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I write to pay tribute to Pius Njawe, journalist emeritus and founder/publisher of Le Messager, the most renowned private newspaper in the Republic of Cameroun and Francophone Central Africa. My first contact with Njawe was in 1993 in Maryland in the USA, when he came alone, or to cover the visit of the Chairman of the UNDP party, Bello Bouba Maigari. He located and interviewed me on why I resigned my position as provincial governor in Cameroun. From my knowledge of his paper, I dismissed the suggestion by some that he could be an agent of the regime and granted him the interview. Time proved me right.

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By Christopher Fon Achobang

Sarkozy Addressing Black French Viceroys: Heads of France’s Bastille States in Africa.

Former African French colonies joined France last Wednesday 14 July 2010 in celebrating the Bastille Day. Bastille Day, the most important French national holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute power of the Louis XVI regime, so the attack on the prison was a sign of freedom and the fight against oppression for all French citizens.

President Paul Biya played a central role as dean of the 12 Francophone African Presidents and scores of others invited to France to watch the parade and listen to self-amnesic congratulatory messages to and from Nicolas Sarkozy. Cameroun government media jubilated that their president was sitting on the right hand side and closest to Sarkozy. Quite an achievement! Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, President Biya celebrated his being the best student of Paris as he was regularly received at the Champs Elysees by François Mitterrand. We know what that subservience has produced; more dependence and depletion of natural resources in the Cameroons by France.

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PART 1

PART 2

The foreign dignitaries who will dine and wine with the colonizer of the people of the Southern Cameroons will be giving comfort to their oppressors; they will be regarded as aiding and abetting an international crime, if not, acting as accessories after the fact. In lending support to this outrageous campaign, they should know that the leader of this country is acting in contempt of the decision last year of the African Union that the Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun should hold talks to agree on new constitutional arrangements to resolve the burning issue of colonization and assimilation in violation of the inalienable right to self-determination.

By G. Achu
Public Affairs Analyst
M.P.A; LLM (International Legal Studies)
Original Publication: Southern Cameroons/Cameroun Listservs

Regarding the purpose of celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the independence and unification of Cameroun, treated in the previous posting, the main issue is not whether the (de facto) association succeeded) but whether there was a legal Union in 1961 between Southern Cameroons (SC) and Republic of Cameroun (LRC) under the auspices of the United Kingdom as administering authority and the United Nations. From the evidence we have reviewed, the answer is NO.

In 1946, the UN entrusted the administration of French Cameroun and British Cameroons to France and the United Kingdom, respectively, with a mission to run and prepare each of them for independence. Their mission was never to reconstitute or help in reconstituting German Kamerun or parts thereof that vanished before, after or at the end of World War I. The acts of two authorities, permanent members of the Security Council and also of the Trusteeship Council, coupled with the arbitrary acts of the United Nations, resulted in a betrayal of the trust of the international community to ensure that the trust territories evolved unconditionally to separate independence as provided by the UN Charter. Instead of granting independence to British Cameroons as an entirety as was the case of the former German Colonies of Togo, Tanganyika (Tanzania) and South West Africa (Namibia), the UN was instigated to apply a double standard to the Southern Cameroons by forcing it to choose between the devil and the deep sea; that is: independence by joining with Nigeria (from which the SC had separated because of marginalization in 1954) or the LRC (former French Cameroun, embroiled in the French/Ahidjo versus UPC war of independence) .

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If your independence was proclaimed on 1 January 1960, and you are celebrating the 50th anniversary of your accession to sovereignty on 1 January 2010, then it means that your Independence Day which is your National Day, is 1 January. This is fact not fiction! As fact, its universality is unquestionable. For the Republic of Cameroun to be celebrating 1st January and 20th May as National Day, is a dichotomy so stunning that it deserves the opening of a new field of investigation in Political Science and International Relations.

By Vincent N. Feko
Senior Citizen, Human Rights Defender, Group Leader

“Half a century ago, our country’s destiny changed suddenly. On 1 January 1960, our independence was proclaimed. As from tomorrow, we will therefore be celebrating the 50th anniversary of our accession to sovereignty.”( Paul Biya, President of la Republique du Cameroun [LRC], end of year Address, 31st December 2009). The President continues, “The celebrations will naturally culminate in our National Day on the 20th of May.” He adds, “The fiftieth anniversary of independence in 2010 is a prelude to the fiftieth anniversary of Reunification which we will be celebrating in 2011.” This excerpt is the source of the Double Dichotomy.

If your independence was proclaimed on 1 January 1960, and you are celebrating the 50th anniversary of your accession to sovereignty on 1 January 2010, then it means that your Independence Day which is your National Day, is 1 January. This is fact not fiction! As fact, its universality is unquestionable. For the Republic of Cameroun to be celebrating 1st January and 20th May as National Day, is a dichotomy so stunning that it deserves the opening of a new field of investigation in Political Science and International Relations.

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This bailout starts off with an initial pot of one trillion Euros from which Greece can borrow to pay off its debts. The hope is that similar debt crises in Portugal, Spain and Italy can be averted by a show of strength in the Greek crisis.

This agreement was not reached in an amicable discussion among the wealthier European states. The Germans, who provide the bulk of the cash, were bludgeoned into agreement by Sarkozy of France who twice threatened to pull France out of the Euro zone if the Germans wouldn’t go along with the plan. This is very important as France is not playing only with its own money. To a large degree it is cushioned by the reserves it holds from francophone Africa as part of the integration of the CFA francs into the Euro zone.

By Dr. Gary K Busch
Original Source: Ocnus.net

As we read of the current crisis in Greece and the emergency bailout of the European Union of the Euro it is may seem a little unclear as to the effect this will have in Africa. However, Africa, and francophone Africa in particular, is likely to be hit hard by the falling Euro and the diversion of national reserves in Europe to the propping up of the Euro zone. This bailout starts off with an initial pot of one trillion Euros from which Greece can borrow to pay off its debts. The hope is that similar debt crises in Portugal, Spain and Italy can be averted by a show of strength in the Greek crisis.

This agreement was not reached in an amicable discussion among the wealthier European states. The Germans, who provide the bulk of the cash, were bludgeoned into agreement by Sarkozy of France who twice threatened to pull France out of the Euro zone if the Germans wouldn’t go along with the plan. This is very important as France is not playing only with its own money. To a large degree it is cushioned by the reserves it holds from francophone Africa as part of the integration of the CFA francs into the Euro zone.

There are actually two separate CFA francs in circulation. The first is that of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) which comprises eight West African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The second is that of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) which comprises six Central African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon), This division corresponds to the pre-colonial AOF (Afrique Occidentale Française) and the AEF (Afrique Equatoriale Française), with the exception that Guinea-Bissau that was formerly Portuguese and Equatorial Guinea, formerly Spanish.

The WAEMU CFA franc is issued by the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest and the Bank of the Central African States (BEAC) controls the CEMAC CFA franc. These currencies were originally pegged at 100 CFA for each French franc but, after France joined the European Community’s Euro zone at a fixed rate of 6.65957 French francs to one Euro, the CFA rate to the Euro was fixed at CFA 665,957 to each Euro, maintaining the 100 to 1 ratio. It is important to note that it is the responsibility of the French Treasury to guarantee the convertibility of the CFA to the Euro.

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2010, French Africa commemorates 50 years of non-independence from France.

It comes with lies that smell of roses and champagne.

Our commentary on the CFA Franc, which in our considered opinion is a crimimal set-up, has been one of our most popular pieces. We re-visit this piece, published in 2008 in The Frontier Telegraph:

Ladies and Gentlemen: Welcome to the Communauté Financière de l’Afrique ( CFA ), where this is how things have been working for over sixty years. The January 2008 edition of the pan-African magazine, New African, reports that “the tale of this currency is extraordinarily mind-numbing!” and inspires this special commentary.

The CFA was created in 1945 by Gaullist officials in Paris. The CFA franc remains the currency of eight west African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo (UMEAO) and six central African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon (CEMAC). In west Africa, the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) issues the currency, while in central Africa, it is the Banque des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (BEAC).

Reporter, Regina Jere Malanda, begins the New African exposé on the CFA franc thus:

“If you think it is bad enough that the majority of the former French colonies in Africa fall in the “Bottom 50″ of the least developed countries in the world, spare a thought for this fact: Poor as they are, they have, for over six decades, been depositing 65% of their foreign reserves in the French Treasury in Paris – thanks to an archaic colonial arrangement linking their local currency, the CFA franc , to the French franc and now the euro.” Later on, it is learned that “another 20% of reserves [go] to cover financial liabilities.”

Our largely English reading audience now gets to understand that this is an essential component of being a francophone in Africa. This is a critical underlying factor that maintains the crushing poverty in this sphere we happen to find ourselves as non-francophones. For this archaic arrangement, to have survived for so long, in part, is responsible for unending dictatorships with presidents for life, tyranny, coups and even genocides in francophone Africa.

Read the whole piece here: Slavery By Another Name: CFA Franc

2010, French Africa commemorates 50 years of non-independence from France.

It comes with lies that smell of roses and champagne.

We present a musical interlude as reflection from the timeless KASSAV, which reminds us of the import of knowing our true history.

In beautiful rhythm only KASSAV can conjure, but with a tinge if indignation and resentment, they remind us: “Our history will raise our soul, Our soul will liberate us”

PARTIAL TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH**

We’ve learn everything from their books
We wanted to resemble them
To a point that we forgot our own history
But the YORUBA warrior was courageous
Despite the whip and misery
Today he’s standing straight and proud

They brainwashed us
Their history is only a part of ours
Our history will raise our soul
Our soul will liberate us
They have their belief and we have ours
If only we’ve learn what we could do together
Our history wouldn’t be forgotten

**English Translation culled from YouTube posting.