


Cameroon: CHRDA Statement Following the Decision of the Yaounde Military Tribunal to Sentence Mancho Bibiqy, Tsi Conrad, Tamngwa Malvin, Aselecha Martin, Guingah Valentine and Awah Thomas (01.06.2018)







“The situation in Burundi, just like the one in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan can’t be dealt with overnight. Anybody expecting a quick fix is dreaming” – Dr. Okello Oryem
Recently during this week, the Minister of State for International Affairs Okello Oryem has said this. It is very revealing of the arrogance and the stature of the talks, the dialogue and the works done by the Ugandans in the conflicts where the East African Community (EAC) has appointed President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to be the mediator. I never had faith in Museveni and to this day, I haven’t been wrong about that. Nothing has changed in South Sudan or Burundi, where Museveni is suppose to help changing it and get into a peaceful process. Instead it is more and more volatile.
What the grandest problem with having Museveni as mediator in South Sudan, is that his army is delivering weapons and ammunitions to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the SPLA and the SPLM/A-IG. They are serving the government with weapons and the technical training, while they are supposed to be there and secure the negotiations to a peaceful place. That is playing with fire and expecting to have the ability to drown it too. Your providing the opportunity for the government to continue to battle the opposition, while being a party at the table negotiating the possible peace agreement. That sounds like a bad mix of sources and interests at play. Museveni should clearly, just be a weapon brother and not a mediator. Someone who isn’t involved in delivering weapons to South Sudan, should mediate and not someone who serves guns to President Salva Kiir Mayardit. That is just wrong and has self interests in prolonging the conflict. He get to trade more weapons and ammo to the government there.
While in Burundi, the Inter-Burundian Dialogue has been directed by the President. A President that helped his fellow President to return in 2015 after a tried Coup d’etat and demonstrations against his third term. That led into bloodshed and also continued oppression of the dissidents inside Burundi. Where the dialogue haven’t materialized into anything, while the ruling regime has held a new referendum and now secured legality of Pierre Nkurunziza to to rule into 2034. Which is insane, when he entered into power, he was only allowed to have two terms, but he has changed the laws just like Museveni.
President Museveni hasn’t stopped the Burundian President and his control of the dialogue, deciding who could participate and when it could happen. Nkurunziza and his administration has totally muffled the Tanzanian chief talker Mpaka. Therefore, now that he has been part of this since 2015, as the African Union, United Nations and East African Commission have all said Museveni should do this. But they never gave him a proper mandate or done anything if Nkurunziza didn’t listen. They sent some police officers and observers at some point after 2015, but nothing has materialized.
Therefore, seems more like Museveni has been appointed and is lucky to shield his friends. Looking like he makes talks, but stalling for times. While both parties in South Sudan and Burundi are allowed to get rid of opposition, they are allowed to get weapons and use scare tactics to get rid of enemies. While he looks at in sometimes blaze some strong words. But Museveni will not act upon it, as they will do talks in secret and secure that Burundi and South Sudan get what they need. To keep the leadership, which is friendly to Museveni. Not to its people, but loyal to him. So he can be the big-man in East Africa. Peace.













The already serious humanitarian situation in Central African Republic (CAR) has worsened amid a spike in violence which threatens to overtake almost every area of the country, a top UN aid official said on Monday.
NEW YORK, United States of America, May 29, 2018 – One in four people has been displaced, according to Najat Rochdi, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, who said that this included areas that were formerly peaceful, such as the north and central zones.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Ms. Rochdi warned that severe acute malnutrition in six administrative regions is higher than 15 per cent – the emergency threshold – and infant mortality is at 18 per cent.
And amid severe funding shortages which have meant aid cut-backs, she told journalists in French: “It breaks my heart every time a child comes to me and says I’m hungry.”
Speaking later in English, she said: “Where you have kids, those little girls and little boys coming to you and looking at you and telling, ‘I’m hungry, I’m starving,’ it’s horrible, really horrible. Unfortunately the situation has worsened because we had in one year’s time an increase of 70 per cent of the internally displaced people. Meaning more children, more little girls and more little boys, meaning also that it’s a whole generation that is sacrificed because they are not going to school.”
She said it was very important to keep providing them with humanitarian assistance, which meant going beyond food distribution, beyond the access to water, beyond the access to health. “It’s just access to hope.”
Of the more than $515 million aid requirement needed in CAR for 1.9 million people, less than 20 per cent has been provided so far this year.
Fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and the mainly Muslim Séléka rebel coalition has plunged the CAR into civil conflict since 2012. A peace agreement was reached in January 2013, but rebels seized the capital, Bangui, in March of that year, forcing President François Bozizé to flee.
Concerned with the security, humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in the CAR and its regional implications, the Security Council authorized the deployment of a UN stabilization mission, known by its French acronym, MINUSCA, in 2014 with the protection of civilians as its utmost priority.
The humanitarian community distributed high-energy biscuits to 1,500 children and debilitated adults who suffered from starvation and thirst for more than 72 hours during an outbreak of violence in Mbomou Prefecture, Central African Republic in May 2017.
The country’s huge natural wealth – in the form of diamonds, gold and uranium – continues to fuel the fighting, Ms. Rochdi explained, adding that there was “absolutely no problem” in areas “where you don’t have that much to steal.”
The violence reached the capital, Bangui, at the beginning of the month after almost a year of relative stability.
In that incident, 70 people were killed in clashes between security forces and armed militia, and thousands were displaced.
Ms. Rochdi said that UN troops had to intervene after Muslims were denied healthcare access.
The town of Bambari has also seen armed groups return, despite becoming a “safe haven for all communities” since last year, the UN official added.
The militia aimed to put pressure on the government to grant them an amnesty but this would be a “disaster” for the country, Ms. Rochdi insisted, before adding that efforts to prevent impunity had been stepped up and had resulted in a Special Criminal Court, which is due to start work in CAR next week.
Some of its “first clients” would be “high-profile leaders of armed groups,” Ms. Rochdi said, adding that CAR was one of the most dangerous places on earth for humanitarians, with six people killed this year and attacks on aid workers and looting happening on a “regular” basis.
Yet despite the instability and fact that funding levels in 2017 were only 40 per cent of what was requested, she maintained that it still made a substantial difference on the ground and had helped to prepare communities to withstand future shocks too.
It meant that more than one million people had access to water, that 7,000 tonnes of humanitarian assistance were delivered and more than 60,000 children were given an education.
In addition, the aid ensured that more than 70,000 farming families received a vital seed allocation, helping them to become more self-sufficient.
More than 17,000 children from six to 59 months suffering from severe acute malnutrition were also given support.
The most important thing was that the people of CAR had some sense that they had a future, Mrs Rochdi said, adding that humanitarian assistance “is making the difference between life and death”.
Aid is also “the best way for all of us to sustain peace in CAR”, she added, since the funding gave communities hope.



