TRADITIONAL LEADERS SEEK EMBASSY PROTECTION WHEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 001044

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/C
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS
EUCOM FOR J5-1 AFRICA DIVISION AND POLAD YATES

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL CM
SUBJECT: TRADITIONAL LEADERS SEEK EMBASSY PROTECTION WHEN
GOV'T FORCES USE VIOLENCE IN SUCCESSION DISPUTE

REF: A. SPOT REPORT SENT FROM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE RSO TO
WASHINGTON AT 1100 AUGUST 21

B. COUNTRY REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES SECTION
ON CAMEROON 2003 AND SUBSEQUENT


1. (U) Summary. Nineteen men from the community of Sabga
in Cameroon's Northwest Province gathered outside of the
Embassy compound at the opening of business on August 21
claiming fear of arrest, violence, and deadly force in
retaliation for their opposition to an effort to install a
government-sponsored successor as Lamido (traditional ruler)
of Sabga, a Muslim community of about 500 people. The men
explained that they had traveled overnight from Sabga to seek
Embassy protection, claiming government gendarmes would
arrest and had threatened to kill some of them. End summary.


2. (U) Poloff and RSO went at about 0945 local time to
communicate with the group, who had been seated on the
sidewalk along the street outside the Embassy compound.
Embassy RSO office sent a spot report on the situation
through DS channels (ref a). The group included a number of
traditional rulers from the Sabga community who had blocked
roads to the Lamido's palace in Sabga on August 20 to prevent
the government from installing Mamuda Sabga as the new
Lamido. Mamuda Sabga's candidacy is supported by Alhadji
Baba Ahmadou Donpullo, a wealthy and politically powerful
businessman with a history of conflict with the Mboroboro
(see specific mention of Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Donpullo and
Mboroboro conflicts, ref b),and opposed by the Sabga
community and the structures of traditional power. (More
detail on the background of the Sabga dispute below.) In
response, government forces (estimated by the group at
100-150 gendarmes) fired tear gas containers and live rounds
into the crowd. The men presented tear gas canisters and
bullet casings to support their claims. An uncertain number
of people were injured. No deaths have been reported.


3. (U) The men said they traveled overnight from Sabga to
the Embassy to avoid being caught by government forces and
civilian groups that had been armed by Donpullo. The men
asked for protection in the Embassy compound and provided
documents supporting their claims regarding the succession
dispute. At 1300 Poloff informed the spokesperson for the
group that they would not be granted shelter within the
Embassy, and that the Embassy would not seek to remove them
from the public space in front of the Embassy. The
spokesperson did not protest. By 1300, a local television
press team arrived to interview members of the group.

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Background of the dispute
--------------


4. (U) The community of Sabga, which comprises around 500
ethnic Mboroboro, a sub-group of the Fulani ethnic community
that stretches across Cameroon and into Chad, the Central
African Republic, Nigeria, Niger, and Mali, is also known as
the Lamidate of Sabga. The traditional ruler of the Lamidate
of Sabga is referred to as the Lamido. The most recent
Lamido of Sabga, Ahmadou Sabga, died on June 13. The Fahda,
a council that advises the Lamido during his tenure and
represents the community during the vacancy of the Lamidou,
met on June 15 and voted to select Ahmadou Bouba, a nephew of
the deceased Lamido, to be his successor. Eleven of the
Fahda's fourteen members voted in favor of Ahmadou Bouba; two
members abstained; one member voted for Mamuda Sabga, a
brother of the deceased Lamido and a candidate supported by
Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Donpullo. According to the
representatives of the Fahda, this process was in compliance
with Cameroonian law, which required them to notify the
Government of Cameroon (GRC) through the Senior Divisional
Officer (SDO) for the Mezam Division, Jules Marcellin Ndjaga.


5. (U) SDO Ndjaga, in an August 20 conversation with Charge
(who happened to be in the region),argued that the
supporters of Ahmadou Bouba had not followed the proper
procedures and that Mamuda Sabga was the only candidate
submitted for the position. We believe Ndjaga was referring
to the Sabga community's refusal to participate in a process
(a "college of notables") that the SDO established to select
the next Lamido. The members of the Fahda argued that this
process was incongruent with traditional practice and
Cameroonian law regarding the government's role in approving
a community's selection of its traditional ruler, and
therefore refused to participate in it.

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YAOUNDE 00001044 002 OF 002


Push Comes to Shove
--------------


6. (U) On August 20, according to reports from Embassy
contacts, between 100 and 150 gendarmes came to Sabga for the
"presentation" of Mamuda Sabga as the next Lamido of Sabga.
(Note. "Presentation" is apparently one step short of
"installation" of the new Lamido. End note.) The residents
of Sabga blocked the roads leading to the Lamido's palace.
The situation remained calm until, according to the
representatives of the Fahda, Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Donpullo
arrived. At this point the gendarmes fired tear gas to
disperse the crowd. Several live rounds were reportedly
fired, including at least one that struck a horse on which
one of the town residents was seated.


7. (U) The group assembled in front of the Embassy further
claimed that Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Donpullo provided arms and
money to a group of men from the Babanki, a largely
Christian, separate ethnic group in the area. The Sabga
group claimed to have captured one of these men, who had
attempted to raid Sabga, and that he was armed with an AK-47.


8. (SBU) Embassy sources on this matter include an Embassy
employee who is from the Sabga area and an American citizen
missionary living in the area, both of whom side with the
Fahda and Amadou Bouba and against Alhadji Baba Ahmadou
Donpullo and Mamuda Sabga.
NELSON