President Biya: Do the Right Thing and Give Cameroon its Chance at Democracy 8 October 2018 (08.10.2018)

As expected, voter turnout was woefully low and the fleeting hopes of many — both in Cameroon and worldwide — were dashed by the highly visible and ominous presence of the country’s security forces.

YAOUNDE, Cameroon, October 8, 2018 –  On Sunday, October 7, citizens across Cameroon bravely queued to vote in a momentous election. President Paul Biya, Africa’s oldest head of state, and in power since 1982, stood for a seventh term amid credible allegations of vote rigging (bit.ly/2y6BXHK), electoral fraud, targeted threats of violence, and an ongoing, bloody uprising in Anglophone regions. As expected, voter turnout was woefully low and the fleeting hopes of many — both in Cameroon and worldwide — were dashed by the highly visible and ominous presence of the country’s security forces – personnel who are widely perceived (https://bit.ly/2NKUGCj) as biased and loyal only to President Biya’s dictates.

One day after voting took place, Maurice Kamto, leader of the Renaissance Movement party — who joined a historic coalition (https://bit.ly/2C7dftg) with Akere Muna of the Popular Front for Development — declared victory (https://reut.rs/2pJVmcU), claiming he had “achieved his goal” and called on President Paul Biya to hand over power peacefully.

According to Cameroonian law, only the country’s Constitutional Council is allowed to announce official election results. While prematurely announcing victory, as Mr. Kamto has done, may allow a convenient pretext for additional and unnecessary violence on the part of government authorities, the penalty for remaining silent in the face of attempts to stifle democracy and impose the continued rule of a dictatorial regime may indeed be higher.

To be sure, reclaiming peace in Cameroon, and in turn, the Central African region, is of paramount importance today and moving forward. It is manifestly evident that the Biya government is both unwilling and incapable of achieving these necessary ends, which are being demanded by the country’s long beleaguered citizens, as well as neighboring countries (https://bit.ly/2kUGVQP). In light of these facts, we urge the Biya government and opposition leaders to commit to a mediated process of political dialogue with the aim of securing a genuine democratic transition, which is long overdue in Cameroon.

In the meantime, the international community and Cameroon’s development and security partners — including the United States and European Union — must demand that the Biya government respect the basic human rights and democratic aspirations of its citizens; and in so doing, refrain from the sort of truly horrendous abuses and overreach that has characterized (https://bit.ly/2y9dFfX) the Biya government for nearly four decades, and most brazenly over the past two years (bbc.in/2I8pIxX).

Only a genuine political transition can set Cameroon on a democratic path. We implore the country’s current leadership to embrace this fact and to once and for all unite a visibly damaged country at this critical time.

Cameroon: Popular Action Party (PAP) Press Statement to Prof. Maurice Kamto – “Congratulations On Your Election as President” (08.10.2018)

Cameroon: South-West Region – Communique (05.10.2018)

Cameroon is voting for a Ghost-President!

The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman think about the next generation.” James Freeman Clarke

There are very few who has ruled as long as Paul Biya, the President of Cameroon. There is very few who has spent as much time abroad and spent as much of the state reserves on luxurious hotels in Switzerland. There is very few who has gotten away with the crimes against humanity, as the ones happening the anglophone Cameroon, where there are ghost-towns, mercenaries and steady killings, if not arrests and civil curfew. As the borders are closed until the polling time and the people are making ready for another election of the same President, which has ruled since 1982.

It is time for change, but time to mourn, as the Republic is run by a ghost president, who orders the army and takes away the freedom of the Anglophone, as well, as his elites are eating and he aging cabinet is running the nation. All done by Presidential Decrees from afar. While he is lingering in luxury, while the country is rampant in poverty.

The French and American backers doesn’t care, as long as he supports soldiers and arms against Boko Haram and helps in the Lake Chad region. He can get away with anything in his homestead. For many or plenty of reasons, there is no Commonwealth critique and also lack of foreign observers to validate the elections, as surely the results will go in favor of the state biggest ghost.

Biya. Will win and no one else will conquer his or his allies. They are all just awaiting another rubber-stamp before he continue another term, which he has done steadily since 1982.

That is why he offers a free concert on the day before the polls. Because he has little else to offer. There are most likely social media blackout, even internet disconnected, like it has been long in the anglophone region. Therefore, expect the army out and all well planned rigging, even in the plain eyesight. As there is no changes of guards. There are no real plans for a peaceful succession. Just continue with business as usual and letting a ghost ruin the country from Geneva, Switzerland.

This one is already fixed, not like there are by any chance anyone who will conquer the absent, the ghost and the living relic of the past. Biya will win and continue his reign. There might be compass and leaders who could do his bidding, anyone who stayed in the Republic for 365 days a year. Might do more, someone who wouldn’t call in Council of Minister every three years. But someone who actually cared about the fate of his or her people. Would actually be able to lead and delegate the needs for development. However, Biya is a selfish, greedy and evil tyrant, who has no trouble ordering his army to torment and kill his own. Neither, take the state reserves to lavish in the mountains of Europe.

That should stop the allies of supporting him and his “agenda”, however, they still do and that what keeps him. They are feeding the monster and his ghosts are haunting the Republic. These ghosts are taking down the Anglophone and showing force to anyone questioning the Geneva bound old-man. Whose not plan to leave power or give to someone else. That is just pushing the ballots, make it seem like an election and move on. Just like he has done plenty of times already. While awaiting a ceremony to get the throne, yet again. Like they always do, serving the tyrant ghost. Peace.

Cameroon: Akere Muna – Communique de Presse (06.10.2018)

Cameroon: Region du Littoral – Communique Radio (05.10.2018)

UN chief urges peaceful, free and fair elections in Cameroon (05.10.2018)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a peaceful, credible and inclusive elections in Cameroon, as the country prepares to hold presidential elections this coming Sunday.

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 5, 2018 – In a statement from his spokesperson, the UN chief also called on all stakeholders to “exercise restraint before, during and after the election.”

He also urged all Cameroonians to exercise their democratic rights, urging all candidates “to address any complaints related to the electoral process through established legal and constitutional channels.”

Nine candidates are contesting the elections to the country’s highest body, according to media reports.

Further in the statement, the Secretary-General condemned all threats of violence or acts of intimidation by any group and reiterated that all grievances should be addressed through inclusive dialogue.

“The United Nations stands ready to provide support in this regard,” added the statement.

Insecurity is a concern in Cameroon in the country’s north, as a result of activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group, and according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there are some 160,000 persons displaced across the country – a majority of them in the south-west.

Cameroon: CHRDA – The Extrajudicial Executions at Campaign Street 2, Great Soppo Buea on Monday the 24th of September 2018 and the 27th September 2018 Massacre at Buea Town (04.10.2018)

Cameroon: South West Region – The Divisional Officers for Fako Division and Buea Division – “Ordering Ghost-Towns from 30th September to 2nd October” (29.09.2018)

Cameroon: North-West Region – Press Release (26.09.2018)