At least six people have died in Cameroon during a weekend of protests in the troubled Anglophone regions of the West African nation, as reports of fatalities continue to rise. Five were inmates who died when the jail in Kumbo caught fire early Sunday, according to Reuters. Authorities say they…
Authorities in Cameroon announced Thursday that the army is being deployed to the country’s southwest Anglophone region ahead of planned protests on the country’s October 1 Unification Day. The decision by President Paul Biya was announced in a communique issued by Bernard Okalia Bilai, the governor in the country’s troubled…
Tension is high in Cameroon as armed security forces sealed off a market district in Bamenda that’s been the site of ongoing protests by Anglophone activists. Cameroon media say that angry business owners blocked from entering their shops gathered outside the market, the site of weekly boycotts in what is…
The trial in Cameroon of a prominent lawyer and human rights activist and some two dozen other defendants has again been adjourned after a military tribunal in Yaounde denied them bail. Their next court date is scheduled for June 29, according to local media reports. Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, leader of…
An Amnesty International press conference planned in Cameroon was shut down by security agents on Wednesday, although the human rights organization says it complied with prior notification laws ahead of the event. Managers at the hotel in Yaoundé, where the Amnesty meeting was planned, were told by officials to shut…
UN envoy François Louncény Fall has called on the government of Cameroon and Anglophone community leaders to work together in finding a lasting solution to the country’s political crisis. Fall, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa, was in Yaoundé this week for a series of meetings. They…
The financial impact of the Internet shutdown in Cameroon is now an estimated €2.69 million, according to digital access advocates who have repeated calls for restoration of service to the Anglophone regions in the West African nation’s northwest and southwest. The latest figures were released at the end of March…
In troubled Cameroon, the trial of prominent lawyer and human rights activist Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla has again been adjourned after a Thursday appearance before a military tribunal in Yaounde. Agbor-Balla, leader of the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, was arrested in January when the government under President Paul Biya outlawed the…
In Cameroon, the MP for the Bafut community in the country’s Anglophone northwest has written a letter – published in its entirety by local media – calling for an end to gross human rights violations. The letter from Wilfred Fusi Naamukong, directed to the governor of northwest Cameroon, details the…
More than 120 lawyers in Cameroon crowded into a Yaounde courtroom in support of a colleague who faces the death penalty on charges connected with his human rights activities, following his January arrest as leader of the Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. Despite the political tensions between them, both Anglophone and…
Late Sunday night, the United States Embassy in Yaounde sent out its “congratulations to the indomitable Lions” message to celebrate the Africa Cup of Nations victory in Cameroon. It was an exciting match, and both Christian Bassogog’s MVP award and the the 2-1 victory over Egypt he helped to deliver…
In Cameroon, two leaders of a top Anglophone community organizing group were arrested Tuesday as the news of their detention sparked a new round of protests in Buea. The move came on the second day of this week’s general “ghost town” strike to call attention to Anglophone concerns in Buea,…
Representatives of the Anglophone community in Cameroon, where decades of political and cultural frustration has simmered to the surface in recent months, have called for a new general strike on Monday and Tuesday. The appeal for a “ghost town” action to shut down activity in schools, shops and streets follows…
Lawyers in Cameroon occupied the court complex in Bamenda on Tuesday, demanding that their voices be heard in the ongoing battle over education and legal reforms. The protesting lawyers were met with a heavy security-force presence in and around the court building, the Cameroon Concord reports. Local media accounts also…
As Cameroon marked a national day of mourning on Monday, the death toll following Friday’s CamRail train derailment rose to at least 80 people. Transport Minister Edgar Mebe’Ngo’o told local media outlets that the fatalities are expected to rise again, given critical injuries in some of the 600-plus people who…