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Sunday, September 30, 2012

'Southern Cameroonians' reportedly molested for advocating secession


 By John Bessong
 Since Cameroon’s 2011 presidential election, the Biya regime has been more alert as activists of Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) fighting for the restoration of the statehood of Southern Cameroon had threatened to disrupt the polls.
   Formed in 1994, the SCNC is considered by the Biya regime as an outlawed separatist group, which is threatening the unity of Cameroon and as such many its supporters have been arrested, molested  and prosecuted, a situation that has forced many others to flee abroad, where they can freely and fearlessly bash the Biya regime.
   Fresh in minds of the public is how plainclothes security agents reportedly swooped on a secret gathering of some radical SCNC activists on September 26, 2012 in the town of Tiko in the Southwest region of Cameroon and arrested them
Signou Wassou Clauvice
  According to one Signou Wassou Clauvice, born August 26 1970 and a member of the Tiko chapter of the SCNC, the security operatives swooped on them while they were in one of their strategic meetings.
 “We were preparing for the October 1, 2012 commemoration of the Independence of the state of Southern Cameroons, when the security men   encircled us and arrested some people while others escaped .You could see how the security agents beat- up activists who refused to accompany them to a waiting police van, which was parked some 15 metres away from the venue of our meeting,” Signou narrated to this reporter.
   From that September 28, the crackdown and search of SCNC members intensified across the Southwest Region, where the separatist group has it headquarters.
Signou, who was one of those who escaped, said while he was traveling to Douala on September 28, after the Tiko incident some police officer on patrol along the Tiko – Douala road identified him on board a passenger bus as one of the SCNC activists they were looking out for. “Fearing that I could be arrested, I stepped down from the bus with other passengers and as the Police were checking the identities of other passengers, I sneaked out of the vicinity and quickly walked off,” he said.
  Since then Signou was living in fear until his family raised funds and made it possible for him to flee Cameroon and join many others abroad for safety.
  Other sharp critics of the decades-old Biya Regime even students have been targets of molestation. One Colins Djimeli Mensah, a political scientist student of the University of Buea and human rights advocate, now in the USA, on several occasions was allegedly tortured allegedly by plainclothes security agents. But the government has always refused that it sends out it forces to molest anybody.
  According to security sources, although Mensah is now in the USA, Cameroon’s secret services are still monitoring him and other radical Cameroonian activists.
   Inspired by the Arab uprising some Cameroonians in the Diaspora recently called, via the social media, on Cameroonians to protest against the Biya regime- a situation that forced the Government of Cameroon to block internet facilities during the early months of the Arab uprising.
  Despite the crackdown, the SCNC and other opponents of the Biya Regime are not giving up their fights. But the Biya regime has argued that its long stay in power is thanks to free and fair elections.


Friday, September 28, 2012

DECLINING POPULATIONS

By  Chief A.S. Ngwana*
Chief  A.S.Ngwana
At the beginning of creation the population of HUMAN BEINGS, was two persons, Adam and Eve. A Human Being can be defined as “a member of the living species of Homo sapiens with a bipedal posture, a well developed brain, articulate power of speech, abstract reasoning and imagination, a free will, and an immortal soul directly created by God”
 It is estimated that by 8000 B.C. the global population of human beings had increased to 5,000,000 and by 1 A.D. 300,000,000 humans were on earth. 

50,000 B.C.
2

8000 B.C.
5,000,000

1 A.D.
300,000,000

1200
450,000,000

1650
500,000,000

1750
795,000,000

1850
1,265,000,000

1900
1,656,000,000

1950
2,516,000,000

1995
5,760,000,000

2002
6,215,000,000

The population of the world reached 1 billion in 1804, and since then the population   increased rapidly in the last 200 years to the present 7 billion humans.  
2. billion people by 1927    (123 years to double)
 3 billion people by 1959    (32 years)          
 4 billion people by 1974    (15 years)                            
 5 billion people by 1986    (12 years)
 7. billion people by 2012    (26 years)   (source: Population Reference Bureau estimate). 
“The most recent issue of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook reports that among other important factors such as the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and declining economic growth, aging population plays a crucial role.
Higher life expectancy is certainly reflective of positive developments in healthcare, technology and increased quality of life. At the same time, however, rapid population ageing we are witnessing in economic giants such as Japan, South Korea, China, Germany and Britain brings with it many social, economic and security challenges ».
The Telegraph reports that until recently nearly every pensioner was supported by 4 people of working age. Given the below-replacement fertility rate in many countries, Europe is getting closer to the Chinese 4-2-1 paradigm where one child supports 2 parents and 4 grandparents.
However recent revised projections from the United Nations suggest that humans may number 10 billion by 2050 and 15 billion by the year 2100.  The greatest increase will be in Africa. Africa’s  population which now stands at about one 1.033 billion is projected to reach 3.6 billion by 2100, while Europe’s population which now stands at about 733 million is projected to decline to less than 5 million. The Italians and several other European nationalities are theoretically on their way to extinction because their birth rates have dropped below the 2.1 replacement ratio.
The World population is currently estimated to be 7 billion by the United States Census Bureau. The world population has experienced continuous growth since the end of the Black Death around the year 1400.  The highest rates of growth—increases above 1.8% per year—were seen briefly during the 1950, then for a longer period during the 1960 and 1970s; the growth rate peaked at 2.2% in 1963, and declined to 1.1% by 2009. Annual births have reduced to 140 million since their peak at 173 million in the late 1990s, and are expected to remain constant, while deaths number 57 million per year and are expected to increase to 90 million per year by 2050. Current projections show a continued increase of population (but a steady decline in the population growth rate) with the population expected to reach between 8 and 10.5 billion in the year 2050.
 Population Controllers want the population of the world to be controlled at all cost. USAID spent $649 million on family planning in 50 countries in 2010 but ignored the other factors that affect fertility such as the desires of spouses and children.

NATURAL BIRTH CONTROL METHODS are the only licit methods approved or authorized by Nature (God Himself) so that the body can function normally. The Human intellect and Free Will should be used to help to control the natural actions of the body. Before, it was very common to see many European and African couples with 8 or 9 children, but today most European couples have only 2 or 3 children, while the majority of African couples have only 5 or 6 children, with the exemption of Niger where the average couple has 9 children. Using self control, mortification and a bit of sacrifice, it should be possible to spread out the birth of children according to the ability and condition of each couple, but people want to have sex 31 days of the month by using artificial birth controls.      

 ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROLS is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Artificial birth control techniques and methods include contraception (the prevention of fertilization), contragestion  (preventing the implantation of the blastocyst) and abortion (the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus). Contraception includes barrier methods, such as condoms or diaphragm, hormonal contraception, also known as oral contraception, and injectable contraceptives. Contragestives, also known as post-coital birth control, include intrauterine devices and what is known as the “morning after pill”, and sterilization etc.
ALL ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROLS and METHODS used to control population growth are illicit and forbidden by God. They may be legal as far as governments are concern, but most of them are terrible sins and abominations before God, as the case of abortion.   `

More than 50% of the countries in the world are using Artificial Birth Controls. The consequences are that most of the developed world and industrial countries are facing declining populations and ageing problems.
Many countries are “Below Replacement Fertility” (the TFR rating is the minimum expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years which is 2.1 children), most countries are “Below Replacement Fertility”.  Population Controllers must know that the destructive “Contraceptive and Abortion Mentally” tirelessly promoted by them is causing the human race a danger of extinction.
The population density of Russia is 8.3 people per square kilometer; the fertility of Russian women is 1.4, which is “Below Replacement Fertility”. Since 1985 the population of Russia has decreased by 5.2 million, prompting Prime Minister Valdimir Putin to say that “Without exaggeration, the central problem of contemporary Russia is demography, strengthening the family, [and] increasing the birth rate”.

Most countries are attempting to stop their population decline. The declining and ageing populations are causing them serious economic problems. They are desperately trying to persuade women to have babies, even with cash incentives, but they are not succeeding. Most countries with high population densities are “Below Replacement Fertility”.
Singapore has 7,023 people per square kilometer, 1.09 children is below replacement fertility
South Korea has 487 people per square kilometer, 1.21 children is below replacement fertility 
Japan has 337 people per square kilometer, 1.21 children is below replacement fertility
Germany has 229 people per square kilometer, 1.41 children is below replacement fertility
Netherland has 399 people per square kilometer, 1.66 children is below replacement fertility
United Kingdom 254 people per square kilometer, 1.66 children is below replacement fertility etc,
China with 139 people per square kilometer, 1.79 children is below replacement fertility. India with 357 people per square kilometer and TFR of 2.69 per woman will become the most populous country in the world by the turn of the century. 

Many countries are already putting in place fiscal rules to address the demographic challenges of ageing population and reform their entitlement programs (e.g. Germany). Russia and Hungary have already embarked on a reform path to encourage fertility growth. Some European countries, such as France and Sweden, have adopted some family friendly policies, increased tax breaks and government bonuses for children. However, more needs to be done to restore a sustainable demographic profile.
This is not to say that falling birthrates are to be blamed on the government but at least the government should make sure that its policies do not actively discourage marriage and family”.(IMF Report)

Japan’s population fell by 263,727 in the year to April, almost double the rate of a year earlier, according to figures released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Aug. 7.
Japan’s basic resident register, which records Japanese citizens living in Japan, put the nation’s population at 126,659,683 as of March 31.
This is the third straight year that immigration and new births have failed to keep pace with deaths and emigration, and the largest decline since comparable records began in 1968.
The period shows a record low number of births, 1,049,553, since fiscal 1979. Emigration exceeded immigration by 57,155, the first net outflow of Japanese citizens in five years.

 “Kerala is heading for a significant phase in its demographic transition with the state moving towards achieving zero population growth rate, which will result in an increase in scarcity of labour.
With a very low fertility rate and stabilising death rate, Kerala is expected to achieve zero population growth rate in 25 to 30 years, a stage indicating the incipient decline of the population, according to the State Urbanization Report.
"Kerala is already experiencing negative population growth and with birth and death rate remaining at the same level, the state's population growth will reach zero level", Population Expert at the Centre for Development Studies, Gridhyaraj, said.

Recent census data from Iran indicate that there has been a significant drop in the annual rate of population growth from 1.6 percent to 1.29 percent.
Iran’s Minister of Health had already expressed concern about the decline in population growth in February. Marzieh Vahid Dastejerdi had said her ministry should take steps to promote marriages and child-bearing in order to reverse this development.
In the early 1990s, Iranian authorities began implementing population-control policies, which became very successful, turning a growth rate of 3.2 percent to just 1.2 percent.
The Ahmadinejad administration, however, has opposed population control, and the recent government view is to denounce population control as a “Western policy” unsuitable for Iranian concerns.
Yesterday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying that population control was a policy that suited the 1990s but, at this juncture in time, such a policy is erroneous.
“Officials must seriously reconsider population control and use all platforms, including the clergy, to educate the public in this regard.” He said policies such as encouraging marriage and discouraging divorce among couples, revising the culture of one child per family are needed to put a brake on population decline.

 South Korea’s highest court upheld that country's 59-year abortion ban last week. On 29th August 2012, Wednesday, the government reversed a decision that would have lifted the prescription requirement for emergency contraception.
The Associated Press' brief report on the court ruling, picked up by several major media outlets, omitted mention the pro-life influence in South Korea, pointing only to government concern over Korea’s low birthrate.
What dramatically changed dynamics in Korea was that the government, which had for decades encouraged doctors to perform abortion as a means of population control to foster economic growth, expressed official support for a pro-life doctor's group. The South Korea’s low fertility rate has originated from its high abortion rate, which, in turn, was the result of the immoral and profit-oriented conducts of Korean medical doctors.  
Abortion has been illegal in South Korea with exceptions for rape, incest or severe genetic disorders since 1953, but the law has been routinely flouted.
Kwak Seung-jun, chairman of the Presidential Council for Future & Vision, told reporters in 2010: "There are few people who realize abortion is illegal. We must work to create a mood where abortion is discouraged."

Population Controllers with their materialistic out look of life, want to influence and corrupt the African culture.  
Africans love children and consider children a gift from God. It is estimated that the African population will increase by 98% this century while the population of Europe will decrease by 6%. Population Controllers are concentrating all their efforts to control the African population. Today they are contributing in donations, billions of dollars in cash and in kind to stop the growth of the African population. Under “Reproductive Health and Artificial Birth Control Agendas” they are pumping into Africa, trillions of contraceptives, pills, abortifacients, condoms, birth control materials, and gadgets to control our population growth.  Their actions are to say the least, are unbecoming, unwelcome, ill-motivated and unacceptable. 

*Chief A.S. Ngwana is the National Chairman, Cardinal Democratic Party (CDP), Cameroon.
Contact: BP 2401 Bonanjo, Douala, Cameroon

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Marafa Hamidou sentenced to 25 years in prison

Cameroon ex-minister gets 25 years for jet purchase scam

Marafa Hamidou Yaya (AFP/File, Reinni
YAOUNDE — A court on Saturday jailed former Cameroon minister Marafa Hamidou Yaya for 25 years for embezzling $29 million dollars intended as a downpayment on a presidential jet.
 Marafa, the ex-minister of territorial administration and decentralisation, was sentenced along with three others who also received the same sentence, including the former head of the now defunct airline Camair, Yves Michel Fotso.
 "I am disappointed but not beaten," Marafa told the court, declaring himself a victim of "slanderous accusations".

Two women were also sentenced to 10 and 15 years.

They must jointly pay $42 million in damages and interest to the state plus more than $2 million in costs.
Marafa, once one of the most powerful men in Cameroon, was charged with overseeing the presidential jet project in his role as secretary general to the presidency.

Following the downpayment debacle, Cameroon rented another plane called the Albatross but this proved defective during a first flight with the presidential family and was forced to make an emergency landing.
At the beginning of May, a former ambassador to the United States, Jerome Mendouga, was jailed for 10 years in connection with the same affair.

Cameroon President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, has launched a major drive against corruption, which has seen several of his former aides brought before the courts.

He won election to a sixth term of office in October 2011 in a vote widely criticised by the opposition and diplomats as riddled with irregularities and fraud.
 Courtesy:AFP

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Cameroon: UK-based Ex-SCNC Lobbyist Campaigns for National Unity

By Christopher Ambe


Neba-Fuh and Jeff Townsend with  SW chiefs in Buea
Emmanuel Neba-Fuh, Programme Director of a London-based organization called Cameroon Council for Reunification (Camcore) recently wrapped up a week-long visit to Cameroon during which he met with NW and SW traditional rulers, political and opinion leaders as well as Government officials in Yaoundé, in line with Camcore’s campaign for one and indivisible Cameroon.

Camcore, it emerged, is a group of UK -based Diaspora Cameroonians open to working with a cross section of Cameroonians and friends of Cameroon, within and out of the country for a one and indivisible Cameroon

“Established in November 2011 following a launch in the House of Commons (UK Parliament), Camcore is committed to play an active role in ensuring that our dearly beloved country becomes a place that we can proudly call home,” Mr.Neba-Fuh said.

 Camcore calls on all Cameroonians of good will to join us in realizing “the Cameroon Dream” of a “One and Indivisible Fatherland”, based on transparency, enlightenment, respect for the rule of Law, respect for human life and dignity, and above all, create an environment where all can achieve their full potential.”

Mr.Neba-Fuh, who was formerly an active SCNC lobbyist abroad, said Camcore was formed in response to President Paul Biya’s call for all Cameroonians at home and abroad to be strong advocates of a united Cameroon.

He was accompanied to Cameroon from London, by Jeff Townsend, who is a parliamentary researcher and Director of Global Development Partnerships, London.

 Meeting the with Southwest Chiefs at the Buea Secretariat early this month,Neba –Fuh  painted the SCNC black ,describing it as a terrorist group and, calling for its rejection by all.

He was highly applauded by the chiefs, who said they have never endorsed the SCNC.

“The SCNC has no place in the Region”, reiterated Fon Fontem Njifua, President of SW Chiefs ‘Conference. The Recorder learned that the Fons of the NW Region and other opinion leaders equally lauded Camcore’s campaign for unity.

The unity campaigner also pledged to lobby the Government for the restitution of the House of Chiefs, so to give traditional rulers the dignity and powers they had in the days of West Cameroon..His pledge was also saluted by the SW chiefs, who said they have since been requesting for the restoration of the House of Chiefs.

Jeff Townsend(left) and Neba-Fuh in Buea meeting with chiefs
  Mr. Jeff Townsend also briefly addressed the Southwest Chiefs, stressing the important role traditional rulers play in any community.
Although nothing leaked to the press concerning Camcore’s meeting with Government officials, The Recorder understands that  the Government would gladly endorse Camcore.The Cameroon government describes SCNC as a secessionist group and often cracks down on  its members.
(First published in The RECORDER Newspaper, Cameroon, of September 14, 2012)


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