Deadly violence rages in Cameroon

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The official death toll from violent protests in Cameroon this week has
risen to 17 as troops attempt to restore order in the capital, Yaounde.

Barricades were erected in Yaounde, youths fought police in the port of
Douala and three deaths were reported in the north-western town of
Bamenda.

President Paul Biya has accused his political rivals of orchestrating
the unrest to depose him.

The opposition says the rising cost of food and fuel is causing the
protests.

President Biya has vowed to use all legal means to end the violence,
which the opposition believes may have caused many more deaths than
those reported officially.

What started as a nationwide transport strike in protest at fuel costs
has turned into a series of anti-government demonstrations, BBC West
Africa correspondent Will Ross says.

Schools targeted

In Bamenda, mobs of angry young men turned up at boarding schools and
demanded that the students join the demonstrators on the streets.

The principal of the Presbyterian Secondary School, Rev Henry Fomuso,
said they carried crude weapons like sticks and rocks and held bottles
of petrol as they threatened to burn down the school.

After negotiating with the mob, the teachers managed to ensure the girls
and young boys were allowed to stay but around 200 teenage boys were
taken away, possibly to be used as human shields during confrontations
with the police.

This scene was repeated at several boarding schools.

After a few hours most of the students had made it back to the schools
or to their parents' homes but not all the children are yet accounted
for.

It seems the boarding schools were targeted because they educate the
children of the Cameroonian elite and the disgruntled youths, many of
whom see little prospect of finding work, wanted to make a point about
the inequality that exists in Cameroon, our correspondent says.

One of the dead in Bamenda is believed to be a teenage boy, who was shot
dead.

Both Yaounde and Douala were both virtually brought to a standstill on
Thursday despite a heavy military deployment.

'No alternative'

On Wednesday night, President Biya appeared on state television and
accused the opposition of being behind the violence.

Having come to power 25 years ago, he recently introduced the idea of
amending the constitution so that he can stand in the next election.

Opposition groups have been calling for protests to stop the amendment
happening.

John Fru Ndi of the opposition Social Democratic Front denied being
behind the unrest but said he could understand the frustrations felt by
Cameroonians because of the high cost of living.

"The people have no other alternative than to express themselves by
marching on the streets," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

Our correspondent adds that Cameroon is home to more than 100 different
ethnic groups, and keeping the country relatively stable has been one of
the major achievements of President Biya's 25 years in office.

The violent scenes across the country this week are a sign that the
population is becoming increasingly frustrated in what is one of the
most corrupt countries in Africa, he says.

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Cameroon Unrest Flares Over Efforts to Change Constitution


Paul Biya intends to change the constitution in order to rule longer

Opposition supporters have clashed with the police in the industrial
town of Douala and south-western Buea in Cameroon, demanding the
president steps down.

Paul Biya had earlier announced that he wants to change the country's
constitution, to prolong his 25-year rule.

Opposition supporters reject the proposal.

In Yaounde, Cameroon's capital, the police guarded the streets and
petrol stations remained closed for fear of being attacked on Wednesday.

A day earlier, the freight transport union had called off a month-long
strike after successfully forcing the government to roll back fuel
prices.

The strike had brought the oil-producing nation to a standstill.

Biya's government had agreed to reduce the price of a litre of petrol to
594 CFA Francs ($1.36) from 600.

Unending protests

Thousands of protesters in Douala, Buea and Yaounde shouted slogans
against Biya and demanded that he step down after his term ends in 2011.

One demonstrator said: "Biya has gone too far, he must go. We also want
an overall reduction in commodity prices."

Ernest Karngong, a businessman, said: "Shops and stores remain shut,
taxis are not back on the streets, not even motorcycles. A few private
car owners who ventured out found their windscreens shattered and they
returned home."

The demonstrators shouted, "We're fed up" and called for all basic goods
to be sold at cheaper prices.

Worst riots

The riots in Cameroon were the worst in the past 15 years.

At least eight people were killed in the last four days and rioters
blocked all major streets in Cameroon with barricades of burning tyres
and timber.

Police used tear gas to disperse the stone-throwing demonstrators and
bring the situation under control.

[Mtangulizi]

now Cameroon is getting funky. neo-colonialism is not nice. this will happen everywhere we are until revolution, until uhuru.