Troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF, have rescued Gambo Genevieve, a senior Cameroonian government official, and five other abducted persons during an operation in the Lake Chad region.

Mrs Genevieve, Head of Service at the Department of Physical Education in Logone and Chari, Cameroon, was rescued along with the others after MNJTF troops responded to a distress call from locals in the villages of Gangawa and Kangaleri in the Gogolom area, Division of Mora.

The MNJTF troops engaged the terrorists, who fled, abandoning their captives.

The rescued victims are currently undergoing medical evaluation to ensure their well-being.

In a separate operation, MNJTF troops stationed in Sector 3, Mongunu, intercepted a key Boko Haram logistics supplier, Babagana Zaninu, in Gubio.

Zaninu was apprehended with a Toyota pickup truck loaded with food items, illicit drugs and other supplies intended for Boko Haram militants.

The seized supplies included soft drinks, sugar, and flour, which were meant to sustain the terrorists.

Zaninu confessed during interrogation that he had purchased the items from the Gubio market and planned to deliver them to Gazabure Village, a known Boko Haram stronghold.

Source: Daily Post

At least 97 Southern Cameroon civilians were arrested in Bonakanda in Fako Division by gendarmerie officers from the Buea legion, Barrister Lyonga Ewule confirmed on Saturday through a statement released by Legend Law Offices, as Vice President Dabney Yerima of the Ambazonia Interim Government ordered an investigation into the latest in a series of such deadly raids in Anglophone zones.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from an official in the governor’s office in Buea that the raid on Bonakanda took place late on Saturday night while residents were preparing for Sunday church services.

At least 20 of the men arrested were humiliated in front of their wives and children and several were given haircut with broken bottles, Barrister Lyonga Ewule said in the statement.

Since 2016, hundreds of Southern Cameroon civilians have been arrested by the Francophone dominated Cameroon government military on lame and ridiculous reasons that the military is targeting armed groups in the deadly security crisis in English speaking Cameroon.

“The incidence of continued arrest of innocent Southern Cameroonians is assuming a worrisome dimension in Ambazonia,” said Dabney Yerima, the current vice-president of the Ambazonia Interim Government.

Francophone gendarmes often conduct raids on many Southern Cameroons villages leaving civilian casualties.

Barrister Lyonga revealed that among those arrested were two disable and two Autistic persons identified as Lisongo Njume and Emmanuel Nyoki.

By Rita Akana and Kingsley Betek in Buea

In recent weeks, relentless heavy rains have battered Mayo Danay in the Far North region of Cameroon, with the city of Yagoua bearing the brunt of the unprecedented downpour, Report informs referring to Africa News.

The damage is extensive, with reports indicating at least ten fatalities, entire neighborhoods submerged, 185 primary schools and 13 high schools flooded, and the loss of over 1,100 livestock.

Residents are struggling to survive amidst the disaster, with many unable to meet basic needs such as food and shelter. Litassou Daniel, a local victim of the floods, described the dire situation: “The rain took us by surprise in the middle of the night. Our kitchen utensils are gone—pots disappeared, and our sheep, chickens, and goats are nowhere to be found. I’m now in the water, trying to cope, but we can’t even light a fire.”

The humanitarian toll is staggering. Over 200,000 people have been affected, with 8,000 homes destroyed. Those displaced by the disaster have been relocated to temporary camps outside the city. However, the victims are urgently calling for more aid, as they have lost everything.

Source: report.az

Despite rebuffing the hacking attack on Cameroon’s state-run pension fund, the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS), the attackers known as Space Bear have given the firm 10 days to conclude discussions and pay an unknown ransom, failing which they will publicly publish the data.

The hackers claim that the stolen data will be released on September 22. The CNPS insists that the purported attack is incorrect and that its information system is secure.

Last Thursday, Space Bears, a hacker gang that rose to prominence this year, claimed to have infiltrated CNPS’s system and was holding crucial fund data.

The hackers claimed to have acquired financial documents, accounting reports, customer databases and backup data, Huawei network structure blueprints, future network modernization plans, and personal data of employees and pensioners, including insurance information.

However, Noël Alain Olivier Mekulu Mvondo Akame, director general of CNPS, stated that its information system had not been hacked and that no portion of its database was in the hands of mysterious individuals seeking ransom.

“The CNPS information system is operating normally,” Akame said in a statement, assuring the public, pensioners, and partners that there has been no infiltration and that service delivery is optimal.

Source: itweb.Africa

No sitting MOWAH chapter president is known to have formally visited any foreign country before joining another Manyu women’s association. That is, till now.

Chief Stella Ntui Arhewoh’s visits to France, Belgium and Holland before her likely return to Abuja, Nigeria to launch Nyene Mawn have garnered extensive coverage. Nchemty Boh Manyu Face Book Page in particular have hyped up Chief Arhewoh’s European Union check-in, focusing on the fact that Nyene Mawn’s first leader in the Federal Republic of Nigeria decided to visit Europe first.

While prominent Manyu royals like Prince Julian Ebai in the United Kingdom are cautioning against reading too much into the rivalries that have rocked the leading Manyu women association, MOWAH, Alfred Bate Bawak, a top Manyu elite in Leicester UK say the developments – especially the visit of Chief Stella Ntui Arhewoh to Europe – provide further hints into the likely direction Manyu women at home and abroad are taking towards development.

Alfred Bate Bawak believes that even with the present difficulty and the creation of Nyene Mawn and Eyumema, engagement with the Manyu girl child will always remain firmly on the radar under a Chief Stella Ntui Arhewoh’s Nyene Mawn presidency in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Last week Chief Stella Arhewoh at the invitation of Nyene Mawn Holland less than three weeks after her participation in the launch in Belgium was in Rotterdam.

The Saturday September 14 reception saw Chief Stella Ntui Arhewoh meeting with the President of Nyene Mawn Holland Lady Frida Enow and prominent Nyene Mawn members in Rotterdam, where she reaffirmed productive ties and pledged cooperation for closer relations with all Nyene Mawn chapters in Europe. Chief Stella Arhewoh also held talks with Holland’s Nyene Mawn senior adviser Lady Emilia Mbeng.

Midway through Chief Stella Arhewoh’s stop in Holland, Nyene Mawn France announced that the former MOWAH Nigeria leader would be swinging by thereafter for a day before departing for Abuja.

Her EU visits have generated plenty of media buzz, with outlets highlighting how it is Chief Stella Arhewoh first European tour since the beginning of the MOWAH Global crisis that is showing no signs of ending. Some also pointed out the novelty of a female Manyu leader making formal overseas visits.

Analysts say the focus by Nyene Mawn Europe on Chief Stella Arhewoh is deliberate, especially as Nyene Mawn is currently vying with the sinking MOWAH Global for influence.

“It is Nyene Mawn’s way of posturing, to show that they move faster than any other Manyu women’s group in dealing with Manyu women in the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” said Chief Eyong Paolo former MECA Nordrhein President in the Federal Republic of Germany.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The city of Yagoua, Mayo Danay, has been split in two after the collapse of a bridge on September 12. The bridge had been submerged by floodwaters for more than two weeks.

Residents said the collapse of the strategic bridge had forced them to use canoes to cross the river. No casualties were reported.

The senior divisional officer of Mayo Danay, Jean-Lazare Ndongo Ndongo, visited the site to assess the situation. He had warned the population of heavy rainfall earlier this year.

The floods have claimed at least 15 lives and displaced over 200,000 people, according to unofficial reports. The Mayo Danay department is located in the Logone River basin. The river’s overflow, without protective levees, has flooded surrounding lands.

Source: Sbbc

In a recent Facebook post, Akéré Muna, a prominent African lawyer and former presidential candidate in Cameroon, congratulated Finance Minister Louis-Paul Motaze for his handling of the Glencore corruption case. “The Finance Minister of Cameroon deserves praise for his strict approach and thorough investigation into Glencore for tax and customs fraud,” Muna stated.

This praise comes amid ongoing criticism of the national oil and gas company (SNH) regarding the case. The criticism follows a decision by the Westminster Court in Britain, which, after hearing the case, referred it to a more appropriate jurisdiction for trial.

Muna’s post highlights several issues with the SNH’s statements about the case, particularly the lack of information about local accomplices involved in the corruption. The SNH claims it asked Glencore for the names of any Cameroonian accomplices, but was met with a confidentiality clause.

The SNH also mentioned that it had filed a complaint with the Special Criminal Court, which handles cases of embezzlement exceeding CFA50 million. However, details about who this complaint targets remain unclear. In the next hearing, David Perez is expected to address issues related to Glencore’s activities in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.

In June 2024, Cameroonian President Paul Biya reopened the Glencore case by authorizing a procedure to involve the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Glencore admitted to using $21 million between 2006 and 2014 through one of its subsidiaries to partially pay Cameroonian officials for oil transactions with public or semi-public entities like the SNH and Sonara. The company claims to have made $67 million in illicit gains from these transactions.

This legal investigation seems to have impacted Glencore’s operations in Cameroon. According to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Glencore purchased 8.1 million barrels of oil in Cameroon between March 2017 and June 2019. However, in 2021, the year the case broke, the company bought only 137,808 barrels. Future EITI reports are expected to provide more details.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The identities of Cameroonian oil sector officials who allegedly received about CFA7 billion in bribes to facilitate Glencore’s activities in Africa, including in Cameroon, were not revealed on September 10, 2024, in London. However, the large-scale corruption trial did begin that day at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

According to a statement issued by the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH), “The hearing began at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court (London) that declared itself incompetent with respect to the seriousness of the charges. The case has been referred back to Southwark Crown Court and bail granted to the six defendants, pending the next hearing on 08th October”.

SNH remains hopeful that the upcoming hearing will finally reveal the identities of the implicated Cameroonian officials. “It is worth mentioning that SNH wrote to Glencore on 30th May 2022, immediately this affair broke out, and again on 05th June 2023 following Glencore’s conviction on 03rd November 2022, for the names of SNH officials allegedly involved in this affair. But Glencore refused to provide the names, citing an “anonymity clause” concluded with the Serious Fraud Office, a government agency attached to the Attorney General that was conducting the investigations,”  SNH stated. The company also promised to ensure that all those involved would face justice in Cameroon.

Pressure from Akere Muna

SNH’s current stance is a stark contrast to its initial reaction when the scandal was first exposed by lawyer and anti-corruption advocate Akere Muna. At the time, SNH’s General Manager, Adolphe Moudiki, denied any involvement in the bribery scandal. He emphasized that such practices were strictly forbidden by SNH’s internal regulations. Nonetheless, Moudiki confirmed that both US and UK authorities had been contacted to verify the truth of these allegations.

After initially denying any wrongdoing, Moudiki shifted course between 2023 and 2024, requesting the opening of an investigation into the possible involvement of SNH executives in the corruption case. On August 2, 2024, he declared that “The General Manager of SNH, Minister Adolphe Moudiki, informs the national and international public that the executives and employees of Glencore, responsible for acts of corruption against SNH, have been identified and will appear before Westminster Court in London on September 10, 2024. This newly disclosed information marks a significant step forward in uncovering the truth in this troubling case. SNH, which filed a complaint with the Special Criminal Court (SCC) on November 6, 2023, to identify the Cameroonian accomplices in these corrupt acts, is confident that the outcome of the London proceedings will accelerate investigations at the SCC level.”

CFA7 billion in bribes

Muna expressed frustration over SNH’s recent statement. “When I revealed the Glencore corruption scandal over two years ago, SNH claimed there was no corruption because it was banned by their internal rules. Now, with the UK Serious Fraud Office revealing the names of former Glencore employees involved, SNH has suddenly filed a complaint,” Muna said. He added that the complaint seemed to be a hasty move due to the imminent disclosure of names by the UK courts. Muna also pointed out that Glencore is legally required to cooperate fully with Cameroonian authorities. Therefore, he urged SNH to suspend all dealings with the company until the Cameroonian accomplices are named.

SNH’s September 10 statement responded to this concern by confirming that all activities with Glencore had been suspended since May 2022, both in exploration and commercial dealings.

Background on the Scandal

This case dates back to late 2022. On November 3, 2022, the UK fined Glencore £276 million (about CFA162.73 billion) after the company admitted to corruption in five African countries, including Cameroon. “Bribery was accepted as part of the West Africa desk’s way of doing business… The corruption is of extended duration… It was endemic amongst traders on that particular desk… Bribery is a highly corrosive offence. It quite literally corrupts people and companies, and spreads like a disease,” remarked Judge Peter Fraser of Southwark Crown Court.

During the trial in May 2022, Glencore confessed to paying about $79.6 million (roughly CFA50 billion) to intermediaries to secure and maintain contracts with state-run entities in Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, and South Sudan. Glencore’s lawyer revealed that approximately CFA7 billion in bribes had been paid to SNH and Sonara officials to boost Glencore’s operations in Cameroon.

Source: Business in Cameroon

South Korea Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun held bilateral talks with his counterpart from Cameroon on Wednesday to discuss the security situation, and ways to broaden defense and arms industry cooperation, his office said.

In what marked the first defense ministerial meeting between Korea and Cameroon since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1961, Kim and his counterpart, Joseph Beti Assomo, agreed to seek cooperation in the defense and arms sectors, including in the state communications network business of Cameroon, according to the South’s defense ministry.

The meeting came on the sidelines of the annual Seoul Defense Dialogue that kicked off its two-day run earlier in the day. Some 900 security officials and experts around the world joined the forum for discussions on regional and global security issues and challenges.

Source: Korea Times