Monthly Archives: May 2017

24, May 2017

Filthy and inhumane: Biya regime bans Amnesty International press conference ⁰

Police banned a press conference today in Yaoundé organized by the Amnesty International office for West and Central Africa. The officials of the renowned body were surprised at the Biya’s regime reaction and informed press men and women that they had respected all legal procedures but “We are extremely surprised at the ban on this press conference,” said Aliuone Tine, Amnesty International’s regional director for West and Central Africa, facing a dozen policemen in uniform including some elements from the Secret Service.

Cameroon Concord News understands Amnesty International intended to present to the media a petition which recorded more than 300,000 signatures worldwide, through which thousands of people asked the 84 year old dictator President Biya for the release of three students each sentenced to 10 years in jail, for circulating a joke on Boko Haram, by SMS

The three Cameroonian students were convicted of non-denunciation of terrorist acts on the 2^nd of November 2016 and 310,000 people around the world are asking the Cameroonian authorities to release these students and allow them to join their families for them to realize their dream of being able to continue their studies and find a job. Among the signatories of the petition are celebrities like Patrick Mboma, a Cameroonian football legend.

In December 2014, Fomusoh Ivo received an SMS saying, “Boko Haram recruits young people from 14 years. Conditions of recruitment: 4 GCE subjects including religion “. According to Amnesty International, his friend’s SMS was meant to highlight the difficulty of finding a good job without a diploma, and suggested, in the tone of the joke, that included the armed group, Boko Haram.

The young Fomusoh, forwarded this message to Afuh Nivelle Nfor, who then sent it to Azah Lewis Gob. These three young people were charged on 3 March 2015, under the Penal Code and the Cameroonian Military Justice Code.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest

24, May 2017

Biafran secessionist protestors arrested in Nigeria ⁰

Nigeria arrested 55 members of a Biafran separatist movement during protests in the oil-rich south-east, police said. Secessionist sentiment simmered in the region since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped the country into a civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people.

In Enugu, a major city in the south-east, 41 members of a Biafra group were arrested, police spokesman Ebere Amaraizu said. “They were not violent per se but they conducted themselves in a manner that could breach the peace,” he said. “They are still in custody and undergoing interrogation.”

In Bayelsa state, part of the Niger Delta, 14 Biafra movement members who had been trying join a protest were arrested, said a police source. Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra campaign group, was released on bail on Friday after being detained for nearly two years. He has been charged with criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society. Amnesty International last year accused Nigerian security forces of killing at least 150 Biafra separatists at peaceful rallies, which the military and police deny.

Defenseweb

24, May 2017

Kofi Annan says Trump should engage in talks with Iran ⁰

Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan urges US President Donald Trump to engage in talks with Iran rather than retaining his current antagonistic stance towards the Islamic Republic. Trump has adopted an invariably harsh tone when talking about Tehran, calling it the “number one terrorist state” and criticizing his predecessor Barack Obama for being too soft on Iran.

During his recent Middle East tour, the new US president endorsed Saudi Arabia and Israel’s long-drawn-out practice of Iranophobia. Washington agreed to sell the kingdom USD 110 billion worth of arms to “counter” Iran. The Trump administration has also leveled sanctions against the country over its defensive missile work, which Iran asserts only serves the purpose of deterrence.

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on May 20, 2017, shows US President Donald Trump (2nd-R) and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (L) dancing with swords at a welcome ceremony ahead of a banquet at the Murabba Palace in Riyadh. (Via AFP)

“It is important to reach out and talk to Iran,” Annan told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Iran is part of the solution” to the conflicts in the Middle East, including Syria and Iraq, and “we cannot get away from that fact,” he added.

Iran has been lending military advisory support to the Syrian and Iraqi counter-terrorism operations. It has also been trying successfully alongside Russia, another Syria ally, and Turkey, which backs anti-Damascus militants, to bring the warring sides in Syria to the negotiating table.

Annan said what justified an open approach towards Iran was its reaching out to the world by clinching the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. The former UN chief described the nuclear agreement as “good” and welcomed the re-election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a key architect of the deal “as a sign that the Iranian people clearly desire peaceful relations with the outside world.”

Trump has described the agreement, which was negotiated under the Obama administration, as the “worst deal ever” and threatened to “tear it up” during his election campaign late last year.

Annan added that Washington’s posturing, including labeling Iran the enemy and a purveyor of terrorism, is not going to contribute to the realization of peace in the region in any way. “What is required is steps which diffuse tensions and divisions, and not steps which deepen divisions,” he said. “And we need to be very careful of what action we take, what we say, because words can soothe, they can calm but they can also provoke and they can also excite.”

Annan also recalled Trump’s comments on the possibility of a meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. “Iran has shown more discipline and responsibility than North Korea,” he said. “I can’t understand why he can’t go to Iran, a nation that by signing the agreement is also trying to open up and reach out to the broader world — and that should be encouraged rather than be pushed the other way.”

Culled from Presstv

24, May 2017

2 UN peacekeepers killed in Mali ⁰

Two peacekeepers were killed and a third wounded on Tuesday in an ambush in restive northern Mali, the nation’s UN mission said. The troops were patrolling on foot near Aguelhok, which is close to the border with Algeria, when they were attacked, the mission said in a statement.

A military source told AFP that the soldiers belonged to Chad’s contingent. Stationed in Mali since July 2013, MINUSMA has just over 12,000 military and police personnel working on what is considered the UN’s most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment.

The attack was the latest in “a wave of violence in the last weeks,” MINUSMA chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif was quoted in the statement as saying. A UN peacekeeper from Liberia was killed and nine others injured early this month in a rocket and mortar attack near Timbuktu.

UN peacekeepers stand guard near the airport on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali. (Photo by AFP)

The attack, like many others in the last weeks, was claimed by a powerful extremist alliance (GSIM), a fusion of three Malian extremist groups with previous Al-Qaeda links. It is headed by Malian extremist Iyad Ag Ghaly, a former leader of Ansar Dine.

Mali’s north came under attack from extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 who hijacked an ethnic Tuareg-led rebel uprising. Though the extremists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013, extremist groups continue to mount attacks on civilians and security forces in the arid remote north.

(Source: AFP)

24, May 2017

Buea City Council: The sorry record of salaries under Mayor Patrick Ekema ⁰

Four workers of the Buea City Council in Southern Cameroons have embarked on a hunger strike over unpaid salary. The workers who had earlier suspended their strike last week due to the May 20 parade, on Tuesday May 23, 2017 besieged the premises of the regional delegation for Labour and Social Security before moving to the Governor’s office.

The strike leader, Hans Manga Monono is accusing Mayor Patrick Ekema of deliberately keeping their salaries for reasons best known to him. He told reporters that all attempts made to meet the Mayor has met with a stone wall. The workers are Hans Managa Monono 17 month’s arrears, Njie Martin Evakise and Moki Charles Toni 5 months each and Mbua Elizabeth Ngowo 22 months.

Njomo, a staff delegate speaking on behalf of the Council revealed that the four workers had abandoned their duties and cannot today be claiming months of arrears. He said he as a staff representative has not been handed the file of the workers who according to him were supposed to meet him first before taking the matter to court. The striking workers are now waiting on the Governor of the South West region to resolve the situation in their favor.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

23, May 2017

French Cameroun: CPDM government celebrates “mixed” couples ⁰

After a failed national day celebration in both French and Anglophone Cameroon, the Biya Francophone regime is now brandishing the names of cabinet ministers who are married to women from outside their regions of origin as a major achievement and a justification that the nation is one and indivisible. , L’Œil du Sahel news paper reportedly having strong ties with the regime in Yaounde revealed that Ministers Amadou Ali, Louis Paul Motaze, Baba Hamadou, and the disgraced Marafa Hamidou Yaya including many other highly placed government officials are married to women from other regions.

The paper observed that the Francophone political elites view national integration in Cameroon with passion of the mind. L’Œil du Sahel made an incursion into the private lives of certain senior Francophone members of government among them Ministers, MPs, Senators and general managers of state owned corporations who are sharing their lives with women from other regions and cultures.

The report revealed that Amadou Ali, the Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, is married to Agnes Françoise Ali, born in Moukouri in the Littoral region. Amadou Ali is a Kanuri Muslim who went to look for a woman in a non-Muslim family in the Littoral, more than 1000 km from place of birth in Kolofata.

In another case, Louis Paul Motaze, the current Minister of Economy and former Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s Office is married to Aïssa, an Haoussa from the Logone and Birni Division in the Far North region whom he met in 1985. To be sure, Louis Paul Motaze and Aïssa Motaze will be celebrating 33 years in matrimony this year.

Senator Baba Hamadou originally from Ngaoundéré got married to Françoise Hamadou an Ewondo from Ngoumou. The couples have been married for 27years now. In the same vein, the former minister today in prison, Marafa Hamidou Yaya has bonded with Jeannette, a Sawa from Banassama while Sports Minister Bidoung Mpkatt has Habissou Bidoung from the North.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

23, May 2017

Eseka train Disaster: Biya offers 1 billion FCFA to victims, Vindicates Transport Minister ⁰

Following the rail accident which occurred on 21 October 2016 at Eseka, President Paul BIYA on 25 October 2016, set up a Commission of Inquiry under the authority of the Prime Minister, Head of Government. The said Commission was tasked with determining the causes of the accident and proposing measures aimed at reducing risks of similar disasters in the future, apportioning blame for the accident and, assessing the management of this disaster and of victim assistance as well as making any helpful suggestions related thereto.

The Commission of Inquiry enlisted the services of qualified international rail accident experts. It conducted an elaborate review of multiple reports and documents, as well as hearings and trips to the accident site. Based on its investigations, the Commission of Inquiry established that the rail carrier CAMRAIL was mainly to blame for the derailment of Intercity Train No. 152.

The inquiry report concluded that the main reason why the train’s coaches overturned was over speeding (96 kmlh) on a rail section with an extremely low speed limit (40 km/h) as well as a steep slope and several sharp bends. According to the experts, such over speeding is due to CAMRAIL’s non-observance of safety rules. Indeed, Train No. 152, which was put into service that very day, had major abnormalities and defects, notably: – overloading of the train and undue extension of the rake; – use of passenger coaches several of which had defective braking systems; – use of a motor carriage whose rheostat braking system was not in working order; – no proper pre-departure inspection in Yaoundé of the rake’s brake continuity; and – refusal by hierarchy to take into account the reservations expressed by the train driver about the above mentioned abnormalities and defects.

The Commission of Inquiry also concluded that the capacity of Government services to conduct rescue operations during disasters must be enhanced for greater responsiveness, coherence and fluidity and for better victim management. After taking cognizance of the findings of the Commission of Inquiry, the President of the Republic has prescribed the following measures: (1) (5) review of the concession agreement signed on 19 January 1999 between the State of Cameroon and CAMRAIL corporation, and of the two amendments concluded in 2005 and 2008; opening of discussions among CAMRAIL partners for stronger State presence in the said corporation and greater focus on social aspects, notably in passenger transport; short-term establishment of the railway heritage management company provided for under the said Agreement, responsible for maintaining the railway network, as well as implementing railway modernization and extension projects; inflicting appropriate sanctions on the officials held responsible for the accident, in the inquiry report; forwarding the inquiry report to the judicial authorities for ail legal intents and purposes.

Regarding the situation of the accident victims, the President of the Republic has taken cognizance of CAMRAIL’s actions undertaken or planned to compensate the families of the deceased and provide financial assistance to the injured. He urges that the process be finalized at the earliest opportunity. The President of the Republic has decided to disburse the sum of FCFA one billion (1,000,000,000) as supplemental assistance to the victims and their rightful claimants. Furthermore, he has ordered the erection of a steel in Eseka to commemorate this tragic accident. With a view to improving emergency management by government authorities, the President of the Republic has ordered the enhancement of the national major disaster and risk prevention and management system through (i) mainstreaming of terrorist act occurrences, (ii) better ownership by stakeholders of their respective roles and of the chain of command, and (iii) regular conduct of full-scale drills. The Head of State has directed the Government to promptly take the actions necessary for the strict implementation of the above mentioned directives. President Paul BIYA, reaffirms his solidarity with and the entire nation’s support to the victims of the tragic Eseka rail accident and the affected persons.

By Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh

Secretary General

Presidency of the Republic

23, May 2017

UK: Prime Minister May’s campaign falls into disarray over social care policy scandal ⁰

The election campaign of British Prime Minister Theresa May has fallen into disarray after she announced a U-turn on the Conservative Party’s social care policy. May made a reversal on her policy on social care costs, strangely branded as the “dementia tax,” but she claimed that “nothing has changed” since her party’s manifesto was published on Thursday.

The prime minister said she made some clarifications about her policy in response to Labour Party leader’s Jeremy Corbyn’s “fake claims.” “Since my manifesto was published, the proposals have been subject to fake claims made by Jeremy Corbyn. The only things he has left to offer in this campaign are fake claims, fear and scaremongering,” she said on Monday while launching the Welsh Tory manifesto in Wrexham, Wales.

“So I want to make a further point clear. This manifesto says that we will come forward with a consultation paper, a government green paper. And that consultation will include an absolute limit on the amount people have to pay for their care costs,” she stated.

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (C) reacts as he meets supporters during a general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England on May 22, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

However, according to The Guardian, Prime Minister May is wrong to say that Corbyn made “fake claims” about the Conservative social care policy. The newspaper wrote that initially Corbyn got some of the detail of the policy wrong but later on he made valid criticism.

The Conservatives were planning to make people pay for care in their own home unless they have assets of less than £100,000 including the value of their house, according to The Guardian. It created widespread fears among families who said that they could lose their homes to pay their social care costs later in life.

Labour officials warned that the Conservative policy would “leave thousands of the most vulnerable at risk of losing their homes.” First time in this election campaign, May’s character has become an issue, and at a time when the Conservative lead over the Labour Party has narrowed to single digits in several polls.

In an interview on Monday, May was asked several times why she was not being “honest” about her decision of capping on care costs. While talking to reporters in Wrexham, May refused to accept she was performing a U-turn. “Nothing has changed, nothing has changed.”

But a BBC journalist bluntly told her: “Your manifesto rejects a cap, it gives a reason why you don’t want a cap. Now you’re going to have a cap. You need to be honest, I would suggest, and tell the British people you’ve changed your mind.” May replied insisting that she’s being “absolutely honest with the British people about the big challenge that we face. And absolutely honest with them about the need for us to deal with this now, to start fixing it now.”

Culled from Presstv

23, May 2017

Fru Ndi reigns supreme: Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam ⁰

Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam has affirmed that Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi reigns supreme at the head of the Social Democratic Front, SDF. The MP who also moonlights as one of the numerous Vice Presidents of the National Assembly was guest on the television program L’Arène on Canal 2 international on May the 21^st 2017. Mbah also said John Fru Ndi remains at the head of the SDF because he is unbeatable.

The SDF front liner answered tough questions concerning the Anglophone crisis and the long awaited holding of the next National Congress of the SDF party. About the 8th Congress, the Honorable Mbah Ndam revealed that the lack of financial resources delayed the event.

“The SDF is an opposition political party. And like all the parties that did not choose to rally with the presidential majority, we have financial difficulties, “explained the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, in response to a question about the holding of the Congress.

Mbah Ndam noted that “Fru Ndi has not yet said he is tired and wants to hand over the baton. I can run for the presidency of the party, but before I do that, I have to be certain I can beat Fru Ndi. For now, I know his weight on the ground.” Mbah observed that the establishment of federalism and the release of those currently on trials in the framework of the Anglophone crisis should be the first step towards ending the uprising. As a reminder, the National Executive Committee of the SDF party has a budget of 80 million FCFA.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

23, May 2017

Yaounde: Awareness programmes mark “World No Tobacco Day” ⁰

A free consultation campaign for smokers has been launched at the Cite Verte District Hospital in Yaoundé. The two-day campaign that began on the 22nd May 2017 was initiated by the Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control (C3T) as part of activities ahead of the World No Tobacco Day on the 31^st of May 2017. Commemorative activities are holding under the theme, “Tobacco: A threat to development.”

According to the Communication Officer of C3T, Caleb Ayong the health campaign aims at informing smokers on the damage caused by smoking and the importance of constant medical check-up and follow-up treatment. He also stated that tobacco is a deadly product that kills half of all its consumers, adding that many ignore the devastating effects of tobacco because they are not immediate.

The Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control’s Communication Officer expressed the wish that by the end of the campaign, Tuesday 23rd May, many smokers would have turned up for the free consultation and take necessary measures to get adequate treatment.

According to a communiqué signed by the President of the C3T, Dr Flore Ndembiyembe, sensitization stickers will be distributed to inter-urban transporters on 30th May and a Poster Exhibition dubbed the Shocking Truth will be organized at the Cercle Municipale, Bonanjo in Douala on 31st May 2017.

Source: CRTV