Category: Ambazonia Leaders

Election Modalities – the introduction

This section extols the need to promote accountability and responsiveness in the leaders, including during a war.

It also promotes the opportunity for voter education in an open and competitive election process which would force aspirants to defend their past actions and future plans for their proposed tenure. The following two paragraphs are quoted directly:

” Elections thus provide political education for citizens and ensure the responsiveness of democratic governments to the will of the people. The overwhelming majority of Southern Cameroonian (Ambazonians) have demanded election modalities to govern the conduct of elections to the presidency of the country. “

“This law (Election Modalities) is therefore intended to provide a leveled playing field where Ambazonians aspiring to presidential leadership of our struggle can exercise their civic rights in a free and fair election.
Modalities of election of members into other institutions shall be subject to another law (The APP Laws).”

The Critique

The responsiveness extoled here in this quote contrasts with the Restoration Council’s lack of response to the flaws and deficiencies outlined in the Executive feedback! It is tempting to also point to the several typographical errors which persist in the document. Laws are supposed to be unambiguous and the minimum that should have been ensured was that the words used were the intended words and one way is to submit to many eyes to help spot and correct them.

The unintended consequence of the “competitive” process has lead to challenges verging on personal insults and interpreted as such! Ambazonia News doubts whether this particular artefact was intended or anticipated by the RC. The solution would have been a properly reviewed and amended document based on common consensus rather than a flawed edict which the RC then allowed many vocal “defenders” to “protect” with accusations of “sabotage”.

What about a solution? One way would be by responsively addressing feedback, after duly presenting the draft to the people and other organs of government.

It must be noted and clear that ownership of the document belongs to the citizens, even if, at first glance it appears to be the purview of the RC. The individuals who happen to be at the RC at any time will come and go. Being in the RC does not elevate anyone to a status of infallibility! Instead, Councillors would benefit from being responsive to the aspirations and views of their constituents.

Find the complete Modalities here or look at the critique of section 2

Section 2 – The attributes of Presidential aspirants

In this section there is some scope for discretion from the ECA. Discretion is exactly what allows fraudulent practices to flourish. In an electoral process which seeks to boast of fairness and transparency it is best to minimise these windows.

Critique

Given the history of Ambazonia, there is no way a candidate would be able to provide documentary evidence to meet clause 2.1.1! This means discretion is introduced! Of course Ambazonia News would be pleasantly surprised to be reassured that every candidate managed to provide 200 years of background!

Critique

How was 2.1.2 decided? What excludes a 34 year old or a 71 year old? These limits do have the merit of eliminating the discretion that Ambazonia News objects to!

2.1.4 Professional, Moral and social status could be judged by letters from “reliable referees”. Granted. A reliable source of income could be establish by which criteria? Is the community to be consulted explicitly to complete this bit of vetting?

What about 2.1.6 “May have skills …”. Is that essential? Could a candidate be disqualified for an attribute the only “may” have? More scope for discretion!

2.1.8.2 There is at least one typographical error in this one and the whole concept does not cover the simple idea of visas! What are major restrictions that could impact the vetting outcome?

Look at the complete Modalities

Elections 2022: Just win or do the right thing?

President Marianta Njomia has concluded that the RC is not going to amend the Election Modalities to meet the needs of Ambazonia.

The president has issued a document to outline the flaws, the biggest of which was the failure to pass the “law” through a citizens’ assembly or even to get the presidential signature as required by constitutional articles.

Ambazonia news will be doing an article-by-article analysis of the offending “Election Modalities” in separate posts but we can confirm that the president has chosen to persist with doing the right thing – making sure that Ambazonian institutions are functional and fit for purpose, not just for the present poll but in setting a standard for being reflective and responsive to the needs of all citizens henceforth.

Time will tell how the conflict evolves but Ambazonians would benefit from inspecting the facts and drawing their own conclusions. Our citizens are not and should not be helpless. They should know the facts and insist on their representatives being responsive and reflective to/of the citizens’ wishes. This should apply to all representatives be they LGA chairs, or County Chairs, or Restoration Councillors or members of the Executive.

The president is insisting on transparency and accountability. That is the right thing to do in the view of Ambazonia news.

Refer to the president’s objections here.

Refer to the complete Election Modalities here

Ambazonian Institutions Prove Strong In Election Process

Ambazonian Flag


Ambazonians

“The Most High God be the Watchman of This Nation!”, is the prayer our children make every time they sing our beautiful Ambazonian Anthem. It would appear, the Almighty is granting this prayer, for our Liberation is proceeding regardless of the wariness that has crept into many of us. Our people are enjoying and manifesting their dignity more and more openly and with less and less regard for the intimidation and repressive tactics of La Republique Du Cameroun.

Ambazonians shall prevail as a people, together of equal value and status whether they are, individually, enduring the terror of La Republique du Cameroon militias on G0, or enduring the uncertainty of life on G1, or enduring the homesickness of the Diaspora. Ambazonians all need to collaborate and hasten the growth of our collective dignity and freedom. Collaboration is the answer.

The Election Commission of Ambazonia

The Election Commission of Ambazonia, ECA, has acknowledged the weaknesses in the Election Modalities and promised to review same for future elections. This implies the ECA receives the petitions but has deemed the irregularities not to be blocking to the temporary use of the modalities.
This is the very strength that we hoped for in the ECA. The Commission must now make sure they can run the process with as few hitches as possible of their own volition. The first task hence is to duly issue the electoral list of all qualifying voters, regardless of how the ECA has deemed them qualifying.

The Restoration Council

The Restoration Council, RC, which did drop the ball on the production of the Modalities, has similarly, by implication stood up to the Executive by not caving. Unlike the ECA, RC has not yet acknowledged its weaknesses and, therefore has not deemed it necessary to self-reflect and improve. This is a weakness indeed as the RC has tended, in this whole episode to be looking down on the very people they represent and ignoring their concerns. The RC allowed itself to be misrepresented by individuals who went on the defensive to accuse all and sundry of sabotage rather than acknowledging the validity the petitions. At present, this writer would place a question mark over the relevance of the RC as a representative body for a young and vibrant Ambazonia.

The Executive

The Executive, in the person of the President has shown the strength in standing up to and highlighting a dangerous ad-hoc attitude from the RC in serious constitutional matters. In this saga Candidate Marianta Njomia was always at a disadvantage as she is acting simultaneously as the Executive and as a Candidate. It is fair to say she has invested more energy in the former role to the detriment of the latter. That can only be interpreted as a demonstration of the patriotic zeal needed to prosecute our Liberation struggle. This writer commends Candidate Marianta Njomia for making the bold decision to selflessly prioritize the right thing over the interest of her campaign for election. The point has been made and the candidate should now rely on the Ambazonian people to take up the responsibility for balancing the tension between the RC and The Presidency. This writer believes that Candidate Marianta Njomia should resume her place as a Candidate and put her program in front of the electorate.

Statement by Abdul Karim Ali.

AKA

This Statement is informed, on the one hand, by the wishes of encouragement flowing from family, friends, well-wishers and sympathizers as well as their desire, on the other hand, to know how I am doing or holding up, in detention.

I was abducted on the afternoon of August 11, 2022, at Ntamulung by the Gendarmerie of La Republique du Cameroun. I was taken to Groupement and then later to Compagnie. I was held in communicado, without permission and space to pray and without food for four days.

The conditions of my abduction are illegal and unjustified. The conditions of detention are unspeakably deplorable. My lawyers have an idea and can indulge you. My focus in this statement is to commune with you.
To my family and well wishers I want you to know that I am firmly planted and standing on your faith, good will towards me and your prayers for me. To everybody else I want you to know that God, in his divine providence, has put me here in Southern Cameroons at this time and place for a specific reason – to serve his people and his purpose.

That purpose is found in his will. His will is to seek truth and justice. Justice in this time and space in Southern Cameroons lies in bringing all parties and stakeholders together, on a dialogue table without pre-conditions, where the root cause of the raging crisis can be identified and sustainable solutions sought for culminating in the peaceful evolution, actualization and realization of the suffering people of Southern Cameroons.
This is my life’s mission and purpose. The advocacy of the inalienable right of every Southern Cameroonian to self-realization. This life mission is divinely ordained. I accept and assume it with all humility. I will live with it. I will live for it. I will suffer for it. I will be in prison for it. I am in jail for it. I will undergo torture for it. I will die for it if need be and if it came to it.

I am now undergoing psychological and physical torture for it. Even so, I do not intend to switch positions with anybody. Every passing second, minute and day I feel the pangs on my flesh and body. Even so, I must tell you that my soul and spirit are strong. The feel the fuel that powers this fortitude coming from all Southern Cameroonians, my well-wishers and the almighty God.
In this faith, and with this faith I will stand strong like the rock of my faith and the inspiration of the forebears of every resistance and struggle.

With this faith, I ask all people of good faith to help me in this journey of truth seeking and peace building. With this faith. I promise to keep up the good fight and to continue putting my family, friends and well-wishers in ‘good trouble’.

This is our appointment with destiny. This is our commitment to posterity. This is the task of the present and the hope of the future.
With this hope, I will keep standing in this contaminated water in my cell or laying down on the bug infested plank of my interrogation cell until the doors of the room open, wherein the round dialogue table stands in the middle, waiting for all stakeholders to come, sit around and seek the truth.

But before you pause to ponder about my inhumane condition, I want you to pause first and ponder the death of all the heroes of Southern Cameroons. I want you to pause and ponder the death of all the young people who are losing their lives everyday in a war that was totally avoidable and still is stoppable, even as I sit in this cell.

I want you to pause and ponder the inhumanity that has been heaped on our brothers and sisters who are languishing in the prisons if LRC simply for articulating an opinion as to their preference of a Homeland where they can self-realize and self-actualize.

When you consider all those who have paid the ultimate prize of freedom, those who are serving undeserved life sentences, those who are sitting in jails like mine uncharged, untried and not knowing what will happen to them on a daily basis, those who are scared stiff of the unpredictability and impunity of the system and those who are on their knees every minute praying for a miracle to end the war in Southern Cameroons, then you can decide for yourself what your own individual sacrifice will be.

To my wife, kids and family I beg that you keep the faith. I know and trust that you will keep trusting in what Allah has in store for us and all our People.
To my compatriots and fellow countrymen, I employ you to hold hands, tighten our ranks, keep our focus on the enemy, never losing focus of the ever tempting, corruptive, disorganizing and disruptive nature of the enemy and remember always and forever that our rendez- vous is at the foot of Mount Fako, in Buea.
To my well-wishers and the international community, I exhort you to bear with us. Please redouble your efforts in holding up the mirror to our friends and relevant stakeholders – a mirror in which the errors of history beginning with colonial greed, through UN Charter miscarriages, to unfulfilled promises and flagrant breaches of constitutional and other international legal instruments, culminating into the acknowledged, albeit failed, attempts to assimilate a people who have lost almost all sense of national and individual worth but who have now risen and now sworn never to be enslaved again in a status quo that denies them their fundamental humanity and dignity. Hold up this mirror so that there is individual national accountability to foster a sense of collective responsibility for the plight of Southern Cameroons whose claim to a UN forgotten prodigal son status cannot be denied, underestimated or ignored any longer.
Hold this mirror of history and let it reflect an international resolve and concrete efforts in pushing the parties – the Government of Cameroun and the diversified tentacles of the Southern Cameroons’ octopus, to the inevitable table of dialogue, mediation and conciliation, reassured by the hope and promise of truth, justice and peace.
I am not asking that you, the international community, do all our heavy lifting for us. The burden and the lifting rests with us. This is our duty. We, Southern Cameroonians, know it, assume it and accept it.
All we ask is that you create an enabling environment for us to stand on, pivot and do the lifting that not only you expect from us but a lifting which history and our posterity requires and expects from us – on ground Zero and everywhere in the Diaspora.

In all I pray and ask for the intercession of the Almighty God who is all knowing, all planning and all merciful. Thank you and stay blessed.

Abdul Karim Ali
Detained at the Gendarmerie Compagnie at Upstation in Bamenda

The IG calls for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Comrade Abdul Karim Ali

AKA

The IG has issued a statement calling on international partners and stakeholders for peace to bring their influence to bear on La Republique du Cameroun to release the recently abducted Ambazonia scholar Abdul Karim Ali.

Having contacted the victim’s family, the IG is able to ascertain that Comrade Abdul Karim Ali is in good spirits and has been visited both by family of counsel.

Here is the IG’s communique.

Collaboration on Ambazonia Restoration

Ambazonian Flag

Collaboration is a very obvious concept. All Ambazonians would mention collaboration as a way to progress the Restoration more quickly, even if just to decry the lack of it! On this page we attempt to outline the manifestations of collaboration that could be embarked on in a daily routine.

Between RFs

This is where our self-defence groups back and support each other. Even if they are from different groups, they know that they are working for the common goal of restoring the nationhood of Ambazonia. They know that the existence of each of their separate groups means that Ambazonia is more likely to succeed. They have more eyes if they can rely on each other. If LRC militias are traversing our country, our RF should rely on each other to keep them informed so that they are not surprised. If one of our RF groups is attacked, they should rely on nearby RFs of different groups to back them up and mitigate any damage and fallout. This situation would make all the RFs safer together – that is because of the existence of the several RF groups. This sort of collaboration relies heavily on trust that can only be built locally. They must rely on their own instincts and observation on the ground to decide where such collaboration is feasible and possible. The RFs must communicate at least to avoid any misunderstandings that could expose all of them to danger. They must remember that they are the ones putting their lives on the line and must prioritize their own local instincts over any dubious or doubtful or illogical orders from outside. If the RF collaborate this way, those dubious orders will cease as, lets face it, the authors of those dubious schemes who are not on the ground, are not the ones putting their lives on the line. The minimum common area should be to be sure or trust that the separate RFs are definitely working to liberate Ambazonia. Of course like in every sphere of life all such collaboration should be under constant review and because it is not joining, could be adjusted or ceased or intensified as confidence changes. Remember it is your lives you are putting on the line! Money is not everything! You will be rewarded more when our country is free, but you must make sure you keep all RF lives safe as they are the most essential ingredient of the restoration. You need to be able to trust that RFs are RFs. If they are, you have worked out that they are working for the Restoration and that they rely on you just like you rely on them. That means they will inform you if enemy forces are headed in your direction, or information you and request back up when they engage the enemy. All of this depends on a level of confidence that is built slowly based on intelligence – sustained intelligence.

Between RFs and Civilians

The restoration started when all Ambazonians came out in 2017 on that September day. Grand mothers came out, children came out, all areas came out. All areas have constantly observed the Country Sunday all this time ever since. That is because the vast majority of our citizens are committed to the restoration. Our population needs to rely on the RFs as the RFs need to rely on our population. The RFs should be different from LRC militias when our population encounter them. For example our population should not feel they need to hand over money to any RFs like they commonly have to every time they come across LRC roadblocks. Our population needs to feel safe that the RFs are working to protect them in all circumstances. If any citizen is arrested, there must be no question that the solution is that money should be paid. That would be kidnapping for ransom, which is a war crime and is utterly un-Ambazonian. In the war-situation we need our population to back our RFs and this will only come from mutual trust. In fact our RFs and population should aim to get to the state where we are just all the citizens with the same objective of regaining our dignity and freedom in our nation, that is, not even thinking of two sides. RFs know that our citizens will be under pressure and being courted by the enemy with all manner of inducements. As such RFs must work on winning hearts and minds. Our people must be able to see a better future when our nation is restored. They must be able to spot at least one positive difference between the RFs and the enemy forces in those daily encounters. If RF road blocks have been mounted they should be necessary and for a purpose but must not subject our citizens to anything they experience at the hands of the enemy. The aim should be that the RFs cause the withdrawal of the enemy check points as that would be a very swift improvement and positive dividend of the liberation struggle.

These two areas of collaboration on the ground would go a long way to speed up the end of the La Republique du Cameroun occupation of Ambazonia.

The Mistakes

Collaboration is so logical that some think that it is simple and must be done. It is certainly logical but the collaborators need to rely on their assessment of each other to ensure that they are working on the common cause. They should collaborate in different stages. You could share some information first, then when confident enough, have meetings, then resources or operations. Certainly do not expose your bases as a first step unless you have the strong trust to back your instincts. If someone is offended because you are not exposing all your resources and positions, it is OK. They should be carrying out the same due diligence and should understand and be patient if they wish to build confidence. Don’t prioritize hospitality, prioritize security!

Diaspora Collaboration

The diaspora has more time to collaborate and the dangers for them are not as immediate. Obviously their collaboration is important for optimising the resources they have to put in the restoration. Working together would make the resources go a longer way by avoiding anything from duplication at best, to in-fighting at worst. The due diligence for this collaboration should follow the same methods of establishing the common base of their ideas – aiming for the restoration of Ambazonia. The three outcomes of this collaboration would be to encourage the G0 collaborations, gain favourable diplomatic resources and nudge LRC towards a more sensible easier negotiated route out.

The IG document on Building Bridges outlines the protocols for diaspora collaboration but it is also a good basis for all the other aspects discussed above. The gist of that document is summarised:

The IG is OPEN to building bridges of reconciliation, collaboration or unity with any Ambazonian entity (individual, group, movement, association, organization) that meets the following two obligatory prerequisites:

1) Existence of evidences of an OPEN DECLARATION that the Ambazonian entity in question stands for the total and unconstitutional INDEPENDENCE of the Former British Southern Cameroons aka Ambazonia.
2) Documented evidences or TRACT RECORD of the Ambazonian entity (individual, group, movement, association, organization) FIGHTING the enemy LRC Diplomatically or/and Legally (Litigation) or/and by Advocacy or/and militarily through the self-Defence actions of their forces in G0.

Addendum

The chaos of audio and counter-audio in the August lockdown and no August lockdown must have been music to Dobekreo’s ears!

Declaring a “no lockdown” is a very difficult logical and psychological message to send.  But it needed to be sent and the whole fallout of the situation could yet have the positive outcome of triggering the sensible collaboration scenarios, some of which are suggested here. Too much time has passed for us to put the spectacle to “lack of experience”. It is clearly an issue of egos and of ignoring the constant and common message from the ground calling for “one voice”. That means collaboration.  No single “leader” should have taken it on themselves to declare a lockdown whether for a day or a month without consulting others. That must be the big lesson. In future if many audios come out for a lockdown they should all have the same message. If they are many it should only be because they are in our different languages rather than because they are from different groups.

What we can attribute the spectacle to is lack of maturity. We do not have mature leaders yet who would see the main objective ahead of any idea that they personally are “the liberators”. Maturity will be when they work out that they should keep in constant communication on their common objectives and try to expand those objectives so as to optimize the effectiveness of their efforts.

The key word is listen. Listen to GZ, The Diaspora is not more important or cleverer! Listen to the RFs, they have a better idea of what is going on and can be more helpful to other RFs than the Diaspora “Strategists”. RF lives have to be treasured and guarded jealously. Any RFs killed and displayed by the enemy is an affront to all RFs first, and then to the dignity of our nation. We need to know all enemy movements on our land and ensure we use them to minimize further losses.

We have less resources than the enemy. We have less experience with manipulation tactics. But we have Right, Resilience and …our Flag.

No Pity on empathy…

” Want the corpses of our fighters back, or you cant have yours either!” That was the message from No Pity as his fighters carted away the corpse of a LRC militia leader.

The respect accorded to the fallen LRC militia man was stark when compared to the recent LRC rituals of displaying Ambazonian victims of their militias in town squares in poses vainly designed to strike terror in a long immune population. They have not noticed that recreating their French mentors’ terror tactics from the start of the neo colonial era is futile and pointless.

Worse than that, it is impossible to fathom the idea that responding to minor grievances and protests with mass arrests, village burnings, extra-judicial killings and intimidation including crossing the Rubicon of firing into school-bound morning traffic and murdering pregnant women cannot induce any “brother” to reconcile, much less imagine leaving the fate of their future generations to the mercies of such “brothers”!

This method of trying to “solve” the “crisis” leaves us to expect a long road as the authors have shown no signs of being able to empathise in any way that could convince anyone they are going to negotiate anytime soon, unless their masses are served an empathy-inducing taste of the last six years of Ambazonian life.

We the Ambazonians accept that it could be a long rough road …

But we can’t turn back, our hearts are fixed
our minds made up, we’ll never stop
our faith [and just cause] will see us through