Cameroon

Main article: Africa

Colonial dependence on France

For 2023, Cameroon is in colonial dependence on France, which exercises control over all significant processes in politics and the economy. For more on specific instruments of influence, see French Foreign Policy.

Population

Main article: Population of Africa

Population

2022:28 million people

Migration

2021: Net outflow over 4 years

Marriages

Allowed to have more than one spouse

Mortality

2018: Number of deaths in road accidents

2016: Death toll from opioid use

Authorities

2023: Average age of 6 top officials - 83

On February 13, 2023, Cameroon's President Paul Biya celebrated his 90th birthday. Having become prime minister at 42, he has been at the head of state since 1982. Spending a lot of time at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, Biya very rarely heads Cabinet meetings, and ministers mainly see him on May 20 at the Palace of Unity on the occasion of national festivities and at the presentation ceremony of the diplomatic corps.

The second-highest-protocol state official is Senate President Marcel Niat Njifenji, who has led the upper chamber since its creation in 2013. As one of Biya's key allies in the Western Region, he first joined the government in 1990. On October 26, he will turn 89 years old. Despite constant evacuations for treatment in France, following the March elections, he was re-elected for a five-year term and approved at the head of the Senate on April 19.

National Assembly President Kawaya Yegiye Jibril is "only" 83. A native of the Far North, he has been sitting in parliament for 47 years since 1970 (with a break in 1988-92), and since 1992 has been the permanent head of its lower house. He was last re-elected on March 18, 2021, at the age of 80.

Since January 25, 1984, the Council for Social and Economic Affairs has been headed by 76-year-old Luke Ayang. He entered the upper echelons of power back in March 1975, when he headed one of the departments in the general secretariat of the president, and in May 1978, at the age of 31, he received the portfolio of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Despite a record long career, most citizens do not know him in the face and will never recognize his voice on the air. The fourth state face according to the protocol rarely appears in public and has remained silent for decades - including about the type of its activities.

The Supreme Court has been headed by 75-year-old Daniel Mekobe Sone since December 18, 2014. Like many of his colleagues, due to his poor health, he rarely appears both at the Palace of Justice in Yaounde and at the openings and closures of parliamentary sessions.

Finally, the Constitutional Council was headed by a decree of February 7, 2018 by Clément Atangana. He turned 82 on September 20, 2023. It is he who must declare the vacancy of the presidency in the event of his death, resignation or impeachment. On April 14, 2020, he was awarded a little-known prize for "best and innovative justice practices," but is better known for countless treatment trips to Switzerland.

Thus, if in 1960 the country was headed (and represented) by 30-year-old politicians, then in 2020 the average age of the "big six" was 82 years, and now it has reached 83 years.

Somewhat younger than the 10 elected heads of regions approved on December 22, 2020. Apart from the fact that 9 out of 10 belong to the ruling RDPC party, all of them are over 65 years old. At the same time, the administratively most important region - the Central - is led by 79-year-old Gilbert Tsimi Evuna, treasurer of the party since 2007 and a member of its politburo since 2011. At about the same average age - 65 years and older - most members of the government.

One cannot fail to note the oldest policeman in the world - Martin Mbarga Ngele. The Commissioner General for National Security in the rank of Minister on July 1 turned 90 years old, of which 71 he spent in the police. In service since 1951, he became a police commissioner at the age of 19. He held the current position before, in 1983-84, but lost his post due to inaction during the bloody coup attempt in April 1984, in connection with which he was sent "in exile" by the ambassador to Zaire, then to Brazil and finally to Spain, from where in August 2010 at the age of 78 he was called to head the security agencies.

The head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (since September 2001) Rene-Claude Meka celebrated his 84th birthday on February 2, 2023.

The weak link is represented by the "adopted son" of Paul Biya - the commander (since January 1, 2019) of the Presidential Guard, Colonel Beko'o Abondo, who is only 51 years old. Fortunately, he is balanced by the 79-year-old director of presidential security (since 2004), Major General Yves Desancio Yenvo.

The median age of a Cameroonian is 18.5 years, noted Zangaro Today.

Foreign policy

2023: Refusal to condemn Russia in Ukraine conflict

Economy

GDP $1,545 per capita

Foreign trade

2023:50% of wheat supplies come from Russia and Ukraine

2022: Shipments of goods from Cameroon to Russia rise 17.5-fold

The volume of supplies of goods from Cameroon to Russia increased 17.5 times in 2022. This was announced at the end of July 2023 by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Cameroon leader Paul Biya. Read more here.

2018

Oil is the most valuable commodity that is exported

China is the main trading partner

Alcohol market

Minimum age to purchase alcoholic beverages

Power

Electrification

2020: Energy consumption per capita

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Cameroon IT Market

2022: More than 5 startups

Agriculture

2024: Fourth in the world for cocoa production

2019: Low use of pesticides in agriculture

Consumption

Meat

2023: Fish consumption is higher than meat consumption

Cereals

2019: Average rice consumption: 46.3 kg per person per year

Education

• Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cameroon

2019: Percentage of people who can read

Health care

2021: Maternity leave

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2020

Duration of guaranteed paid sick leave from 1 to 2.9 months

Part of the population defecates on the street

2016: Overweight

Culture

Cinema

In one of the most poignant African paintings of the 1970s - "Alien Child" (Muna Moto, 1975) by Cameroonian Jean-Pierre Dikonge-Pip - the head of the family has complete power over households and, refusing to help his nephew with the customary bride ransom, by conspiracy with the parents of his lover makes the girl his fifth wife instead.

"My uncle is an asshole. Ndome's parents are assholes. But the biggest assholes are those who came up with the kalym custom. Not to mention those who agreed. I myself am also an asshole, because I can't change anything, "the unfortunate lover talks to himself, wielding an ax in the forest, and these words full of despair sound like a political statement.

Crime

Prisons

2019: The minimum age for children to be jailed is 9

2018: Number of prisoners per 100 thousand citizens

History

2023: Deadlock in Ambazonia government-separatist conflict

Although the separatists of Ambazonia are extremely active in the media field and draw ambitious plans, they cannot boast of real success in gaining independence in January 2023.

The rebels have little control of the territory except for small sections of the border with Nigeria, where their bases are located. Members of the Ambazonia Defense Forces resort to raids and terrorist attacks against government agencies and security forces.

Another problem for the separatists is their disunity and lack of a single governing body. At the beginning of 2023, the entire movement is a conglomerate of groups, where even ideological differences are not uncommon. For example, some groups allow refusal to fight in the event of federalization of the country.

At the same time, both sides of the conflict fundamentally refuse to negotiate. Complicating matters is Cameroon's ruling regime, with 89-year-old President Paul Biya continuously in power since 1982 and consistently evading the transit of power. And fighting the opposition effectively closes the way for political dialogue with Ambazonia rebels.

At this time, neither side of the conflict is serious about ending the sluggish guerrilla war in the west of the country. As noted by the Rybar channel, both camps receive dividends from the current situation.

The current permanent head of state, Paul Biya, is using the crisis as one of the pretexts of bargaining for financial aid from Paris.

After reformatting the presence and major reduction of the contingent in West Africa France , Cameroon is considered as one of its main outposts in the region.

Geographical location plays to the benefit: the country has large ports and logistics hubs that allow you to control imports to the Central African Republic and Chad.

Under these conditions, the French benefit from a semblance of stability in Cameroon. The ruling regime recognizes this and uses the crisis in the English-speaking provinces as a factor in a possible threat to the state. Knocking out additional funds from the former metropolis to fight it.

What is the benefit of English-speaking separatists?

Although the insurgents never achieved tangible military success in a few years, they did well in the information sphere. Social media communities and media campaigns have allowed successful fees to be launched on crowdfunding platforms. The proceeds went not only to ensure the functioning of the movement's activities, but also to the pockets of their leaders. And the lack of unified management and the fragmentation of the organization makes it difficult to control other financial flows.

What role does the US play here?

The Cameroonian diaspora in the United States is the second largest in the world after the French. At the same time, American Cameroonians are more sympathetic to English-speaking rebels than the central government of Cameroon. On the basis of solidarity with the Ambazonia Defense Forces, multiple groups are formed, created with the aim of raising funds for the "needs of the revolution."

Tracking crowdfunding campaigns is a difficult task, as they are highly decentralized. Subsequently, the funds raised go through indirect channels to proxies from the Biafra Indigenous Peoples movement in Nigeria, and then end up in southwestern Cameroon.

Support is also provided by US-based pro-separatist organizations, such as the Ambazonia Recognition Cooperation Council, Ambazonia Conculting, Ambazonia Corporation, etc. Thus, the United States is used as a rear base for Cameroon's separatists.

How is the fight against separatist funding going?

In the United States, the interests of the central government are represented by the Cameroon Association of Victims of Terrorism Ambazonia, an organization affiliated with the President of Cameroon. Members of the organization are engaged in tracking and suppressing the flows of funds coming from the United States to the Ambazonia Defense Forces.

However, in this aspect, the activities of the organization cannot be called successful. Despite the interaction with the FBI, most large pro-separatist organizations continue to function in the United States, and crowdfunding campaigns do not become less. At the same time, the government of Cameroon benefits from such a sluggish struggle, including against the organizations of Ambazonia abroad, the Rybar channel wrote. The association is mainly required to publicize the conflict in south-west Cameroon, which it is successfully coping with. The coverage of the conflict makes it easier to bargain for financial assistance from France.

The heads of the rebel units do not benefit from overly aggravating the situation, risking their lives and a working business model. They imitate activity and continue to receive money from those who are not indifferent with the silent approval of the US intelligence services.

2020

The "troll factories" of the government are fighting the opposition on the Internet

In June 2020, it became known that a real Cameroonian "troll factory" was found on the Internet. We are talking about a group of "young activists" waging a "cyber war" with political opposition on Facebook and Twitter in favor of the ruling Democratic Association of the Cameroonian People (DOKN), which has consistently won elections since independence in 1960. Naturally, "trolls" are not on the balance sheet of government departments, but their activities are closely coordinated by party structures.

Stagnation and even the decline of the country, since 1982, invariably ruled by the mysterious mystic and anachoret Paul Biya, has become the leitmotif of CIA reports since the 1990s. The levers of traditional Cameroonian political communication - Masonic, Rosicrucian and local ("Eboka") secret societies - no longer work properly and do not provide the country with proper stability, the Zangaro Today channel noted.

Inhabiting the virgin rainforests of Beti and Bulu - the core of the current political elite - entered the secret societies usual for Africans long before the Germans laid down the capital of Yaounde here: the skills cultivated in them to appreciate secrets and carefully handle the invisible world were an effective means of symbolically arranging a stateless society. And the evolves that came out of them - the autochthonous personnel of the colonial administration - willingly joined the prestigious overseas fraternities offered by the French, which later became one of the pillars of the party-state architecture (post) of colonial Cameroon.

By the way, at meetings of such secret societies, the blood of babies does not pour - despite all their esotericism, these are simply effective platforms for closed political and business communication. They, in particular, provided co-optation in the party-state elites of new personnel, including from the political opposition. Namely, thanks to the ability to co-opt the opposition in time, the regime of the experienced Paul Biya has successfully experienced all the serious crises of legitimacy, each time flooded with French money, decade after decade.

However, the managers and the managed have long spoken different languages. With the growing population, self-awareness and increasing transparency of the media, especially social networks, it is becoming more and more difficult to keep the national element of rumors, or congossa, powering the popular "sidewalk radio." And in a society of closed social elevators, any "success story" is instantly criminalized - various myths about Satanists in power have appeared, and especially about anusocracy, that is, the elite's ties with homosexuality. Conspiracy theories and even the death of a reclusive president are swarming with bazaars and social media, and Biya's recent month-long absence, combined with blackouts, has spawned another wave of panic rumours.

The Cameroonian regime faced growing opposition to the Bamileke, armed militias of the unrecognized "Republic of Ambazonia," and an invasion by Boko Haram. The sluggish homophobic rhetoric that the authorities have unsuccessfully tried to stop the "folk" myths about the "homosexuality" of the elite has long been not enough.

Therefore, the arrival of the "party of power" on the Internet was expected and began in 2018-2019. with the next dubious re-election of Biya - in many ways as a reaction to the activism of the traditionally opposition diaspora, united in the so-called anti-sardinards brigades in Europe and the United States, opposing the supporters of Biya - tontinards - at home. They favor the recently freed opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who is closely associated with his native ethnic group Bamileke. The conflict between biti managers and bamileke businessmen continues, deepening the growing split in the country.

Murder of the mayor of Mamfe

Despite the fact that on March 29, 2020, the largest separatist group - the Southern Cameroon Defense Forces - announced a unilateral ceasefire, the remaining 15 groups do not even think about folding weapons. And in May 2020, in the midst of fierce fighting, the separatists made another high-profile sortie, killing the recently elected mayor of Mamfe.

2019

Cameron Airlines passenger plane fired upon

In December 2019, a Cameron Airlines passenger plane was fired upon while approaching the airport of Bamenda in northwestern Cameroon. Read more here.

Landslide kills 42

Floods due to heavy rain at the end of October 2019 in the Guatchi quarter 4 of Bafoussam III district, led to landslides. According to an official statement, 11 homes were destroyed and 42 people were killed.

According to authorities, the number of deaths may be higher because the elements caught people at night. In addition, the area was home to many children who slept during the landslide.

Cameroon government offers special status to English-speaking regions and releases prisoners

In October 2019, Cameroon President Paul Biya ordered the release of 330 separatist prisoners.

A resolution was also adopted according to which English-speaking districts are given a "special status of autonomy."

Biya fears that by seceding, the separatists will take with them all of the country's resources, which are just concentrated in Cameroon's south and northwest - regions with high separatist activity. 

The fears are quite justified, it is enough to recall the situation with South Sudan, which in 2011 separated from the North, taking almost all of the country's oil fields, thereby undermining the economy of former compatriots. 

Ambazonia conflict: 3000 thousand dead and 0.5 million who left their homes

The separatists of Ambazonia kill very cruelly - for teaching in French, neglecting "Anglo-Saxon standards" and sociocultural etiquette, finally, for the right to watch matches of the English football Premier League, traditionally ignored by national television, which does not miss a single meeting of the French Paris Saint-Germain. They kill - on both sides - illiterate peasant guys who speak pidgin or - at most - the broken languages ​ ​ of the former metropolis, which in large cities have long merged into the bizarre language Camfranglais.

The region-dividing Mungo River became a metaphor for the nation's split and failure of the "multilingualism" policy that became the hallmark of Cameroon, this "Africa in Miniature."

The struggle for cultural hegemony entered a heated phase in 2017, with the proclamation of a virtual and unrecognized "Republic of Ambazonia."

Started by intellectuals - teachers and judges, the Ambazonia project was continued by motley youth militias ("Tigers," "Red Dragons") and very quickly threw the region into the Stone Age, giving rise to a gallery of monstrous warlords and war criminals.

Separatists do not disdain the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers who refused to boycott classes in French, execute officials, behead the military and gendarmes. The authorities respond with punitive raids, burn people alive, destroy the homes of separatists and sympathizers and cobble together ethnic militias of Mbororo shepherds to fight rebel communities and villages.

The International Crisis Group estimates that about 3,000 people have died in the violence and more than half a million have been forced from their homes.

The separatist leader was sentenced to life imprisonment. In Bamenda rebellion

In August 2019, Bamenda, Cameroon's largest city with an English-speaking population, was cordoned off by the military.

After the trial of separatist leader Sisik Tabe, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, an uprising broke out in the city. All businesses closed and people were forced to stay at home due to gunfire between rebels and soldiers.

Pirates captured three Russians off the coast of Cameroon

On August 15, 2019, in the area of ​ ​ the port of Douala (Cameroon), unknown persons attacked the cargo ship Marmalaita belonging to the Danish company Ultrabalk, flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. According to the recruiting agency Marlowe Navigation Russia (St. Petersburg), eight crew members were captured by the attackers, including three citizens of the Russian Federation.

According to the Russian Embassy in Yaounde, the authorities of Cameroon and representatives of the shipowner are taking measures to clarify the circumstances of the incident. Russian diplomats actively interact with the competent Cameroonian authorities and shipowners in order to facilitate the speedy release of Russian citizens.

In September 2019, pirates released Russian sailors captured off the coast of Cameroon.

Militants took about 30 people hostage in the southwest

In July 2019, a group of armed persons stopped a convoy of three buses on the highway linking the cities of Fundon and Bamenda.

The militants took passengers out of the buses, about 30 people, took their passports and took them away in an unknown direction.

Until now, there is no information about the local residents taken hostage, a police spokesman said.

Local authorities blocked traffic on several roads, organized several detachments to search for the abducted people.

Due to the military operation in the south-west of the country, 430,000 residents left their homes

Since November 2017, the Cameroonian government has been conducting a military operation in the south-west of the country to curb the activities of separatist groups.

During this time, according to the UN, due to the constant danger of militants attacking local villages, more than 430 thousand Cameroonians were forced to leave their homes in the region, the Africanistics channel reported.

2017: About 20 groups formed in Ambazonia to start war against government troops

In the south and northwest of the country, approximately twenty separatist groups were quickly formed, including the Ambazonia Military Force, which launched a war against government troops.  

Regarding the number of separatists, the figures of the rebels themselves and the government vary - a report by the International Crisis Group in 2019 says that 2,000 to 4,000 fighters are fighting on the side of Ambazonia, but their leaders argue that these figures are minimized as much as possible.

The separatists are supported by Cameroonian diasporas around the world, who supply them with money for all the resources necessary for the war. The most ardent supplier is a man named Marshall Foncha, who is currently in the United States.

However, due to the inaccessibility of the English-speaking regions due to their blockade by the troops of Cameroon, in the ranks of the separatists in 2019 it was possible to meet fighters armed with single-shot pistols.

In addition to the AMF, there are other rebel groups bearing pathos names like "Tigers of Freedom" or "Red Dragons." However, it should be noted that the groups are very disparate, which prevents them from coordinating their actions in the fight against the government.

From the point of view of the aforementioned Fonchi, it is the supply of weapons from the United States that will be able to help the rebels overcome all organizational problems. The Americans, however, are not going to allocate money for this for 2019 - they are engaged in cooperation with Battalion d'Intervention Rapide - the armed formation of Cameroon, fighting the terrorist activity of the banned in the Russian Federation Boko Haram, which in 2015 swore allegiance to another terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation "Islamic State."

2016: Proclamation of Ambazonia - a separatist republic in the southwest

Southwestern Cameroon was once part of the British colonial system, and subsequently reunited with the French part into a single country. But a single nation did not work out of the parts glued together - the French-speaking elite actually abolished the federation and systematically suppressed the dissent of the English-speaking region - an agrarian, underdeveloped and depressed appendage of a large country in which the English-speaking minority simply did not find a place.

It is not surprising therefore that the Anglophones contemptuously called the Francophones "litter of France," and they likened their neighbors to "Nigerians," hinting at the diverse administrative, economic and socio-cultural ties of Southern Cameroon with another former British colony.

The Aanglo-speaking minority makes up approximately 20% of Cameroon's population and complains of discrimination.

Discontent was caused by the fact that the central government sends judges and school teachers who speak poor English to the western region.

In 2016, the protests were triggered by the fact that a new law passed in Cameroon was not translated from French to English at publication - although both of these languages ​ ​ are considered official in the country.

Armed separatist groups operate in areas with a predominantly English-speaking population.

In 2016, separatists proclaimed the creation of the independent republic of Ambazonia and formed a transitional government in exile.

The word "Ambazonia" has a symbolic historical connotation. It is taken from the local name of the mouth of the Wuri River "Ambas and Ambozesa" where in 1858 a settlement of freed slaves was founded in South Cameroon.

This led to the aggravation of the conflict: in the west of Cameroon there were mass demonstrations and armed clashes with government forces, which led to numerous casualties.

Hundreds of people were later killed in western Cameroon.

1982: Paul Biya becomes president

Ahmad Ahidjo found himself a receiver - Paul Biya, who took over the presidency in 1982 and is still there (for 2019), being the oldest ruler in Africa.

1972: Liquidation of the federation and unification into a unitary state

President Ahmad Ahidjo eliminated Cameroon's federal character by proclaiming a unitary state in 1972, thus violating Article 47 of the country's constitution, which prohibited any attempt to change the federal form of the state.

After unification, being a linguistic minority, British Cameroon was deprived of its usual autonomy, and the country's political leaders began a policy of "forcibly including" the inhabitants of the region in a French-speaking country. 

1961: Muslim northern Cameroon votes to join Nigeria

In 1961, Muslim northern Cameroon voted to join Nigeria.

1960: Independence and unification of the two countries as part of a federal republic

Through the efforts of the USSR, which pushed the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to the UN, both parts gained independence and were united into the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

Its subjects had their own autonomy, which, however, was spelled out not in the Constitution, but in the treaty on the accession of British Cameroon to French. 

Cameroon gained independence on January 1, 1960, the first president was Ahmadou Ahidjo, leader of the Cameroon Union (COP) party, leader of the Cameroon National Democratic Party (KNDP) John Ngu Foncha served as vice president until 1970.

1922: The division of the country into two parts under the administration of Britain and France

The League of Nations in July 1922 granted British and French government mandates, and Cameroon was divided between these countries.

1916: Anglo-French troops occupy the country during World War I

During World War I in 1916, Cameroon was occupied by Anglo-French forces.

1884: Colony of Germany

In 1884-1916, Cameroon was a colony of Germany.

Sport

2022: The most popular sport is football

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