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Bamenda, NW region:

Journalists Kidnapped & Freed “Unharmed”

By Njodzefe Nestor in B’da

Ambe Macmillan Awa

Ambe Macmillan Awa, journalist cum blogger practicing in the restive North West region of Cameroon has been released after spending several hours in captivity.

                He was released at about 11 AM on Friday February 22, 2019 “unharmed” and without paying any ransom as it is the case with recent kidnappings.

                Awa, who is the North West Chapter President of the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ and also Secretary General of the Cameroon Journalists' Trade Union, Northwest Chapter was kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be separatist fighters on Thursday, February 21, 2017.

                It is not clear what prompted the kidnappers to set him free but social media advocacy likewise pressure from national and international journalism associations and trade unions likewise human rights groups have been sufficiently credited.

                This unfortunate kidnap triggered an avalanche of condemnation from journalists, national and international journalism associations, trade unions and human rights groups who were unanimous that “journalism is not a crime” and that journalists like doctors should not be targets during crisis.

Consultant Cardiologist, Wali Muna, Dies

Prof. WalinjomTerenricha Muna

The death has been announced of Cameroon’s celebrated  cardiologist, Professor WalinjomTerenrichaMuna son of the former vice president and statesman of blessed  memory Solomon TandengMuna. A statement from his brother Barrister Bernard AchoMuna indicates that, the medic died in the early hours of Sunday February 24th.

                The National Times gathered that, the professor emeritus of Cardiology and Internal Medicine passed on to eternity in Paris, France.

                WaliMuna as the deceased was popularly known across Cameroon is the fifth of eight children of onetime vice president and speaker of the National Assembly S.T .Muna.

                The founding member of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences occupied the position of the National Epidemiology of Cameroon for over two decades. He was equally a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert and adviser on cardiovascular diseases. He equally occupied several other portfolios at the local, national, sub Regional and world level especially task -forces  on tobacco control.

                Wali was also a former president of the tobacco control commission for Africa.Among others, he served as Chairperson of the Ethical Committee of the Chantal Biya International Research Center. He led the WHO technical advisory council group on eHealth. He is a former president of the Cameroon cardiac Society. He belonged to the American College of Cardiology.

After Predicting Lion’s 2017 AFCON Victory:

Prophet Predicts Biya Will Free All Ambazonia Detainees

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

After predicting the victory of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the 2017 African Cup of Nations footballer tournament in Gabon, Kumba Based man of God has thrown thousands of his Christians and followers into frenzy in yet another powerful prophesy.

                The Senior Pastor and founder of Faith Ministries International in Kumba, Prophet Agwu Bertrand, during his live church service on Sunday February 17, 2019 prophesied the imminent release of all the incarcerated Ambazonia leaders and other Anglophone detainees through a decree.  

                “Good news! I see surprisingly, the release of all the separatists, surprisingly they took people unaware. Just… just decree just came out and everybody was released and that was the beginning of peace. So people should keep themselves calm now. Very soon… very soon, there will be good news. Very soon, there will be restoration… it will come to pass” prophet Agwu prophesied.

Supreme Court Judge Decries Abuses in Social Media

Views over the roles of social media in the neo-colonial African state’s security differs among the population based on age, position in government, ethnicity, and most importantly whether you are a friend or enemy to those in power.

                Overall, government and security agencies have expressed concerns over the emergence of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and messaging apps such as Whatsapp. They argue that these cyber spaces are undermining the rule of law and government’s ability to enforce the rule of law. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Cameroon’s Judicial Week, the country’s prominent Supreme Court Justice, DanielMekobeSone on Thursday disparaged what he described as the abuse of social media.

                “Cyber space has become an excellent platform for freedom of expression without law and faith. It has become a court where everybody is judged and condemned without recourse to courts of law. A veritable space for defamation” he said.

                But several social activists will disagree with the government’s views. To these activists the social media and cyber space has helped minority population and marginalized communities to express their voice, to expose government atrocities, and also sexual and other abuses by powerful against the weak, who couldn’t access the law courts because of corruption or bureaucracy.

                According to these activists, people no longer need to travel to Yaounde or Buea to lay their complains against their abusers.

People Power Defeats Terror in Kupe Muanenguba:

Populations Save Minister’s Residence from Arson Attack

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Minister Elung Paul’s Bangem residence was not burnt afterall

The populations of Bangem in Kupe-Muanenguba Division, South West Region have once more shown their unflinching and undying love and support for their son and brother, Minister, Assistant Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Elung Paul Che, by rescuing his residence from an arson attack by yet unknown persons.

                Some unidentified persons had on Sunday 17 February, succeeded to set fire on one of the buildings within the family compound of the Elungs, situated adjacent to the municipal grandstand facing the Paul Biya Stadium in the Bangem city centre. But before the flames really got serious, an alarm was raised by neighbours and within minutes a huge crowd had gathered. Using their bare hands and buckets of water, the crowd succeeded to put out the flames, a source on the ground in Bangem told this reporter.

                Asked about the cause of the fire, our source said it was yet unclear. He said nobody was found at the scene when the fire was discovered. “Attention of neighbours was drawn by the thick black fumes that emanated from inside the compound,” the source said.

                Denying claims that the fire might be the handiwork of pro-separatists activists, the source said that had the fire been set by separatist fighters, they might have stayed back to stop the population from putting it out this with the understanding that Minister Elung being very popular in Bangem, the populations were likely to intervene and stop the fire.

War Crimes:

Soldiers Aren’t Responsible for Fire Attacks in Kumbo

                        -Rene Sadi, Gov’t Spokesman 

By Njodzefe Nestor in B’da

Houses in Kumbo’s city centre are now in rubble due to arson

Few weeks to the beginning of the rainy season, not fewer than 42 houses have allegedly been reduced to ashes in Kumbo, Bui division of the North West region. The height of the burning spree took place on the 16, 17 and 18th of February 2019 with so many houses and property burnt.

                 Human Rights Watch in a statement published on their website on Feb. 21, 2019 said the gruesome burnings were committed by the Cameroon military.

                Human Rights Watch is an international Non-governmental Organization that monitors and reports human rights abuses over the world.

                “Over the weekend, in what appears to be an act of retaliation against residents perceived as sympathetic to the separatists, security forces burnt down scores of private homes and shops across Kumbo. Destruction of private property by the Cameroonian security forces has been rife since the crisis started” denounced Lewis Mudge, researcher at the  Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.

                In Lewis Mudge regretted that “destruction of private property by the Cameroonian security forces has been rife since the crisis started” noting that “Human Rights Watch has documented the burning of more than 20 villages by members of the security forces between 2017 and 2018 in both the North and South West regions”.

                He added that “soldiers looking for wounded separatists broke into the Shisong hospital and fired several shots in the air and “also threatened to kill a man in front of hospital staff”.

                In response to these accusations, the government of Cameroon through the Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi has formally debunked these allegations against the Cameroonian soldiers.

                In a communiqué signed on Feb. 21, 2019, Minister Rene Sadi insisted that soldiers in the area were rather protecting the population against the separatist fighters who have been causing havoc in the division.