Author: AGL

” Il va comprendre la souffrance des camerounais (amba) pourquoi ils se battent depuis des années contre le régime dictatorial (He will understand the suffering of Camerounians. (Amba) why they have Been fighting for years against the dictatorial regime.)”

Support for English-Cameroon’s Independent fighters – Ambazonia State Army aka Amba boys has been at an all time high amongst French Cameroun citizens following their October 12 presidential elections where incumbent Paul Biya is expected to win comfortably. The support reached its peak following tentative results that show the 92-year frail man winning in all areas even where no voting took place. The apex of the support x-rayed across French-speaking Cameroun bloggers approve of the bravery of the Amba boys and even calling on them to teach a member of the ruling CPDM party a lesson following his arrest by Ambazonia State Army(ASA) in the northern zone of Ambazonia prior to the October 12 presidential election. Mr. Abe Michael, the ruling CPDM’s imposed parliamentarian for Ako and Misage local government areas in Donga Mantung County was arrested by the Amba boys and during their search and interrogation found in his cellphone gallery images of him with guns promising to execute any Ambazonia State Army soldiers.

” Pour une fois, les ambazoniens ont fait quelques choses d’important.” (For once, Ambazonians have done something important.”)

Anger At CPDM and Election Riggers

Another commentator from French Cameroun’s most prominent blogger and activist Boris Bertold comes to terms with the fight by the Ambazonian soldiers. ” Il va comprendre la souffrance des camerounais (amba) pourquoi ils se battent depuis des années contre le régime dictatorial ” : He will understand the suffering of Camerronians. (Amba) why they have Bern fighting for years against the dictatorial regime.”

Another reader was blunt about his feelings about the CPDM fraud in the area in which despite a respect of a lockdown imposed by the ASA and well-respected, the parliamentarian’s constituency voted more than 98% for Paul Biya according to figures from French Cameroun’s constitutional Council(body charged with releasing the full results of the election to the public)

“Tu va aller leurs expliquer là-bas comment le R à gagner 98%.” (“You go explain to them how the R to win 98%”) He writes

Parliamentarian Killed

The member of parliament was reportedly killed. A member of the parliamentarian’s entourage explained his own side of why they were arrested by the Amba boys. He also revealed how greedy the MP was.

“If you believe that Biya goes to an election to lose, then have your head examined.” These are the words of a Cameroonian activists, a former prison graduate of one of Cameroun’s dungeons in the political Capital Yaoundé. Arrested several times for calling for meaningful reforms in Cameroon, many like John (whose real names are concealed for security reasons), feel the presidential election of October 12, 2025 in Cameroon is a sham. Most of the candidates are without any political representation which creates a daunting governing process. 92-year-old Paul Biya, John says has already rigged the system by postponing legislative elections, virtually short-circuiting the democratic calendar which is supposed to commence with legislative elections. Respecting the calendar would have given the presidential aspirants, most of whom are political neophytes an opportunity to build a truly organic governance process.

Senators in Cameroon are elected by indirect suffrage – by councilors, all of whom were at the end of their mandates when the senate elections were held last March 25, 2018. Of the 100 Senate seats, 70 are elected while the president appoints 30. Currently Biya’s ruling Cameroun Peoples’ Democratic Movement (CPDM), party has an overdose majority of 93 senators. To show his disdain for democracy and to have an indisputable direct influence on the activities of the body, Mr. Biya personally appointed the speaker of the Senate.

While the global media has focused on the elections, aspirants challenging the elusive Paul Biya, have equally shied away from explaining how they intend to govern, as the country’s institutions are manned by staunch loyalists appointed by Mr. Biya. This view is shared by Peter, former journalist who covered elections in Cameroon, and now lives in Canada. “Most of the so-called aspirants are enablers and “legitimizers” of the tyranny in Cameroun”. The world is talking about elections, with no regard for the conditions under which such elections will hold. Biya and his CPDM, Peter states have never won any elections in Cameroon, and will never win a free and fair election. The frustrated former journalist says he expects Mr. Biya to pay some foreign irrelevant personalities from some pseudo organizations to pronounce the elections to be free and fair. “How can they be free when he appoints every civil servant in Cameroun including governors, election officials right down to school principals?”. Such appointees Peter insists are under enormous pressure to secure victories in their various regions at all cost to maintain their positions.

While all the aspirants agree that it is time to retire the frail 86-year-old dictator, many have been vague on how they intend to democratically dismantle the tyrannical handiwork of Biya, glued in every facet of Cameroun’s life, for almost half a century, without becoming another dictator. One of the aspirants, Mr. Issa Tchirouma Bakary, has promised to free all political prisoners and reform Cameroon to prepare it for the future. These promised unilateral executive actions by Mr. Tchirouma and the others such as Bello Bouba Bello Maigari, Joshua Osih etc which run afoul democratic principles signals the impending power-grab, unlikely to be relinquished by the new “miraculous” President of Cameroun. This according to Peter, practically lays the ground work for another dictator, who will thus have to also dissolve the CPDM-controlled parliament clogged with old Biya cronies.

Biya’s Grip

Mr. Biya has had a firm grip on the country for almost half a century, altering the constitution to prolong his stay. The latest 1996 constitution is far from being fully implemented, but a provision about presidential term limits has been amended. In an unprecedented move following nationwide demonstrations in which Biya’s security killed scores, On 10 April 2008, Mr. Biya’s controlled national assembly overwhelmingly amended the constitution. Apart from removing presidential term limits, the amendment prescribe immunity from prosecution for any acts the octogenarian might have committed while in office. Despite these guarantees, and now at 92, Mr. Biya is far from relaxing his brutal grip on power.

Rigged Elections with Bogus Election Observers

Since Mr. Biya willy-nilly accepted multiparty politics in 1990, he and his ruling Cameroun People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) continue to choke with victory constipation at all elections while all contenders cry foul. To embellish his image globally, the old fox has embarked on lobbying and fake election observers. In 2005, while election observers such as former Canadian PM, the Roman Catholic Church under Cardinal Christian Tumi, characterized Biya’s 71% victory as “surrounded by fraud like previous ones”, the dictator was up with a big bounty for fake election observers from the US. Biya picked up the tab of $80,000 for an Association of Former Members of the U.S Congress headed by a Biya lobbyist at the time, Ronnie Shows. The association despite global assessment of a fraud election, endorsed the outcome claiming: “This is what democracy is about.” A month after, one of the six-members of the delegation signed a new lobbying contract with the dictator to feed global opinion about the democratic strides being undertaken.

Sticking to his old playbook, the octogenarian and cronies produced the same script in 2018. However, new technology was not on their side. With gross apathy and verifiable election rigging, Mr. Biya this time hired some fraudsters from the U.S ranging from farmers in Ohio to a Jewish activists/Journalist in the name of Nurit Greenger, claiming to be representing Transparency International (Click here). A claim debunked by Transparency International. When questioned on social media for the gross deception, the group’s leader was unapologetic and offensive, blocking anybody on social media who challenges their action on the Cameroun election. The state’s propaganda media houses that lied to the country about the independence of the observers have maintained sealed lips on the scam. Despite these documented anti-democratic tactics to cling unto power at all cost, the “democratic” West have stood by the old dictator failing even to formally condemn these totalitarian actions that have deprived the country of some of its citizens and meaningful progress. Mr. Biya for now is more focused on quashing dissent than the well-being of the repressed population. As one French Cameroun blogger puts it, “Putting pressure on Maduro to resign while, coaxing with dictator Biya is bad for western values”.

By Cece Buckley |

Senior Investigative journalist – Global Lobbying Watch

June 2025 – Washington, D.C. | Brussels | Yaoundé | Buea

Executive Summary

Between 2017 and 2021, four powerful U.S.-based public relations and lobbying firms—Squire Patton Boggs, Mercury Public Affairs, Glover Park Group, and Clout Public Affairs—quietly earned millions of dollars from the government of Paul Biya, Cameroon’s long-ruling autocrat. Their mission: to rebrand a genocidal dictatorship as a democratic partner of the West.

This investigation, based on FARA filings, leaked communications, interviews, and reporting from Mondiaal Nieuws and Chapter 24 of The Cameroon Peace Project, uncovers how these firms orchestrated a transnational deception campaign. The campaign succeeded in shielding Biya’s regime from scrutiny, whitewashing war crimes, and marginalizing victims of the Southern Cameroons genocide—all while U.S. taxpayer dollars continued to support Biya’s military.

1. The Clients and the Cash: A Timeline of Lobbying for Paul Biya

Firm Contract Period Amount Received Role
Squire Patton Boggs 2017–2019 ~$1 million Legal/lobbying for diplomatic relations and congressional influence
Mercury Public Affairs 2018–2020 ~$1.2 million Narrative control, media PR, and policymaker outreach
Glover Park Group 2018–2020 ~$600,000 (est.) Media placement, white papers, think tank lobbying
Clout Public Affairs 2018–2020 ~$660,000 (est.) Grassroots astroturfing and conservative media targeting

These firms were not simply hired to promote tourism or trade. They were strategically engaged to delegitimize credible reports of mass atrocities—including mass killings, village burnings, and systemic rape in the Anglophone regions.

2. Whitewashing a Genocide: The Playbook

Through analysis of press releases, op-eds, and Congressional briefings tied to lobbying disclosures, the following methods were deployed:

a. Obfuscation and “Bothsidesism”

Framed the war in Ambazonia as a “conflict between separatists and government forces,” obscuring state-sponsored atrocities.

Equated community-based resistance with terrorism, using U.S. post-9/11 fear language.

b. Promoting a “Reformist Biya”

Positioned Biya as an elder statesman committed to decentralization and dialogue—despite overseeing mass repression.

Promoted the 2019 Major National Dialogue as a democratic milestone, ignoring its scripted nature and the exclusion of real Ambazonian leaders.

c. Silencing the Diaspora

Targeted Ambazonian activists in the U.S. and Europe as “radicals,” portraying diaspora organizing as destabilizing.

Some PR campaigns included surveillance of community events and reporting back to Cameroonian intelligence.

3. Influence Operations in U.S. Policy Circles

Lobbying firm documents show meetings were arranged with:

Congressional staffers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Africa policy advisers in the State Department

Think tanks such as the Atlantic Council and CSIS

Media briefings pitched to outlets like Politico, The Hill, and Foreign Policy

These engagements coincided with:

Delays in sanctions against Cameroonian generals

Ongoing U.S. military cooperation, including counterterrorism aid

Diplomatic visits that avoided the Anglophone crisis altogether

Even during the Biden administration, which pledged a values-based foreign policy, these PR efforts helped sustain a diplomatic blind spot around Southern Cameroons.

4. The Genocide They Erased

While Biya’s U.S. lobbyists dined in Georgetown and briefed policymakers, thousands of civilians were slaughtered in the towns of Ngarbuh, Kumba, and Bamenda.

Over 3,000 civilians killed between 2017 and 2021 (UN estimates, underreported).

Hundreds of villages razed by Biya’s Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR).

Systemic rape, torture, and displacement affecting over 1.1 million Southern Cameroonians.

Yet lobbyist messaging deliberately erased these realities. Media coverage between 2020–2022 on Cameroon in major U.S. outlets dropped by more than 60%, despite escalating atrocities—partly thanks to “narrative suppression” campaigns.

5. Accountability and Exposure

The Mondiaal Nieuws exposé in November 2020 was one of the first to connect the dots publicly. Chapter 24 of The Cameroon Peace Project titled “TOK TRU: The Lobby Arm of Genocide” traces how Biya’s regime outsourced propaganda to Washington, D.C.

Some of the most damning lines from leaked Mercury memos include:

“Neutralizing negative perceptions from Amnesty and Human Rights Watch must remain a top priority for Q4.”
“Frame Biya as Africa’s Macron—stability and reform in one package.”
“Minimize diaspora disruption by shifting coverage to Boko Haram threats in the north.”

6. The Cost of Silence

The lobbying campaign cost Cameroon’s treasury over $3.2 million—money that could have been spent on rebuilding schools, hospitals, or displaced communities.
Instead, it went into narrative laundering.

And the cost to human life? Immeasurable.

7. Conclusion: Lobbying for Blood

This is not just a tale of image management—it is a story of complicity. While Southern Cameroonians bled in silence, D.C. firms profited from rewriting the script. As long as Western democracies allow authoritarian regimes to buy influence, no genocide will ever lack a lobbyist.

Recommendations :

Congressional Hearings on U.S. lobbying firms representing authoritarian regimes.

Immediate sanctions on individuals and firms who knowingly distorted human rights reports.

Public apologies from PR firms involved and reparations to victims.

Cece Buckley