Patriotically unpatriotic Cameroonians

In the build-up to this year's May 20, National Day celebrations, the Yaounde City Council unveilled in pomp and pageantry, a giant and beautifully constructed monument in the heart of the nation's capital. 

Estimated to cost over 2billion FCFA, the edifice designed and supervised by a foriegn architect, was christianed 'Le Patriote'. Unveilled a few days to the National Day event by Cameroon's Housing and Urban Development Minister, Celestine Kuetcha Courtes, personal representative of the Head of State, who himself had jetted off in a chartered flight few days before to Europe for 'a brief private stay', the monument and the European trip, crystalized Cameroon authorities' understanding of what it meant to be patriotic.

No doubt that the monument was constructed in the spirit of the country's leader, whose subbordinates never miss an opportunity to attribute any project realization to, including even the donation of a trash can to a community. 

And, just like in the sonnet 'Oxymandias', by Percy Bysshe Shelly, the English romantic poet', where the ruined statue of an ancient king carries the bold inscriptions: 'My name is Oxymandias, Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair', when in effect, there are no works left to examine in that empty desert; the boastful inscription on the Yaounde monument reads: 'J'aime le Cameroun', 'I love Cameroon'.

Fittingly, Yaounde authorities' patriotism and love for Country, as exemplified by the inscription on the 'Le Patriote' monument, is more of lip-service; as not far from the monument lie stinking heaps of garbage, cloaked water ways and delapidating public edifices abandoned over the years to themselves.

The inscriptions 'I love Cameroon', 'J'aime le Cameroon', stand in ironic contrast to the decrepit reality of what is patriotic about Cameroonian leadership. The pitiful state of Cameroon's economy brought to its knees by the currrent leadership and its accomplices, undercuts the bold and boastful assertion of 'J'aime le Cameroon'. And, some of those shouting on rooftops how they love Cameroon have sometimes tarred roads into their bank accounts in Europe. Such a savage contradiction renders the Yaounde Unity monument's  prideful inscriptions almost commically naive. 

Just like in the aforementioned Oxymandias poem where the speaker evokes images of a cruel leader who wears a 'frown' along with the 'snear of cold command', clearly showing the king's 'passions' such as 'pride, tyranny, and disdain for others', 'Le Patriote' monument may also be the current leadership's lasting testament of its hubris, rather than the boastful patriotic intentions behind it. 

In his internationally acclaimed work: 'The Trouble with Nigeria', which could fittingly as well be 'The trouble with Cameroon/Africa', Chinua Achebe accuses Nigerian leadership of projecting a 'False image of itself'. The same could be said of Cameroon leadership that has made pilfering and plundering a steady menu on their tables and yet, cover up by composing patriotic melodies. 

How can we talk patriotism in a country where public utilities are collapsing, where parastatals and state-owned companies are wastefully inefficient, where if you need electricity, you must buy your own generator, where if you want uninterrupted water supply, you must sink your own borehole, and where very soon, if you want to travel, you may have to set up your own airline, or have enough resources to hire one like our beloved father of the nation did recently.  Was it not Chinua Achebe who suggested that very soon in Nigeria, and that holds true for Cameroon, one may have to build his/her own Post Office to send his/her own letters? 

How can anyone in Yaounde talk patriotism when knowledgeable observers have estimated that as much as 70%  of this country's wealth is regular consumed by corruption? 

And, what a beautiful way for Chinua Achebe to capture the trouble with Nigeria, and by extension, the trouble with Cameroon. According to him, there is no problem with Nigerians as a people, no problem with the climate, not even with the seasons as there is the dry and rainy season.

'The trouble with Nigeria is simply a failure of leadership...the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example, which are the hallmarks of true leadership', writes Chinua Achebe. I challenge anyone to state the contrary for Cameroon.

Contrary to Cameroon authorities' understanding of patriotism, Chinua Achebe is very categorical in his definition of who a true patriot should be.

'A true patriot should always demand the highest standards of his country and accept nothing but the best for and from his people. He would be outspoken in condemnation of their short-coming without giving way to superiority, despair or cynicism. That is my idea of a patriot', state Chinua Achebe on page 16 of his book.

I dare state without any fear of contradiction, that all those who poured out on the streets in Bamenda and Buea on September 22, 2017, following Government's failure to adequately addressing the demands of Anglophone teachers and lawyers, were and remain true patriots, demanding the highest standard for and from their country. I dare say the Mancho Bibixys who wanted a constant flow of potable water, good roads and better working conditions for Bamenda City Council workers, were the true patriots. 

I dare say the Ntumfor Nico Halles, the Nick Ngwanyams, and the Agbor Ballas, who are 'outspoken in condemnation of (Cameroon leadership's) shortcomings without giving way to superiority, despair, and cynicism', are the true patriots. I dare say the Dieudonne Essombas, the Fidoline Nkes, and the Equinox crew that constantly demand the highest standards for their leaders and country, are the true patriots.

What about those ordinary Cameroonians pushed abroad by a reckless deprivation of economic opportunities back home, and who toil day and night, sending home the much needed remittances to families and loved ones? 

A leadership that would unwittingly alter the name of a state from 'United' to Republic and delete one of the 'uniting' symbols-the star-creating an image of assimilation, since pushed boys into the bush to be fighting and self-emolating themselves, cannot be said to be patriotic.

A leadership that cannot explain why 60 years after independence, it must hire a foriegn architect to realize a historic monument and why authorities must go abroad to receive treatment or take a recess when they could have constructed their own Camp Davids back home, cannot claim to be patriotic. Same holds for those who remain complacent, preferring to sing patriotic songs, albeit unpatriotically.

That's why Chinua Achebe had to beautifully explain that unpatriotic leadership should not expect any patriotism from its citizens:

'(Africans) are what they are only because their leaders are not what they should be', he concludes.

‌*Colbert Gwain is digital rights activist, author, radio host, Commitment Maker at UN Generation Equality Coalition, and content creator @TheColbertFactor

WAIT! BEFORE YOU GO ON about your daily chores, ask yourself: How likely is it that the content you just consumed would have been created by a different news outlet if The Colbert Factor hadn't done it?

Just think of what the media landscape in Cameroon today would look like without The Colbert Factor thinking out of the box. Who would accompany you in challenging the boundaries of conventional thinking? Who would help you relive John Naisbitt's paradym's shift to the effect that: 'The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many'?

There's no gainsaying the fact that the kind of content we create not only helps in putting the right information in the hands of many, but is also necessary for democracy. It emboldens us to uphold our freedoms and inalienable rights.

In these perilous times, a truth-seeking and informative local news organization like The Colbert Factor is essential. But,  it's not easy, cheap or profitable. The Colbert Factor is a solution-oriented, independent non-profit content creation medium. It serves as the 'first draft' for newspapers, radio and TV stations, online news outlets and blogs. We don't have ads and we are independent of corporate and government interests. 

You can help us continue creating more investigative, balanced, fair, reliable, credible and educative content, by donating your widow's mighty mite through MTN momo number: 677852476

...And you would be contributing to a free press.

The Colbert Factor:

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

Why MPs must push Government to fast track Decentralisation in Cameroon.

For some time now,  Decentralisation has become the talk of the day in Cameroon. The efforts of the Government to fast track the Decentralisation process took an upward turn with the creation of a full flesh Ministry of Decentralisation in 2018. Has this added value to the process, the answer is not enough. Members of Parliament are the representatives of the people. By virtue of this, they are directly aware of the difficulties and economic potentials of their respective areas. It is for this singular reason that we of the Eagle's Eye think that MPs have a premodial role to push the Government to accelerate the  Decentralisation process in the Country.

Before I dive squarely on the role of MPs to push forward this process, permit me to highlight some of the benefits of Decentralisation. The Government alone cannot employ everybody so municipal councils should be empowered to champion local development ventures that can create employment. It is becoming practically impossible for the Government to carry out a balance development in Cameroon. To remedy this,  Regional Councils should be given more resources to carry out  their own development. 

As far as Members of Parliament are concerne, we confidently think that they can push for legislation that can lead to the creation of special funds to be attributed to Councils to fund  development projects. This of course is advocating for an increase of the budget allocation of the Ministry of Decentralisation so the latter can step up its activities of improving the capabilities of Councils. This move can be achieved through a bypartian effort because every Member of Parliament wish the best for his or her people.

By Ndage Etienne

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

What has become of Bamenda city Buses?

One Of The City Council Buses now in oblivion

Bamenda city council brought the buses to feel the transportation vacuum created by the restriction on movement on motor bikes and also to forestale  Mondays ghost town.

 FCA, 100 million was invested  in the purchase of six buses. 

“The government has allocated 100million to support the bus shuttles and the city council intends to buy more buses alongside one air-conditioned bus which can also be used by councilors for leisure or when need arises". The  city council mayor  Paul Achoubong ,made this statement  in one his sessions held in prelude to the purchase of the  buses.  

This was a laudable project which eased movement on Mondays ghost town. 

Many have questioned why the vehicles that served the population for free has suddenly disappeared from the streets.

City Mayor Paul Achumbong

                             Developing story. 

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

Cameroon drop taxes to encourage use of solar energy as hydro power is epileptic

The scanty rainfall and prolonged droughts linked to climate change have hit the county's hydroelectric dams ,blackouts and power rationing on daily bases has plunge parts of the country into prolong darkness.

To try to solve the problem, Cameroon is looking to solar power, introducing significant tax cuts to attract funding for projects that could grow and stabilise the country's energy grid while lowering carbon emissions.

Among the incentives, which went into effect late last year, are a 10-year elimination of several taxes, including stamp duty, on equipment used to build renewable energy projects. The country earlier reduced customs duties on imported renewable products.

The idea is to bring a stable power supply to more Cameroonians, especially in rural areas, Pierre Narcisse Massoma Bille, director of renewable energy at the Ministry of Water and Energy has intimated.

"The incentives will not only help the country meet its development challenges, but also help in the fight against climate change," he said.

Some industry experts applaud the move, saying it could prove a model for other African countries looking to tap their solar potential.

But others warn that if Cameroon's green energy sector grows too big and too fast, corruption and a lack of local technical expertise could dim its solar ambitions.

DRYING HYDROPOWER

Over the past decade, Cameroon's power supply has been hobbled by increasingly unreliable rain, by droughts and by outdated, dilapidated infrastructure.

According to the World Bank, about 60% of the country's population has access to electricity, with most of that concentrated in urban areas. Rural electrification is just 25%.

Cameroon wants to electrify more of the country and increase its grid capacity from 1,500 megawatts (MW) to 5,000 MW by 2030.

It also wants to reduce its dependence on hydropower by getting a quarter of its electricity supply from other renewable sources by 2035, up from just 6% today, according to government figures.

Massoma Bille said the government has no target or estimate for how much investment the tax changes could bring in, but it expects the response to be "positive".

For the charities and companies already backing solar projects in Cameroon, the incentives are a chance to amplify reach and increase profits.

Eugene Ngueha, technical director of Energy of Cameroon (ENEO), the country's main electricity supplier, said the partially state-owned company is already taking advantage of the tax cuts to construct two solar power plants in Maroua and Guider, in the country's electricity-hungry north.

The French Facility for Global Environment, a public bilateral fund, also took advantage of the incentives as it installed photovoltaic systems in five towns, all run by women.

Rose Ngassa, head of the rural council in Tombel, one of the towns, said the new micro-grids mean people now can run businesses like restaurants and bars at night, something impossible with the former persistent power outages.

"Solar power is sure and certain," Ngassa said. "Many will embrace small-scale activities they were scared of doing before."

The tax cuts also should make it easier for major international players to expand their solar investments, said Edmonde Djiokeng Teboh, a spokesperson for technology firm Huawei, one of several Chinese companies putting money into Cameroon's renewables sector.

"All over Africa, investors are now taking renewable energy very seriously," she said.

ROADBLOCKS?

But the incentives will only work if the government commits to stamping out corruption to ensure investors don't end up spending as much in bribes as they would have paid in taxes, said Zachee Nzohngandembou, head of the Centre for Environment and Rural Transformation, a non-profit based in Limbe.

"It's a good move - provided there is a strict follow-up for implementation in the field. Sometimes the law says one thing and implementation is another," he said.

Taku Alain, CEO of renewable energy firm Taku Energy, warned that Cameroon's solar efforts also could hit a snag when it comes to finding enough trained engineers to maintain the equipment for a raft of new solar energy projects.

Cameroon is already attracting more investment in renewables than many other African countries, said Augustine Njamnshi, coordinator of the Africa Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access, an alliance of green energy organisations.

Drawn by the country's ambitious climate goals - such as cutting its carbon emissions by a third by 2030 - investors see room for growth in its solar sector, especially as green technology becomes more affordable, Njamnshi said.

"Africa, with its abundant sunshine, has great solar energy potential," he said.

"Cameroon will reap the benefits… The country has the potential to drive its economy forward in the years ahead."

Courtesy: Reuters

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

How France Continues to Dominate Its Former Colonies in Africa

AN INTERVIEW WITH

NDONGO SAMBA SYLLA 

FANNY PIGEAUD

In France’s former African colonies, imperialist monetary policies from Paris continue to cripple domestic economies and undermine democracy. Colonialism in Africa won’t have meaningfully come to an end until true economic sovereignty is allowed to flourish. The economy of the sub Saharan Africa burst into the headlines in the first week of March. As Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala assumed office as the first female African director general of the World Trade Organization, mass youth protests broke out in Senegal over deteriorating economic conditions. Sweeping in to help everyone make some sense of the situation was the English translation of Africa’s Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story by Ndongo Samba Sylla and Fanny Pigeaud.

The book lays out the French state’s continuous meddling in Africa — a master class in capitalist villainy, victim-blaming, and versatility. After the abolition of slavery, huge “reparations” were paid to the French former slave owners. These were used in part to establish colonial banks in Africa, later joined by others, which would strive to ensure that French domination would endure post-slavery by maintaining “the colonial pact.” This pact involved the deliberate underdeveloping of the colonies’ economies, their forced reliance on raw material exports, and a French monopoly on shipping, exports, and imports. The CFA franc was the currency designed by France to ensure French control survived colonialism’s official demise.

To learn more about it, Jacobin’s Chris Dite sat down with Ndongo Samba Sylla and Fanny Pigeaud to discuss their book as well as recent events on the continent. A

Arecent French finance minister described France as being in Africa “as a friend.” Reading your book, I couldn’t help thinking that’s like describing the Corleone family from the Godfather series as a friend to the businesses under its “protection.” Could you help readers understand how the relationship between France and its former colonies is based on threats, violence, and extortion?T

TheFrench knew that independence in Africa was inevitable. In 1958 France organized a referendum asking whether sub-Saharan African countries under its domination wanted to become independent on French terms. Guinea led by one of the few African leaders who was a trade unionist and not a loyal French ally trained in France voted no to this independence-without-independence and broke away from France two years before the rest.F

Forthe others, it was independence without full sovereignty, independence on the condition of signing “cooperation agreements.” The idea was to create new republics with limited autonomy under the tutelage of France — all sovereign commands would be exercised by Paris.W

When Guinea decided to issue its own national currency in 1960, France organized a sabotage operation to destabilize the new country, sending in its service secrets agents, flooding the economy with false banknotes, and disrupting everything. This sent a clear message to other countries: “If you want to go down that road, you know what happens.” From then on, this has been more or less the story of African leadership: if you want to stay in power, you have to be on good terms with France.I

In the lead-up to independence, France managed its relationships with these new countries by choosing the leaders it preferred to be heads of state. You can see now it’s the same system — we have African leaders who are very linked to and don’t dare to act without the okay from Paris. If they try to act differently, there will be reprisalsF

France has kept military bases in several countries since independence — Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Senegal, among others — and currently has five thousand soldiers on the field in the Sahel. Even if officially the military is there to “fight terrorism,” we know that it’s also there to maintain a form of control over these countries.F

France used military force to create the politics it wanted in Côte d’Ivoire in 2011, for example. But actual military intervention isn’t required to get the Parisian agenda implemented. If you’re a country like Niger with a lot of problems — security problems, economic, social, and financial problems — and you have the French military and intelligence services on the ground all around you, it’s difficult to think that you’re free to make your own decisions.

And how does the CFA franc fit into this violent picturesT

The CFA franc is colonialism repackaged . The Franc of the French Colonies in Africa (FCFA) during colonial times became with independence the Franc of the Financial Community of Africa (FCFA) in West Africa and the Franc of Financial Cooperation in Central Africa. The French government is a specialist at reframing colonial structures using new names: this is really the story of France’s relationship with Africa.W

We can see the same behavior now with the recent so-called reforms. It’s just marketing — but in fact, everything remains the same. The French are quite good at this. A

A common line from defenders of the current system is that if you subtract the aid money provided by France from any gains it makes from exploitative arrangements, it either “balances out” or works in Africa’s favor. Could you explain why this is simply not the case?I

In the CFA franc system the African central banks have for decades been obliged to deposit a large proportion of their foreign currency reserves into the French treasury. Those amounts represent double the amount of aid from France to sub-Saharan Africa. France essentially gives African countries back a fraction of these forced deposits as “help.”

Inyourbook you describe Emmanuel Macron’s recent changes to the CFA Franc zone as a transition to a more indirect system of control. Could you explain these reforms?

Threethings are expected to change but only for the West African countries involved, not those in Central Africa: the first is the name of the currency (it is now called the “eco”), the second is that French representatives will no longer sit in the bodies of the Central Bank of West African States, and the third is the removal of the obligation to deposit 50 percent of foreign exchange reserves into the French Treasury.

But the main link will remain. These countries will still have to report to France daily by virtue of the “convertibility guarantee,” which is France’s promise to lend as many euros as needed by the Central Bank of West African States — a promise on which it does not deliver.

How are these changes still informed by the logic of domination?

TheFrench government’s mindset is a colonial mindset. The “reforms” are designed to give new life to monetary domination and enlarge the CFA franc zone to the other countries of West Africa like Guinea and Ghana. France continues to believe in the colonial empire whereby African countries must support the development of France.

The French government cannot break the ties. It will find new means to maintain the empire. The new name of the “eco” is designed to undermine a regional grouping of fifteen countries called ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States]. “Eco” is short for ECOWAS and was going to be the name of a proposed West African regional single currency. Macron and [Alassane] Ouattara stole the name “eco” and made their announcement on the same day that most of the ECOWAS presidents were meeting to decide a launch date for their currency. We’ve never seen the “eco” banknotes or coins. It seems to have just been a strategy to quickly get rid of the old name.M

Macron says the French representatives are gone, but they’ve signed new monetary cooperation agreements stipulating that they can always be brought back. Paris will still decide with its African counterparts which representatives will report daily to the French Treasury. France frames the deposit obligation removal as a gift, but the real gift has been Africa’s financing of the French Treasury. Africans have been losing on their Treasury deposits — not just because low interest rates and higher inflation means they’re losing in real terms but because they could have used this money constituting half of their foreign currency reserves in much more productive ways over the years.

Whyare these changes happening now?

Therehave been many ongoing protests against some aspects of the CFA franc that are really embarrassing for France. Paris wanted to address these without putting an end to the CFA franc. For example, young people are asking why their countries are forced to hand over their foreign exchange reserves to the French Treasury. In fact, when the right-wing Italian government was fighting with France about immigration issues in 2019, it said, “if we have African migrants coming to Italy, it’s because the CFA Franc is impoverishing Africa. Get rid of the CFA Franc and that’ll get rid of African migrants.” This was demagogic, but it drew attention to the CFA franc issue more broadly.

An anonymous French military officer said a few weeks ago that without Operation Barkhane (the French military intervention in the Sahel), France would become like Italy. They don’t want that. The French authorities still think that the French-speaking African countries are necessary for France’s own development and economy. It’s clear they think these countries are still part of the “French empire,” even if they deny it. With these so-called reforms, Paris wants to make people believe that it has understood the message of those who no longer want the CFA franc. But in reality, it’s trying to maintain control, to gain time.

Nodoubt any African country proposing to leave the CFA franc zone would be presented with examples like Lebanon as evidence of the dangers of fiat currency. Is this really the choice facing Africa — extortionate European “supervision” or chaos and hyperinflation?

Thishas been one of the main defensive arguments aimed at anyone arguing to de-link from the French treasury: if you de-link you’ll become like Zimbabwe.

Butany sovereign country wants the capacity to develop its own domestic capabilities. You need to have your own currency for that. There are many examples of African countries that have their own national currency, but it’s not really sovereign — why? Countries of the Global South rarely meet the major condition for being monetarily sovereign: having zero debt in foreign currency. If you want to have a sovereign currency, you have to develop a strategy based first and foremost on the mobilization of your own domestic resources — without this you’ll have to rely on debt in foreign currency, foreign investment, and development aid. This strategy is not sustainable.

Any development strategy based on foreign finance must function like a Ponzi scheme — you have to contract new flows of foreign finance to service interest on existing debt and the repatriation of profit flows. So you can’t rely on foreign finance for your own development. Unfortunately, many countries do not use, economically speaking, their domestic potential and their potential as a sovereign issuer of their own currency

Could you elaborate a little further on the nature of the relationship between French economic domination and African government corruption?

Thesystem creates its own type of leadership — as long as we have a CFA franc, we cannot expect to have leaders committed to the interest of their people. There’s always competition: potential African leaders prepared to play the role France wants them to.

Many African leaders know that talking about the CFA franc can get them into trouble, and so they try to keep quiet on this issue. The system is also based on pegging the CFA franc to the euro; to sustain this, you have to have a sufficient level of foreign exchange reserves. But most countries in the zone can’t generate enough foreign income through trade and so are forced to borrow and to under-finance the economy to sustain the peg. Public mismanagement is ingrained in the CFA franc zone.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who famously negotiated debt forgiveness as finance minister of Nigeria, recently became the WTO director general. This was hailed in the media as a sign of brighter things ahead for Africa. Could you elaborate on how even something as innocuous-sounding as “debt forgiveness” involves the economic domination of Africa?

Duringtheso-called period of structural adjustment throughout the 1980s and ’90s, the Global South transferred the equivalent of fifty-six Marshall Plans to the North in the form of “debt service.” It’s completely crazy. At least 40 percent of African external debt is held by private creditors — they obviously will never agree to forgive that debt. Even multilateral actors like the World Bank and the IMF don’t want to consider that.

I myself am supportive of the cancelation of the foreign currency debt of the Global South, but it’s not a solution. What we have to “cancel” — actually abolish — is the system that produces this debt. The world system works structurally in such a way as to put the Global South in a perpetual position of indebtedness; any cancelled debt is reconstituted very quickly.Developing countries cannot aspire to prosperity for their population if their development is based on foreign resources. It’s impossible. So the issue of this external debt has to be framed along these lines: canceling/abolishing the mechanism of unequal exchange at the global and domestic levels and helping developing countries to mobilize their own domestic resources using their monetary and economic powers.

As Africans we should be happy that one of our compatriots is head of the WTO. It’s important, symbolically speaking. But at the same time, we know that the WTO is no longer relevant; it’s been blocked. Many countries of the Global North have retreated from the multilateralism of the WTO after issues like agricultural liberalization were met with resistance by developing countries. So it’s ironic that at a time when the WTO has no strength at all, we have a female African director general.

Therehave been large youth uprisings in Senegal recently. One Senegalese commentator noted that the president might be a tough guy when he has soldiers with guns attacking kids armed with stones, but he’s much more submissive when faced with the French finance minister in the Central Bank boardroom. How will France respond to this rising mass discontent?

France is facing more and more pressure in Africa, militarily speaking, because people oppose its interventions, and as we see in Senegal, economically speaking as well. Many French properties and businesses were destroyed. This will be a growing trend. Many people expect that what happened in Senegal will also happen in Côte d’Ivoire and also Central Africa.

These uprisings were a signal to France, saying, “we know what you’re doing, we know you’re backing illegitimate leaders, we know you’re imposing companies which drain our resources and with which we’ve been forced to sign unfair agreements. We’ll no longer accept that.” The French government talks about “anti-French sentiment” — it’s framed as if Africans have this irrational hatred of the French. But French companies have been undertaking very antidemocratic work in Africa. It’s natural that populations start to oppose such practices. African people want self-determination, they want to fight against their bourgeois comprador classes and also against French imperialism. It’s a positive desire for liberation.

    Paris is in quite a bad position. Normally the French government makes statements about situations like the one in Senegal. This time, Paris didn’t say anything. It remained silent. It shows that French officials don’t know how to respond. They know that if they say something it will be badly interpreted. It’s an incredibly sensitive situation for France. 

rancedoes not have the kind of financial means to keep playing the gendarme in Africa. Most French military operations are done with the help of the US — if the US decides to retreat from Africa, it’ll become much more difficult for France. Maybe they’ll find another way to outsource their military control of Africa. It’s an uneasy situation for them. There are rumors saying that at one point recently France was contemplating sending its soldiers into Senegal to defend French interests. I don’t know if this is accurate. People would never accept seeing French soldiers in Senegal like this. Even the French admit this. 

The example of Côte d’Ivoire in 2011 had a big impact on the population. A lot of people were shocked by France’s actions. What France did in Abidjan is not possible today people

wouldn’t accept that. Definitely not. Emerging powers like Russia and India and smaller powers like Nigeria who want a larger market share will try to associate themselves with this anti-imperialistic mindset in order to make life difficult for France in Africa. It’s opportunistic, obviously, but at the same time it means you have this framework of global competition where the French market share is reducing more and more. And their other instrument — manipulating who can become the president of an African country and blackmailing him — is also less and less available. Because now people are awakened. They understand how things work. The younger generation will not accept lifelong despots deciding their fate. So France will have to give up this nineteenth-century colonial logic.

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

Kidnapped BBC Journalist escapes from captivity

The BBC French desk journalist,Federick Tankang who was kanapped yesterday at about 8 pm by an unidentified gun men  succeeded in escaping from captivity same day.

  The  Vanguard has been informed.

  Talking to colleagues who visited him Friday May 27,Federick intimated that he was abducted at new Bamenda in a drinking spot opposite senator Madam Regina Mundi's house .  

     Many people were also Kidnapped and taken to the bush in his car. 

 The kidnappers he said,stormed the drinking spot, ransacked everyone , seized cell phones and collected money from them at gun point. 

 Federick was  on his way  home, after dropping a freind at Amour Mezam travel agency  on that fateful day. 

 The kidnappers took him on a bike going towards miles 4, en route to Nforyah, passing through Mbesi. 

  While at mile 4 junction,Tankang gathered courage and push the bike rider on the ground and escaped. 

All his phones, the car and other communication gadgets were also seized.

  

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

BBC journalist kidnapped in Bamenda

             Federick Tankang 

The  world radio Journalist, Frederick Tankang - BBC  international correspondent is missing.

The Vanguard has been informed.  The french media guru,Frederick Takang was  kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination by gun men. 

The purpose of his abduction is not known.

Frederick Tankang    a refined BBC French desk reporter base in  Bamenda. 

 The gun men reportedly picked him and his car Silver Camery  on  Thursday 26 May 2022 in the  evening .

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

The number of train passengers dropped by 61% between 2016-2020

The number of train passengers in Cameroon dropped by 60.8% between 2016 and 2020, from 1,582,434 to 572,633.

According to information from the Ministry of transport, this poor performance is mainly due to the restriction measures deployed by the government to face the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also the result of the suspension of the direct line between the two main cities of Yaoundé and Douala following a train accident that killed at least 76 people and injured 600 on October 21, 2016. That year, the direct line registered a total of 197,713 passengers, against zero up until 2020.

However, the Ministry points out that the freight traffic only declined slightly during the period under review, falling from 1,600,000 tons in 2016 to 1,551,000 tons in 2020 (-3%).

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

Breaking news: PM Chief Dr.Dion Ngute to be Replaced?

Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute.who wants his Head ?

Chief Dr.Joseph Dion Ngute,Prime Minister of Cameroon may be placed in a few days  ahead, as cabinet reshufflement looms.

A dependable source has hinted MMI that the presidency is about to make some major changes in the system in an attempt to modernize and step up probity and ensure  assiduity against 2035.  Some of the Ministers or state men are said to be  too old and unproductive. To attain the 2035 vision, the father of the nation is poised to inject new and committed generation to move the nation forward.

The source who yearned for anonymity ,said Biya is likely to take the decision soonest.

    The source also intimated that the person programmed to replace Dion Ngute is still  a native of  Southwest Region, from Kupe Muanenguba,whoes name  the source  declined disclosing for strategic reasons.

Our source also confided that the declaration is “expected to happen within the next few days…”

    Pundits are  how ever worried why such a stalk gentleman could be replaced  so soon, and  at a time Cameroon needs a such a soft spoken and accommodative  man  to handle the Anglophones crisis. 

His move towards  bringing  lasting peace ever sinc he became Prime Minister  has been lauded by most Anglophones. He is not blunt in his utterances,he doesn't move with administratrive and imposing authority like some of his predicessors. He is  a very humble man, loved by many.

The rethoric  is why his replacement, and why replacing  with his own brother from Kupe Muanenguba? This can bring division amongst the elite of that division. Pundits have warned.

 Others have castigated  the information, saying it could still be hot air  blowing in the horizon that would end up in shambles,as has been the case over the years. 

"How many time have social media and news papers  etc. announce  imiment ministerial reshufflement and it ends up evaporating"? 

 We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

How Ni Fru Ndi Came to limelight of Cameroon politics

      Ni John Fru Ndi :

    Architect of  Cameroon political                    metamorphosis

What was the motive behind the creation of the SDF?

Who were the main actors?

   The  Social Democratic Front SDF party was created because of the Anglophones marginalisation. 

The following people Abel mukong Ni John fru Ndi Rtd Justice  Nyo Wakai,Prof Carlson Anyangwe, Prof. Siga Assanga, Prof. Ngwasiri Clement,  Dr Akuju, Mr. Teboh.Mr Mbanga and some few names. There were about eleven of them.

When this group of people observed  that Anglophones were  being marginalised, they sat and decided to visit the British  Ambassador in Cameroon by then.They both went to the embassy and  met with the British Ambassador. After a very  long debate,they told the ambassador the suffering and marginalisation of the Anglophones in Cameroon.

The Ambassador advised that there is nothing  the British goverment can do, and that Cameroon is a sovereign state adding that,the only thing he can advised them to do is to creat a  political party to defend the interest of the Anglophones.

When they came back from the British embassy, Prof.Carlson Anyangwe and Rtd Justice Nyo Wakai were urged to read through the Cameroon Constitution  and see whether it is possible for them  to creat a political party.

  Everybody was happy with theirs findings.

Since the idea was to creat a political party, the question was,who was going to take the  led?.

  Albert Mukong the author of."Criminal without crime" opted to be the chairperson of the party to be created.The next post was that of the Secretary General of the party.

  They looked around, nobody was ready  to opt for that position. Ni John Fru Ndi decided to take the function.

 The following university lecturers, Carlson Anyangwe,Ngwasiri Clement, Siga Assanga etc,were afraid  because they were civil servants.

Now came the way forward

Fru Ndi,the great hunter " Bush man  and soothsayer" as was  funnily called by his mates.

Albert Mukong who was very notorious even in the days of president Adhijo, told his peers that since they are now creating a political party,its was necessary to involved francophones.

   When Albert mukong said this ,prof Carlson Anyangwe  was not comfortable.

He warned Albert Mukong and said for now,francophones should not be involved because they can easily betrayed the course as he  had worked with the Francophones and know them so well,but as stubborn as Albert Mukong was, he never adhered to Prof. Anyangwe's advise.

While in Douala he Albert Mukong told Yondo Black the plan the Anglophones have  arrived at to create a new  political party.

     Maitre Yondo Black was very interested, took the documents from Albert Mukong and gave them to his next neighbour's secretary  to type them some copies.

   When she did, the man came collected the documents,went straight to the police and reported Yondo Black and co.

This is how on the 26th of May that SDF was supposed to be launched,Albert Mukong was absent as he was arrested and lucked up.

   Why  Ni John Fru Ndi   who was  hitherto  Secretary General of the party , opted to take  the lead of the party.

Now the other founding fathers were confused,the chairperson is in detention in Douala what next?

   Now the other  militants were all civil servants, looking around nobody seemef  to take over the function of the Secretary General post.  Prof. Siga Assanga a cousin to the chairman  Fru Ndi said he can not leave his brother alone and took over the post of secretary General.

Fru Ndi  as airport chief Traffic Officer in Ibadan Nigeria

A well articulated historical write up,  ln  " prison without crime " Albert Mukong came around before the lunching of the SDF but accused Fru Ndi and co of diviating from original motive which was standing against Anglophone marginalization. 

 This explains why Albert Mukong and Co created the SCNC.

The party was finally launched on the 26 of May and six people died in a confrontation with the military.

 How it happened,

How Fru Ndi succeeded in launching the party amidst security challenges in our next edition.

Courtesy: Mbum political platform

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

  

The dangers of inequality to a society

Before I attempt an explanation of the effects of inequality to a given society, permit me to first of all define what I think is inequality. From the Findings of this writer, I can say that inequality refers to the phenomenon of unequal distribution of resources and opportunities among members of a given society. In this definition, we can all perceive a litany of problems that emanate from the practice of inequality. If not all, many wars, social conflicts and battles around the world have taken their rise from inequality. The evil behind this phenomenon should not be down looked by humanity as a whole and leaders in particular because the stability and prosperity of any Nation lies on the manner in which resources and opportunities are shared among the people.

To explain further, equality is a cankerworm that has divided families, meeting groups, communities and to an extent, it has disintegrated Nations. Once a human being feels cheated, abandoned and forgotten, the quest to change the course of event becomes inevitable. It puzzles this free thinker why some people deprive others the opportunity to live well as they do when they know and they have seen that no matter what we amass to ourselves in this world, we cannot bribe death when it comes knocking at our doors steps. It is not difficult to understand that when we share equitably among ourselves, peace is guaranteed effortlessly but when we foster inequality, trouble looms in the horizon but yet we still afford to do the wrong thing. Why ?

Let me at this juncture, highlight some other demerits of inequality. When youths of a certain area always succeed in public exams and others fail even when they are  qualified, what will that produce ?  If a certain area has all the best basic amenities at the expense of other areas, what will that lead to ? A Nation can only achieve absolute peace and prosperity if the natural resources, economic power, political positions, infrastructural projects, educational facilities and employment opportunities of that Nation are equally distributed among its people. As a Nation, let us think wisely and transform our beautiful Cameroon a heaven on earth to all it's sons and daughters.

By Ndage Etienne

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

Proprietor of Nation Financial Bank NFC is Dead.

The proprietor of National Financial Credit Bank (NFC Bank) Azanga Zacharia is no more.

National Financial Credit was created as a Financial Institution called National Financial Credit Company (NFCC) and was registered at the National Credit Council (NCC) on December 20th, 1989 with its legal Headquarters in Bamenda while its Administrative Headquarters is located at Avenue Charles De Gaulle in Yaoundé. It officially began business operations as a Financial Institution on June 15th 1990 and became a licensed Commercial Bank, NFC Bank on August 9th, 2006 after accreditation by COBAC.

NFC Bank’s brand strategy is captured by its “we make life easy” slogan, a phrase that reflects the importance the company attaches to facilitating customer’s banking transactions and keeping service culture alive.

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

What if mama Regina Mundi were a blackleg?

         Senator Regina Mundi,    

Muteff may be a little known local village kaleidoscope, but things that happen there are sometimes of far more greater significance than the world might have cared to know. 

Situated off the jaws of Abuh Valley in Fundong Sub Division, Boyo Division of North West Region, Muteff waged a feracious war of independence from mainland Abuh in the Mid 70s.  Although the immediate cause of the conflict was Abuh community's adamant refusal to allow Muteff have a junior primary school where children from distant Muteff attend until maturity before they cross over to complete in the main school in Abuh, the remote cause was the aged-old quarrel over who goes home with the head goat from the 'nchong' secret fraternity.

The almost three year prolonged conflict that saw Muteff children all withdrawn from the lone school in the Valley, CBC Abuh, as a sign of protest and dogged determination by Muteff to stand up to the marginalization and discrimination of Abuh leadership, saw Abuh community claiming and shouting on rooftops how Abuh with Muteff as a quarter, was one and indivisible, and so shall remain. 

Muteff did not only forcefully withdraw its membership from the Abuh Union but also forbid any person from Muteff to have anything doing with Abuh community, not even burial ceremonies, not even church attendance.  

Despite the deadly threats, certain individuals in Muteff did not believe it was of any earthly use to breakaway from mainland Abuh. They swore on their honour that Muteff could never be an independent village from Abuh, and continued representing Muteff at the Abuh traditional Council at other institutions. They judged that their withdrawal wouldn't make much of a difference as Abuh could as well just select people of Muteff origin, already settled in Abuh, and continue to brandish them as representatives of Muteff quarter.

One of them was a certain Yindo Tange. Each time rebellious Muteff community resolved on a plan of action, he would quickly move over to Laikom, the seat of the Kom palace and to Abuh village head's compound and disclose it to them. After dinning and winning with those considered by Muteff as standing on their way to independence, he would truimphantly return to Muteff by evening and narrate to everyone that cared to listen how he has exposed the evil machinations of Muteff against Abuh unity and how such plans have already been nipped in the bud. 

The arrogantly vocal Yindo Tange would even dare Muteff village strategists by searching for where they were drawing their plans, tell them to their faces how they were just wasting their precious time as the Kom Fon and Fundong Administration had reassured Abuh village chief that Muteff would never be independent.

Although many in Muteff were of the opinion that Yindo Tange's provocations were always one too many and that eliminating him could facilitate the independence of Muteff village, the foresighted strategists within Muteff resolved he simply be ignored as the energy that would be wasted in eliminating him could have been used to improve their argument for independence. Their infinite wisdom had informed them that eliminating Yindo Tange could give Abuh, Laikom and Fundong Administration justification to defer their independence struggle.

Satisfied that those for the independence of Muteff were in the majority and those within Muteff that supported the oneness and indivisibility of Abuh village were a negligible minority only aligning with Abuh because of their stomarchs, the larger Muteff community decided to ignore the 'blacklegs', referred to then in Muteff as 'Party 1', with pro-independentists referred to as 'Party 2'.

By the time Muteff village had surmounted all the challenges by skillfully convincing the Kom traditional Authority and Fundong Administration of the aged-old bad faith of Abuh, and they resolved on Muteff independence from Abuh, Yindo Tange was surprisingly the first person to come to the Muteff market square to reveal the information to a jubilant Muteff community. 

He insisted it was thanks to his loyalty to mainstream Abuh leadership and the Kom palace, that Muteff was finally considered ripe for independence. He gave to understanding that since Muteff community was no longer on talking terms with Abuh leadership and Kom palace, the only authentic information about the grievances of Muteff against Abuh village could come only from him. His non-violent approach toward mainland Abuh, he claimed, worked in favour of the independence of Muteff village. 

To him, although he was publicly violent against promoters of Muteff independence, he always found time in private to school the Kom palace and Abuh leadership on why Muteff needed to be a stand alone community.

Consider Senator Regina Mundi in the case of former Southern Cameroons' independence struggle to be Yindo Tange, in the case of Muteff. Although unlike Yindo Tange, mama Regina Mundi, is not recorded to have publicly denounced those fighting for greater autonomy of former West Cameroon from mainland, there certainly exist tons of verifiable secret correspondences from her to the CPDM Central Committee and the Presidency, on the fact that the current conflict be quickly resolved, with former West Cameroon having greater autonomy.

Unlike Yindo Tange who continued to cling unto Abuh just for his survival, Senator Regina Mundi's reason to get into the senate was not only to use it as a platform to privately articulate the concerns of her people, but more importantly, to mobilize resources to take care of the downtrodden back home. Like Robert Wood who stole from the rich and give to the poor, Senator Regina Mundi had since entering the senate in 2018, literarily been 'stealing' from the rogue Government in Yaounde to give back to the vulnerable pregnant mothers, orphans, widows and other categories of individuals back in her constituency.

During the recent visit to Cameroon's Heritage Higher Institute for Peace and Development Studies, by former South African Aparthied Chief negotiator, Roelf Meyer, it was revealed that he was one of Frederick de Klerk's strategists in growing the Aparthied genocidal regime that imprisoned Nelson Mandela for 27 years. Yet, he was still the one insider who brought reason to bare on the white minority rule, to start negotiations with the black majority leaders that led to Mandela becoming first South African black President in 1994.

Those keeping Mama Regina Mundi would do the struggle a favour by seeing in her the future Roelf Meyer. Added to her being an accomplished grand mother who has nothing to loose in speaking truth to the Yaounde regime, Regina Mundi, like Roelf Meyer, could be the Yindo Tange to fast-track the Southern Cameroons' greater autonomy struggle.

By the way, how on earth would someone think the withdrawal or elimination of Mama Regina Mundi, could be a plus to the independence struggle? How could people who have since 2017 been claiming to be winning 'fatly' suddenly turn around to give the impression the likes of the Regina Mundis were the obstacles to their independence? Are they not now behaving like the scribes in the book of Mathew 17:11-12, who even though Jesus was already with them, continued to deny he was the Messiah on grounds it was written that Elijah must first come? 

Like Jesus who upon hearing the worries of the scribes through the apostles replied: 'Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not.'  Could it not be that independence would come, but activists would still not see because they think it must come in the 2nd Republic, and in flesh?

Are those activists and fighters permanently agreeing to disagree not the true blacklegs  who are derailing the struggle? If they were united and speaking with one voice rather than fighting to outsmart and outdistance each, would 1000 Mundis be anything to stand on their path?

*Colbert Gwain is digital rights activist, author, radio host, Commitment Maker at UN Generation Equality Coalition, and content creator @TheColbertFactor

WAIT! BEFORE YOU GO ON about your daily chores, ask yourself: How likely is it that the content you just consumed would have been created by a different news outlet if The Colbert Factor hadn't done it?

Just think of what the media landscape in Cameroon today would look like without The Colbert Factor thinking out of the box. Who would accompany you in challenging the boundaries of conventional thinking? Who would help you relive John Naisbitt's paradym's shift to the effect that: 'The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many'?

There's no gainsaying the fact that the kind of content we create not only helps in putting the right information in the hands of many, but is also necessary for democracy. It emboldens us to uphold our freedoms and inalienable rights.

In these perilous times, a truth-seeking and informative local news organization like The Colbert Factor is essential. But,  it's not easy, cheap or profitable. The Colbert Factor is a solution-oriented, independent non-profit content creation medium. It serves as the 'first draft' for newspapers, radio and TV stations, online news outlets and blogs. We don't have ads and we are independent of corporate and government interests. 

You can help us continue creating more investigative, balanced, fair, reliable, credible and educative content, by donating your widow's mighty mite through MTN momo number: 677852476

By Colbert Gwain Fulai

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .

...And you would be contributing to a free press.

Gicam calls for caution as CAR legalizes cryptocurrency

The employers group in Cameroon (Gicam) gave its impressions on the recent legalization of cryptocurrencies in the Central Africa Republic. Gicam believes that although this decision may shed some media light on the country in terms of tourism and boost its sympathy capital with the crypto-friendly community, it also carries many consequences.

First, many challenges must be met for cryptocurrency to become a reality in CAR. The Central African Republic is a member of the Cemac region and is de facto subject to all monetary regulations in the region. “The country is subject to the Convention governing the Central African Monetary Union (CAMU), which provides, among other things, that: the legal tender of the member states of the Union is the Franc of the Financial Cooperation in Central Africa (FCFA),” Gicam said stressing that the above-mentioned Convention does not provide for any other legal tender other than the CFA Franc in member countries, and consequently in CAR. Besides the exclusivity of the monetary unit, this convention also grants the exclusive privilege of issuing currency in the CEMAC zone to the Bank of Central African States (Beac).

Reservations and caution

Gicam notes that even if the problem of compliance with community standards were resolved, and the operationalization institutions were put in place (National Agency for the Regulation of Electronic Transactions-ANTE and Trust), the new Central African law will have little effect in the short and even medium-term. The main reason for this is that the country's Internet penetration rate was only 11.3% as of January 2022, the literacy rate was 48%, and accessing electricity remains a headache for the population.

In conclusion, the employers’ group states that "the legalization of cryptocurrencies by countries such as CAR [or El Salvador, the first country to do so, ed] will have heavy consequences for both countries as they will have to take other regulatory and incentive measures to make cryptocurrency a tool for economic and social development.

The Gicam suggests regulatory measures to address the choice of the CAR “at a time where most countries are still cautious about cryptocurrencies.” As proof, the group said, some countries have opted for a hard or soft ban on the technology, even though it is technically difficult to enforce such a ban, especially for the acquisition of dematerialized goods and services.

We follow the news as it happens and where it happens.

Contact us by Tel / whatzap number 677749136 for your advertisement, event coverage or any striking news .