Pambazuka News denounces the fraudulent October elections in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Tanzania and the continent-wide erosion of democratic practices and legitimacy.

The longer the Cameroonian “Anglophone Crisis” goes on, the more deeply-entrenched the bitterness among citizens becomes.

This is an interview with Senfo Tonkam, a former Cameroonian student leader exiled in Germany, in which he discusses issues affecting Black people in the world including linguistic divides and tribalism among other problems. 

On 23 October 2018, Paul Biya was elected for his 7th consecutive term in office as President of Cameroon. At 85 years old, Biya stands as the longest ruling national leader, having accumulated 43 years at the head of the Cameroonian state, first as Prime Minister (1975-1982) and subsequently as President (1982-2018). 

President Paul Biya of Cameroon has been silent for long in relation to the on-going unrest in the country's English speaking region. His silence has made matters worse and it is time he took decisive measure to resolve that crisis if he wants history to remember him after his nearly 40 years in power. 

Prominent activist Nasako Besingi has been convicted after a protracted and controversial legal process on two counts of propagation of false news against the US agribusiness company, Herakles Farms, and two counts of defamation against two employees of the company. He faces three years in jail.

Thousands of persons displaced by Boko Haram attacks in northern Cameroon are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. But they have virtually been forgotten by the Paul Biya government whose attention is focused - rather disproportionately - on refugees.

Survival has uncovered serious abuses of Baka “Pygmies” in Southeast Cameroon, at the hands of anti-poaching squads supported and funded by the WWF. Instead of focusing on organized poaching, these squads arrest, beat up and torture Baka people who hunt only to feed their families.

Campaign groups Greenpeace and the Oakland Institute say work and forest clearing has been conducted in violation of national law, despite fierce local opposition, and would destroy a forested area of vital biodiversity surrounded by protected areas

Talk about Chinese investors venturing into vehicle manufacturing in Cameroon is certainly hot air. The central African nation is ill prepared for such an industry

The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Cameroonian officials to drop criminal charges against a journalist arrested last month in the southwestern town of Buea for covering a secessionist gathering. The journalist is free on bail but faces a fine and up to six months in jail. Baature Edua Mvochou, a Nigerian national and editor of African Drum magazine published [in] Jos, Nigeria, still faces a charge of unlawful assembly.

Paul Biya’s three decades in power have been marked by political repression, official corruption, poverty and many other ills. But the people have not looked on passively. The country has a rich history of popular resistance.

If Cameroon is to avoid catastrophes of possibly greater dimensions than so far witnessed, the citizens must take a hard and unsentimental look at the crucial question of leadership and the manner in which political power is exercised.

Cameroon lawyer Alice Nkom, who is known for defending gays and lesbians in a country where homosexuality is outlawed, has said that she has been receiving death threats from anonymous callers over her stance. 'Since October 18, I have become the victim of anonymous death threats,' she said, adding that she has been warned to stop defending homosexuals.

Welfare Systems are rapidly evolving in Sub-Saharan Africa, with some countries having implemented systems allowing evaluation of measures taken several decades ago. Students and researchers from Cameroon have closely examined social public policies and private sector initiatives in their country, as reports Global Voices.

Clarisse Kimbi barely ekes out a living from a tiny parcel of land in Kom village in the North West Region of Cameroon. Today, the mother of six finds it hard to put food on the table for herself and her children. But five years ago she, her husband and children were considered well-off. In 2007, farming on five hectares of land, Kimbi could comfortably feed her family, and still have enough surplus food to sell. In a country where 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, her family was counted among the wealthy. But things changed when her husband died five years ago. Almost everything was taken away from her and her children.

There are as many as 100,000 visually impaired people in Cameroon, but just one government school for the visually impaired. Most blind students struggle to afford their education. And girls with visual disabilities face special challenges around education and sexual health, Global Press Institute reports.

Cameroonians are burning increasing amounts of charcoal for cooking and heating as the country’s electricity and gas supplies fail to keep pace with demand, raising concerns among environmentalists about growing deforestation and carbon emissions in the country. At local markets in Yaounde, the country’s capital, sales of charcoal are booming. The trade is especially attractive to young people who are jumping at a rare employment opportunity, and even older traders are now changing their wares.

A Cameroon court has suspended sale of a new book which alleges that the country's growth has been held by bogus sects run by people close to the authorities. The move came after country's Science and Research minister, Madeleine Tchuinte, took to court the author of the book titled 'Cameroon Under the Dictatorship of Lodges, Sects, Magico-Anal and Mafia Networks'.

Cameroon has received heavy rain and flooding during the past year. Some experts attribute the unusual weather to climate change, while others point to poor management of dams, reports Global Press Institute.