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AfroCubaWeb
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We receive this note from un calabari:
Subject: Re: With thanks, from Kalaba'
Date: 2017-09-25 05:56
From: Ngando Olubi <nolubi_AT_yahoo.com> [_AT_ = @]
Mr Besingi Nasako, Director of SEFE was arrested this morning by the forces of
law & order in his office in Mundemba, Ndian Division, Cameroon. Sources on the
spot say his office was ramshackled as the forces of law & order were looking
for documents/materials patterning to the ongoing 'Southern Cameroons' struggle.
Mr Besingi Nasako has been very vocal against the abductions in the North-West &
South-West Regions by 'La Republique du Cameroun' as he'll always put it. Today
Mr Besingi Nasako himself has become a victim of the same circumstance. We wish
the international community gives his abduction the attention it deserves.
Regards.
Molla Ngando,
Mundemba,
Tell: +237662996468
Recibimos esta carta de un carabali:
Asunto: Re: Gracias, de Kalaba '
Fecha: 2017-09-25 05:56
De: Ngando Olubi <nolubi_AT_yahoo.com> [_AT_ = @]
El Sr. Besingi Nasako, Director de SEFE fue arrestado esta mañana por las
fuerzas de orden público en su oficina en Mundemba, División Ndian, Camerún.
Fuentes sobre el terreno dicen que su oficina fue destartalada como las fuerzas
de la ley estaban buscando documentos / materiales patrón de la lucha en curso
"Camerún del Sur". El Sr. Besingi Nasako ha sido muy expresivo en contra de los
secuestros en las Regiones del Noroeste y del Suroeste por "La Republique du
Cameroun", como siempre lo dirá. Hoy, el propio Sr. Besingi Nasako se ha
convertido en víctima de la misma circunstancia. Deseamos que la comunidad
internacional otorgue a su secuestro la atención que merece.
Saludos.
Molla Ngando,
Mundemba,
Cuenta: +237662996468
As can be seen from the articles below, Nasako Besingi is well known in international green circles for his defense of his homeland against the new plantocracy that seeks to seize large swaths of Cameroonian lands that sustains 45,000 people, including his Nasako family. He is an important figure in that family and was one of the organizers of the Nasako Festival 2012. The Nasako are one of the originators of Ékpè in Calabar, Nigeria and Cameroon. Ékpè lodges are the same lodges found in Cuban Abakwa, a remarkable case of cultural survival in the midst of the slave trade holocaust.
| Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:22:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Nasako Besingi <nazbez_AT_yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Open Letter to RSPO and WWF: Palm oil monocultures will never be sustainable Thank you so much for the attention on this very serious matter. We are glad to hear that you are also planning to support us in opposing this palm oil plantation proposed in a sensitive ecological and hydrological area with rainfall round the year. We look forward to working with you all and remain disposed to provide any information that you may need at any time. The companies involve are in the USA. Best, Nasako Mr. Nasako Besingi, Director Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE) P.O. Box 40, Mundemba, Ndian Division, Cameroon mobile: +237 7513 6000
sefe_sefe30_AT_yahoo.com
SEFE seeks to futhersome the protection of caostal aquatic ecosystems with
consumming focus on mangrove ecosystem. As a grassroots oriented outfit, SEFE,
in collaboration with the local communities carryout various aspects
activities, management, research,dialoque, empowering and coaching local
people to embrass the precept of sustainable livelihood. In SEFE, we also
carryout advocacy as away of promoting environmental justice and maintaining
aquatic ecosystems equillibrium. Our community have your say (CHYS) initiative
allows the communities to make inputs in our projects from project conception
to evaluation, thereby giving them ownership and responsibility for the
protection of natural resources while ensuring ecosystems balance.
-- www.peoplesearthdecade.org/groups/list.php?group_id=434 |
The life and death of a master of the universe: How the suicide of a Blackstone
unit CEO shows the difficulties of doing well and doing good. 5/28/2014 CNBC: "Six
months after Wrobel's death, the status of Herakles Farms is unclear. No
additions to the news section of its website have been made since May 2013.
Numerous messages to the emails listed on the site and other employees were not
returned. The only number listed, to a field office in Cameroon, was out of
service. An operator for 277 Park Ave., the company's former New York City
headquarters, said Herakles left the building in July 2013. Herakles had agreed
to decrease the size of its palm oil farms with the Cameroonian government last
year following a suspension of activities. All for Africa was also shut down in
2013, according to Noella Coursaris, whose Georges Malaika Foundation was one of
the group's first grantees."
U.S. palm oil company fined $4.6m in discrimination suit 1/8/2014 Mongabay: "Herakles
Farms, an American agribusiness company, has been ordered to pay $4.6 million by
a court in Cameroon over alleged discrimination in its hiring practices, reports
APA. Herakles, which was recently awarded 20,000 hectares of land in
southwestern Cameroon for oil palm plantations, allegedly dismissed Loxly Epie
from his position as president of financial operations at Sithe Global
Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), the company’s local subsidiary. A judge in
Limbe, Cameroon, ruled the dismissal was illegal, noting that Epie’s replacement
— an Australian — had no experience in accounting or management."
Cameroon Corruption Is A Suicide Angel 12/28/2013 Modern Ghana: "An
American businessman (May his soul rest in peace) landed in Cameroon and bribed
his way right to the Presidency to be granted a land concession. His initial
request was to be given 73,086 hectares for 99 years. Poor Bruce Wrobel claimed
he was going to grow oil palm trees. Whatever he wanted to do with this land is
not my focus now. I am only surprised that he caused the whole administration of
two divisions and one ministry to hearken to his corrupt call. Beer, cartons of
fish and tons of rice were distributed freely in communities around Mundemba,
Toko and Nguti. Herakles boys went far with their cynicism to subject
communities to surgical operations in makeshift theaters in the villages under
insalubrious conditions. A Dr. Isidore Timti Scholarship scheme was launched to
win the hearts of communities hosting the proposed lands for Herakles Farms. All
these schemes were conceived to ease Herakles Farms' infiltration of the
communities. I coined the term soft corruption to describe the type of imbedded
corruption which cannot be unveiled and proven in a court of law. Once more,
Bruce Wrobel's boys were dispatched to seek me out from the University of Buea
to face defamation charges. I eluded them by carrying my laptop, my which is my
media house, hence cyberspace to Nyen."
Former Blackstone unit exec Bruce Wrobel dies 12/10/2013 Farm Land
Grab: "More recently, Wrobel was CEO of both Global Alumina Corporation, which
worked on mining in Guinea, and Herakles Farms, which had sought to build palm
oil farms in Cameroon. Herakles was forced to stop production in May 2013
because of pressure from local residents and environmental activists like
Greenpeace and Oakland Institute. Herakles and Global Alumina did not
immediately respond to a request for comment. Wrobel was also active in charity
through All for Africa, which he chaired."
Herakles Farms releases public statement: Operations suspended 5/21/2013 Palm
Watch – Africa: "Herakles Farms (also known as SG-SOC in Cameroon) (“Company”),
a United States-based agriculture company with operations in Ghana and Cameroon,
today, announced that it has suspended work in Cameroon in response to an order
it received from the Government of Cameroon’s Ministry of Forestry & Wildlife
(MINFOF). The order requests that the Company cease preparing land near its
Talangaye nursery, the resumption of activities “being subject to a declaration
of public usefulness made to the zone where your entire project is located.” The
order comes at a time when the Company’s main activity is the transfer of young
trees from the nurseries to their permanent places in the field near the village
of Talangaye. The Company had obtained permission to proceed and always has and
will comply fully and transparently with government regulations in force. The
Company hopes to understand and resolve these actions by the MINFOF."
The Impact of Land Acquisition on Food Sovereignty: Herakles Farms in Cameroon 4/24/2013 Palm
Watch Africa: By Jaff Bamenjo, RELUFA, JH Cameroon and Nasako Besingi, Director,
Struggle to Economize Future Environment in Cameroon (SEFE)
Land Grabbing Looms: New Palm Oil Plantation Threatens Cameroon's Rainforest 2/22/2013 Huff
Post: "It seems strange that I should have to travel thousands of miles to
Washington, D.C. to get clarity on the fate of my land and community in
Cameroon. But Herakles Farms, the American company threatening to destroy an
area of rainforest where roughly 14,000 people currently live, myself included,
is based here in the U.S."
Challenging year ends in hope for Cameroonian environmental activist 12/19/2012 Greenpeace: "This
award I receive not only in my personal capacity, but rather on behalf of those
who have worked alongside me, within the community as well as further afield,”
he said. “I wish that our struggle against illegal land grabbing will continue,
because we believe that the current location of the Herakles Farms’ palm oil
project in the middle of environmentally sensitive areas will have far reaching
negative impacts on the local human population, wildlife and botanical
biodiversity.” Greenpeace agrees. And we’ll continue working alongside Nasako
into the New Year until this project is stopped."
CAMEROON: Campaigners oppose industrial palm oil plantation 12/14/2012 IRIN: "The
plantation will economically displace approximately 25,000 people and put at
risk many others who depend on that land for small-scale food production,
hunting, and non-timber forest products. Thus, the net impact on employment will
actually be negative. This is not a fair deal," Nasako Besingi, one of the
campaigners against the plantation, told IRIN."
Civil Society Accuses Herakles Farms of sabotaging Biya 12/13/2012 Kumba
News: "The accusations have been voiced by Nasako Besingi Managing Director of
the civil society organization Struggle to Economise Future Environment( SEFE)
which has engaged in a battle to resist the palm plantation project of Herakles
Farms(HF) in Ndian Ndivision hinging its argument on environmental reasons. The
Guardians Post Caught up with Nasako in its Kumba Bureau Monday November 19,
2012 a few days after he and five others were released from detention in
Mudemba."
Cameroun: Récompensé pour sa lutte en faveur du foncier équitable 12/13/2012 Journal
du Cameroun: "Nasako Besingi a reçu le prix TAIGO 2012, de l’acteur non étatique
pour son combat contre l’accaparement des terres dans la région du Sud-ouest."
Nasako Besingi wins a prize for opposing SGSOC project 12/12/2012 All
Voices: "The Director of the NGO, Struggle to Economize Future Environment
(SEFE) Nasako BESINGI is the winner of the 2012 TAIGO non-state actor. Nasako
becomes the first winner in this category since the competition was launched in
2011. The prize to non-state actors rewards the commitment of Mr. BESINGI for
transparency and governance, particularly in the context of his struggle to
publicize the inconsistencies of the SGSOC project and the violation of Cameroon
land laws and international conventions that characterize it."
Campaign Update– Cameroon: Opposition to Herakles Repressed 12/11/2012 Cultural
Survival: "Nasako Besingi, the director of Struggle to Economise Future
Environment (SEFE), one of our coalition partners on the ground in Cameroon, was
arrested November 14th along with five others in the town of Mundemba,
Cameroon.Local and international pressure was successful in releasing the
activists after being held for two days with no charge."
Cameroon: Thwarting the
VPA’s promise … ... Yet taking a step forward 12/1/2012 FERN: "Implementation
of the VPA between the EU and Cameroon, ratified in August 2011 is being
complemented by a decree1published on 9 November 2012 by the Minister of Forests
and Fauna of Cameroon (MinFoF): the decree suspends the exploitation, throughout
the entire country, of two precious tropical species, bubinga and wenge."
Cameroon: Arbitrary arrest of and judicial harassment against Mr. Nasako Besingi
and four SEFE collaborators 11/29/2012 World Organisation Against
Torture: "According to the information received, in the morning of November 14,
2012, over 15 heavily armed Gendarme officers led by Brigade Commandant Luc
Evoundou raided the premises of SEFE in Mundemba, where over 50 members of the
local population had come to get T-shirts that were prepared for a peaceful
campaign against the company Sithe Global Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), a
local subsidiary of the New York based company HERAKLES Farms, and its
establishment of a controversial large-scale palm oil plantation on 73,000
hectares in the area[1]. On this same day, the Governor of the southwest region
from Buea was visiting Mundemba to install the local government official and the
local population wanted to use this occasion to wear the T-shirts as a means to
peacefully voice their rejection of the oil palm plantation project to the
authorities."
Cameroon: Arbitrary arrest of and judicial harassment against Mr. Nasako Besingi
and four SEFE collaborators 11/29/2012 FIDH: "The Observatory has been
informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary arrest of and judicial
harassment against Mr. Nasako Besingi, Director of the NGO Struggle to Economize
Future Environment (SEFE), a local environmental organisation based in Mundemba,
Ndian division, Southwest Cameroon, and four of his collaborators, Ms. Ekpoh
Theresia Malingo, Mr. Isele Gabriel Ngoe, Mr. Mosongo Lawrence Namaso and Mr.
Nwete Jongele."
Facts on the ground undermine Herakles’ Cameroonian PR offensive 11/22/2012 Greenpeace: "Bruce
Wrobel the CEO of Herakles Farms has long claimed that his is a company that
represents a positive presence in Africa. Indeed it seems impossible at present
to pick up a newspaper in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé without reading about
one minor miracle or another taking place in the south west of the country that
can only be attributed to the company and their benevolence. Minor miracles that
the company is paying for themselves to advertise. But flying over the same
southwest region and the real effect of Herakles Farms' presence in the country
becomes all too evident. Like ugly pockmarks, craters of forest clearings to
make way for what could eventually be a palm oil plantation ten times the size
of Manhattan, are visible for miles around in what is otherwise a sea of trees."
Cameroon — Greenpeace International says security officers detained four
environmental 11/17/2012 AP
Land Grabbing Looms: New Palm Oil Plantation Threatens Cameroon's Rainforest 10/26/2012 Huff
Post: by Nasako Besingi, Founder and director, Struggle to Economize the Future
Environment (SEFE)
Campaign Update – Cameroon: Protests Show Dissent on Palm Oil Project 8/15/2012 Cultural
Survival
Africa Palm-Oil Plan Pits Activists Against New York Investors 7/18/2012 Reuters: "Right
now, Africa is the target of many companies hungry for forest land. An April
2012 study by the World Wildlife Fund and France’s Institute for Research and
Development noted that new regulations and scrutiny elsewhere are “encouraging
large Asian companies to heavily invest in Central Africa.” Herakles Farms,
owned by New York venture-finance firm Herakles Capital, and other food giants
such as Malaysia’s Sime Darby and Singapore’s Olam, see the next big growth area
down the west coast of Africa, from Liberia to Gabon."
RELUFA Newsletter - Cameroon 3/1/2012 RELUFA: "A local group, the Struggle
to Economize Future Environment (SEFE), initiated the mobilization of the
population to protect their community rights. In August 2011, SEFE introduced a
court case against SGSOC asserting that their planned oil palm project will have
disastrous consequences for local peoples’ livelihoods; destroy biodiversity,
wildlife and hydrology. Following the lawsuit, the court placed an injunction on
the activities of the SGSOC. But curiously, SGSOC failed to respect the court
orders and continued with their activities. The Ndian High court in Mundemba
ordered the arrest of the company officials for violating the court orders."
Palm Oil Plantation News, Cameroon
Nasako villages threatened by palm oil plantations: following a world-wide resurgence of plantation economies.
www.facebook.com/StopHeraklesDeforestation
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