At the residence of Chief Bate Arrengang in Antwerpen in the Kingdom of Belgium prominent citizens of the South West region gathered – some from Fako, others from Kupe Muaneneguba and Meme Divisions one common thread unites them –they are all from the South West region extraction.

This is the South West Elites Association, Belgium Chapter formed by South West indigenes to foster the culture and development of their region.

Ngoh Austine Itoe, Barrister Tabi Kefie, Penda Mwaka, Ewang Samuel and Bate Arreyngang all said the birth of SWELA in Belgium is to create a social space where the South West diaspora community can connect and re-connect to their culture and development.

Speaking exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, Chief Ewang Samuel, the supreme leader of the Bakossi people in Belgium noted that SWELA Belgium aren’t simply about culture and development of the home constituency but also a place where Bantus, Semi Bantus and the Tikars of Lebialem can become a family.

SWELA Europe was once a place for South Westerners to make new friends, create a community, and possibly even meet future partners.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Antwerpen

The Special Criminal Court has sentenced a former highly influential defence minister to 30 years in prison for corruption, illicit enrichment, embezzlement and money laundering.

Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o was not ordered to pay any fine and his bank accounts and property in the capital Yaoundé and the commercial city of Douala will also not be confiscated by the state even though the judge said Mebe Ngo’o could not justify the origin of his assets.

At a hearing held late in the night of 4 to 5 April 2025, the former Defense Minister was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was accused of embezzling public funds to the tune of CFAF 196 billion.

The final verdict of the Special Criminal Court charged Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o with money laundering, over-invoicing and misappropriation of public assets.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from a source close to the case that the charges are valued at 23.8 billion CFA francs.

The court also sentenced Maxime Mbangue and Colonel Ghislain Mboutou to 25 years’ imprisonment. The two main co-accused of the former Defence Minister were found guilty by the panel of judges of complicity in embezzlement, complicity in corruption and aggravated money laundering.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as the President’s court is no misnomer.  We of the Cameroon Concord News Group call it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit. An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused.  A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence.  A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility.  It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world.  This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon.  There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.  Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.  With the war against Boko Haram, the fight against corruption using the Special Criminal Court has afforded Paul Biya justification contest in the next institutionally flawed elections in order to eternalize power purportedly to direct the war against terror and the war against corruption.  True to the name the President’s Court, the President has exclusive preserve in referring cases to the Special Court and the power to terminate them. He decides who will be arrested, who will be investigated and who will serve time and who will not.

In one instance, he ordered a detained Minister Bapes Bapes released from remand custody at Kondengui when a warrant was issued for his arrest without the presidential fiat.  Titus Edzoa a former Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic benefitted from a purported Presidential pardon whose primary purpose was the release of a French citizen Thiery Atangana from jail.  The fear of a presidential referral to the Special Criminal Court on additional charges of corruption under a practice devolved under the supervision of Paul Biya called “rouleur compresseur” pushed Titus Edzoa   to rejoin the CPDM Party without a public resignation or repudiation of his membership of the party on which he intended to contest presidential elections prior to his incarceration.  Edzoa was a victim of this system of presidential justice when new charges were brought against him when his first imprisonment was about to end in other to maintain him in prison.

Cameroonians want the rule of law to be the guarding principle on which justice is administered in the name of the people of Cameroon and not that of the President.  To the extent that the Special Criminal Court functions at the pleasure of the President, it fails to meet this threshold.  The justice rendered in the court cannot be said to be free and fair nor independent.  Because the court serves the political interests of the President, it is institutionally unjust and thus an affront to the tenets of justice and fundamental fairness.  Cameroon needs to confront the scourge of institutional corruption, the abuse of public trust, the arrogance of power and the impunity of misrule.  The Special Criminal Court as presently constituted is the wrong institution to confront these systemic crimes.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, began a two-day working visit to the Far North region on April 2, 2025, state radio reported.

The visit aims to convey the comfort and encouragement of President Paul Biya, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to troops engaged in operations protecting civilians and national security, according to the radio broadcast.

Assomo’s trip follows a recent terrorist attack that killed 12 Cameroonian soldiers. The assault targeted a Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) camp in Wulgo, northern Nigeria, near the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol, where the MNJTF is engaged in combating Boko Haram.

In a March 26, 2025, statement, Cameroon’s Ministry of Defense said heavily armed jihadist terrorists, traveling in tactical vehicles, stormed the joint defense and security forces post in Wulgo. The bodies of the deceased were transported to the military hospital morgue in Maroua, the capital of the 4th Joint Military Region. Wounded soldiers were evacuated to the Renaissance Hospital in N’Djamena, Chad, the headquarters of MNJTF Sector I, for treatment, the ministry said.

During his visit, Assomo will assess the security situation and military deployments in Mora and Maroua. Maroua serves as the headquarters for the 4th Joint Military Region, while Mora, the capital of the Mayo-Sava department, hosts a significant MNJTF base and several posts of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), an elite Cameroonian army unit.

Cameroon has been officially at war with Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist group, since 2014. While Boko Haram incursions into Cameroonian territory have decreased in recent years, military experts warn the group retains disruptive capabilities and remains a potential security threat to the region.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, has “unequivocally condemned” the killing of Cameroonian soldiers by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Wulgo, a town in Nigeria that borders Cameroon.

The AU chairperson, in a statement issued late Friday, expressed “deep shock and unequivocally condemned the heinous terrorist attack carried out by Boko Haram on 24 March 2025 against the Cameroonian military in Wulgo, within the Lake Chad Basin.”

More than 10 Cameroonian soldiers were killed and 20 others injured after Boko Haram raided a military outpost in Cameroon’s Far North Region.

The attack, executed using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), underscores the evolving threats posed by terrorist groups in the region, the statement said.

“This reprehensible act of violence reinforces the urgent need to intensify counterterrorism efforts to eradicate Boko Haram and other extremist elements operating in the Lake Chad Basin,” said the chairperson.

Reiterating the AU’s unwavering solidarity with Cameroon and all members of the Multinational Joint Task Force, Youssouf reaffirmed the pan-African bloc’s commitment to mobilizing and providing the necessary resources to strengthen collective security efforts, eliminate armed groups, and advance the goal of silencing the guns across the region.

On behalf of the AU, Youssouf extended heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers, as well as to the government and people of Cameroon. He also wished a swift and full recovery to those wounded in the attack.

Source: Xinhuanet

The Yaoundé chapter of EYUMEMA has welcome former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Rose Abunaw into its fold in a major event held in the nation’s capital Yaoundé following her resignation from MOHWA for strictly personal reasons.

The event brought together many Manyu women and it was an opportunity for the women to display their unity of purpose and determination to bring development to a constituency that is begging for a facelift.

Speaking during the cross-over rituals, Hon. Rose Abunaw thrilled the sell-out crowd with a thought-provoking speech which reechoed the urgent need for unity and mutual respect deep within Manyu traditional establishments.

The Iron Lady sounded a note of caution to Manyu citizens all over the world and observed that something has to be done and done in a hurry geared towards empowering women in Manyu.

Honorable Rose Abunaw is a big catch for EYUMEMA and her fertile imagination and wisdom will be massive assets to the organization.

By Dr Joachim Arrey and Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana in Yaounde

Electricity outages in Cameroon became four times more frequent between 2018 and 2021, according to a new audit by the Supreme Court’s Audit Bench. The findings are part of a report on the government’s “Access to Energy” program, run by the Ministry of Water and Energy.

Published on March 15, the report shows that not only did power cuts become more frequent, but their average duration also increased. In 2018, an outage lasted around 98.5 minutes on average. By 2020, that had jumped to 142.7 minutes before dropping to 43.7 minutes in 2021.

The audit takes direct aim at Eneo, the country’s main electricity distributor and owner of some power generation infrastructure. The report says the company failed to meet key performance targets meant to reduce the frequency and length of outages. “There was no real improvement in Eneo’s performance during the period under review,” the report states.

At the same time, auditors noted a rise in the amount of electricity generated but not delivered to customers. In 2019, 71.3 gigawatt-hours were wasted. By 2020, that number had jumped to 103.5 GWh. The reasons are multiple: aging transmission and distribution infrastructure, scheduled maintenance works, and limited output from the Lagdo Dam, which supplies the northern grid. The dam’s water level dropped from 2 billion cubic meters in 2020 to 1.7 billion in 2021, weakening its power capacity.

Inspectors also raised concerns about poor service quality in the field. They found voltage fluctuations, out-of-service transformers, and neglected infrastructure. Many wooden electric poles were in bad shape and had short lifespans due to age and lack of maintenance.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Chronic embezzlement, abetting assassinations and intimidations are the currencies of tyrants. Michael Mbi Oruh, the traditional ruler of Mkpot village in Manyu Division has gained prominence in demonstrating that supporting extrajudicial killings, hijacking communal farms and embezzling funds intended to stimulate employment in his village are fundamentally his persona.

Cameroon Concord News is on the verge of completing an 18-month investigation into one of the nastiest and most inhumane killers in Cameroon. Our meticulous investigation, which spans 12 years, covers three continents (Africa, Europe, and North America). Over the coming weeks, this publication will lay bare the vicious criminal empire the so-called Chief Michael Mbi Oruh rules over. Our findings are jaw-dropping, shocking, and profound.

We have uncovered a bandit who used his position as technical adviser in Cameroon’s Ministry of Industries, Mines and Technological Development to apply for and obtain part of four million six hundred and fifty-six thousand forty US dollars (USD 4,656,040) total cost of a project with the title, improving income generating potential of Oil Palm in Nigeria and Cameroon—CFC/FIGOOF/28. The project was jointly facilitated, sponsored and overseen by the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

Cameroon Concord News Kingsley Betek uncovered a scheme where Chief Oruh swindled donation money meant for the building of a health centre in a region where the average person lives on less than $1 a day.

In one of our publications in 2020, we raised concern that Chief Michael Mbi Oruh with the aid of Egbe John Besong, Orock Thomas Nchung, and Otang Ivo Enow supported the execution of a series of extrajudicial killings and other crimes against humanity in Mkpot Village.

Our chief correspondent in Mamfe now has ample, authentic and critical audio, text, and other forms of recorded evidence linking Chief Michael Mbi Oruh and his crime syndicate to these gross human rights violations and heinous crimes. The recent revelation is Chief Michael Mbi Oruh’s failed harsh ploy to assassinate Sesekou Dr Mbu Phillip Eno and Sesekou Otang Wilfred Obi aka NseMgbe.

In Nigeria, where Michael Mbi Oruh lived as a young man, he has been told never to come back! And in the USA where he claimed to have undertaken some university education, Manyu citizens have openly questioned his professed academic qualifications and have often painted a picture of a loner with a disturbing mind.

In this first of four articles, we intend to highlight the Mkpot Oil Mill scandal in which Chief Michael Mbi Oruh siphoned and misappropriated CFA Francs 750,000,000 (over one million dollars) grant, as part of the USD 4,656,040, allocated for the construction of an Oil Mill in Mkpot, as a palm oil processing centre intended to accommodate and enhance the production capacity of farmers under Central Ejagham Palm Oil Producers’ Union (CEPOPU). The remainder of the total funds (USD 4,656,040) intended to improve the income-generating potential of the oil palm in West and Central African regions (Cameroon and Nigeria) was allocated to Teze/Ngie, Sombo (Cameroon) and AkwaIbom State (Nigeria).

Cameroon is a major palm oil producer in Central Africa but according to reliable estimates, the country still imports about 60,000 tons annually to meet domestic demand. To address this shortfall, this project that was jointly sponsored by CFC and UNIDO, over a decade ago, was intended to support a sector characterized by obsolete production equipment and little access to technology and financing. The project’s objective was to establish and equip four medium-scale palm oil processing centres in Cameroon and one in Nigeria. The processing capacity of the mills was established to be 2 tons per hour and one of the sites selected for this was Mkpot village in Manyu Division, Southwest Region, Cameroon. This particular project was overseen by Chief Michael Mbi Oruh, the then technical adviser in Cameroon’s Ministry of Industries, Mines and Technological Development and the supposed chief of the village. Chief Michael Mbi Oruh told Voice of America in an interview on the 1st of November 2009 that “the goal of the project was to help the country use palm oil to generate income…” Kingsley Betek says this project was a con from Mbi Oruh who is somehow addicted to fiddles.

In applying for the grant, Michael Mbi Oruh told UNIDO that the money was to train “farmers in new and more efficient ways of processing palm oil and also to buy planting material and equipment.” Astonishingly, the good people at UNIDO provided what he asked for. However, very little happened on the ground in Mkpot village!

Our reporters were shown a dilapidated building, posturing as an Oil Mill, which Michael Mbi Oruh built for less than 5% of the millions he received from CFC and UNIDO.

According to the grant documents seen by Cameroon Concord News reporters, and the CFC 2016 and 2018 Annual Report, the mill in Mkpot had to create over 250 new jobs and improve household incomes in the Manyu local area, especially Eyumojock. Over the last few years, Michael Mbi Oru has been blaming the current crisis in the Southwest and Northwest regions for the lack of productivity in the oil mill but his subjects told Cameroon Concord News reporters that the mill never actually got off the ground. One of the villagers who spoke on grounds of anonymity said “Mbi Oruh built this sub-standard building here to take pictures and justify to his superiors in Yaoundé that the project was genuine, it was just a scam all along”. According to some disturbing facsimile of documents, Chief Mbi Oruh lured Minister Victor Arrey Mengot into the scam by selling the minister shares in the project.

The disgusting structure built in Mkpot village to pass for an oil mill is certainly not a 700 Million FCFA building. Correspondingly, our reporters were taken to a beautiful house that Michael Mbi Oruh had constructed in Mkpot for himself during the oil mill project. There is enormous evidence that his houses in Yaoundé and Limbe were built or restructured and modified from the proceeds of this oil mill theft.

According to his family members, the people of Mkpot fought bitterly against their brothers in Bakwelle for the land they acquired to cultivate a communal palm plantation for the village, which has now been hijacked by Michael Mbi Oruh as his private estate.  A source in the US hinted Cameroon Concord News  that Peter Nayongho, the man who supplied the land for the building of the mill was given a 2,500,000frs CFA hut, not the 25,000,000 frs CFA that Mbi Oruh promised him as compensation.

The people of Manyu Division must be prepared to pick up the pieces as they deal with the reality of a chief in a never-ending sequence of mischief and sinfulness.

Cameroon Concord News has contacted CFC through its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands for further details on project execution and closure report including safeguards that were put in place to monitor and deter such outrageous embezzlements with impunity.

Cameroon Concord News will also begin a campaign of alerting multi-national and multi-partnership agencies to track and hold Michael Mbi Oruh accountable for serious rights violations and financial crimes.

There seems to be a majority now in Mkpot village determined that he will be the first Manyu chief in over 130 years to be deposed by his people. Though he has further descended into intimidating progressive voices by inviting them to police and military interrogations, there is growing anxiety among many in Mkpot that gentleness is a strategy that won’t work with this corrupt leader.

As Michael Mbi Oruh prepares to end up on the scrapheap of history as a disgraced and deposed chief, it won’t be because of the people of Mkpot, it will be because, in the end, he, Michael Mbi Oruh was his own biggest problem.

By Kinsley Betek and Rita Akana with additional editing from Soter Agbaw-Ebai