Before Acting President Sako Ikome took over control of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, the Ambazonian resistance was well organized and had the active participation of Southern Cameroonians from the Republic of South Africa, Nigeria, Europe, the Scandinavia countries, the US and Canada. We had one authoritative television channel, a sea of refined Southern Cameroons elites supporting the Interim Government with ideas and money and the participation on Ground Zero exceeded that of the ANC in apartheid South Africa.

If that trend would have been allowed to continue, the Federal Republic of Ambazonia would have long been a reality similar to South Sudan.  Cameroon Concord News Group estimated that the Southern Cameroons Interim Government had more than a quarter of a million dollars after Interim President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe made a tour of Europe and the US. After the abduction and extradition of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides, a Cameroon Concord News Group investigation of the Interim Government under Dr Samuel Ikome Sako found out that auditing reports of the Ambazonian Interim Government has been kept secret, due to Ambazonian unity interest.

Even after the emergence of Acting President Sako, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government received thousands of dollars from the Ambazonian Diaspora in the US and Canada including Europe without any serious demand for accountability. The present state of the Southern Cameroons revolution is a grim affirmation that becoming the Acting President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government did nothing to change Dr Sako’s old Calabar habits.

Ever since Communications Secretary Chris Anu openly accused the Secretary of Finance, Tabenyang Brado of embezzlement, Acting President Sako has not showed any signs of transparency in the funds and a detailed report on how it is being spent. Acting President Sako and a few members of the Interim Government have declined to comply with popular demand for an independent audit of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government and many Southern Cameroonians have suspended financial donations for fear that the money will end up in the wrong pockets.

The rapidly growing frustration, very visible division deep within the Interim Government including the hiring of private cars and paying of private bills for Acting President Ikome Sako while most Southern Cameroonians live in dismal conditions on Ground Zero has started to threaten Dr Sako’s leadership of the Ambazonian Interim Government.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group can now reveal that there was a complete cut-off from everyone within the first two weeks following his election at the head of the Interim Government, and that has continued till date. Dr Sako  does not pickup telephone calls, does not return calls, ignores text messages even from the Cameroon Concord News Group and it has become normal for Acting President Sako to go for 3-4 months without a one-on-one with cabinet ministers.

Sako’s leadership style is indeed appalling! We have recorded a sea of unilateral decisions without approval from competent departments or his immediate staff. There’s a plethora of such decisions!!  We gathered that the creation of ACCORN and the recognition of SCCOP took everyone in the Interim Government by surprise including those appointed to participate, such as Pr. Carlson Anyangwe.

Acting President Sako has transformed himself into a cult master so to speak expecting Southern Cameroonians to bow in homage!!  No one dares offers any dissenting views from that of the 2 bosses (Sako and Pr Ayim). If you do, you’re automatically anti-IG!! But we of the Cameroon Concord News Group can never be cowed down by any government!

Acting President Sako has not been consistent with leadership! When he announced ACCORN, he also told the world that he recognized SCCOP. There were conflicting signals as many Ambazonians were wondering how Southern Cameroonians were out there trying to prevent SCCOP from stifling the Interim Government, and the Acting President was making a public pronouncement that he had recognized SCCOP!!

The Decolonization Committee affair was even more controversial! The Southern Cameroons ministerial cabinet had no clue that Acting President Sako was invited to the decolonization committee as a representative of Western Sahara. The cabinet only heard about that on his 1^st of October speech! We gathered intelligence that not even Communications Secretary Chris Anu was aware. Cameroon Concord News Group believe and fervently too that Acting President Sako kept it away from his cabinet not because it was classified, but because he sees the cabinet as irrelevant.

Acting President Sako’s ill-advised decision to suspend the December ghost town operation prompted many around the world including our London Bureau Chief to start thinking that the Ambazonian leader has been compromised.  Monday ghost towns have become the most important achievement of the Southern Cameroons revolution and a de facto trade mark. It is hard to say what prompted Dr Sako to make such a move!!

Acting President Sako is not an accomplished Southern Cameroonian deep within the Ambazonian Diaspora community in the US and this is creating a lot of alacrity in the struggle. In suspending the ghost towns, he went all alone to do it!! He posted a message on the cabinet forum stating “Tomorrow I will be making a speech and in that speech, I will announce the suspension of ghost towns for the month of December”.

Three senior cabinet members (Chris Anu, John Egyawan and Caleche Bongo) advised that it was going to be a costly mistake to suspend ghost towns and he shouldn’t do it. Acting President Sako ignored them, did not say a word and went ahead and announced his decision the following day and the backlash was unimaginable.

Our correspondent in the United States of America confirmed that even the Ambazonia Self-Defense Council, ASC and Ground Zero commanders were not aware of Acting President Sako’s decision. He only reversed course and rescinded that decision when he realized Ambazonians decided to ignore him and staged the worst ghost town ever.

One of the major failures of the Sako administration centres on the Cho Ayaba London Oil Deal. Southern Cameroonians thought rightfully that the London scandal had provided them with an opportunity to put an end to the Cho Ayaba-ADF distraction!! By some strange happenstance, Acting President Sako came up with a letter, expressing solidarity with Cho Ayaba. Again this was another unilateral decision that left everyone deep within the Interim Government scratching their heads. The problems are endless. In the second part of this series on Acting President Sako, we shall be examining why as Acting President, Sako has never stepped his legs on European soil and also how he and the Secretary for the Economy spend Ambazonia money.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai