taken by government to resolve the crisis in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions.
    From Switzerland where he is currently attending a workshop, the President of the banned Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC) took to Facebook and Twitter Monday, January 27, 2020 to insist that only a two-state federation can resolve the Anglophone crisis.
Agbor Balla describes decentralisation and/or special status as stop-gap measures, advising that stakeholders should return to the drawing board to address the fundamental issues.
    Hear him: “A two state federation is the Solution to the crisis. Any other solution be it decentralization, 10 state federation or a special status are only stop-gap measures. We shall have to go back to the drawing board to address the fundamental issues.
 
    Speaking Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at the Yaounde Conference Center, Agbor Nkongho said the people who have taken up arms to make of Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions an independent state they call Ambazonia may only be pacified if the form of the state is touched to accommodate federalism.
Apparently taking the Decentralisation and Local Development Commission headed by ex-Forestry and Wildlife Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese by storm, Agbor Nkongho regretted that another dialogue may be ordered by President Paul Biya not too long after the Major National Dialogue if the form of state was not discussed back then.
    A video clip of the Human Rights Lawyer’s clarion call filtered out of the in-camera session and made rounds on social media at the time. In the video, Agbor Nkongho calls on Senator Mbella Moki Charles to bear him witness.

Amid Separatist Threats:

Populations Fleeing to Nigeria Ahead of Elections
Villagers in Cameroon’s volatile northwest region are fleeing separatist violence ahead of February 9 local and parliamentary elections to neighboring Nigeria. The rebels have vowed to stop the elections and are clashing with the military while civilians are caught up in the fighting.
    Christians at True Faith Ministries, in the Nigerian border village of Atta, sing for God to protect them.
   
    He says they crossed the border, about 40 kilometers (29 miles) away, in the past two weeks to escape clashes between Cameroon’s military and rebels.
    “These are Christians with very different experiences. You have Christians who are yet to trace their loved ones, you have many separated children in church,” he said. “You have so many unaccompanied children.
    You know, you cannot just minister to them without helping them to get food to eat and then find something to do.”
    A majority of the Cameroonians are women and children.
    Regina Shey Najela, 18, says she and her younger brother joined a group of women to flee from Cameroon’s border village of Ngarum after security clashed with rebels, known as Amba boys.
    “The Amba boys entered the quarter [our village] so, the policemen came shooting all over,” she said. “We ran, we slept in the bush. My mother said that she will look for a way [for us to escape]. I am here with my junior brother. Before we left, they burned our house.”
    Aid group Positive Youth Africa has been providing relief material to Cameroonians fleeing the fighting to Atta.