Monthly Archives: May 2017

Over 500 killed in DR Congo unrest since March

16, May 2017

Over 500 killed in DR Congo unrest since March 0

More than 500 people have been killed during heavy fighting between government forces and tribal militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the past two months, the army says. “DRC’s armed forces have been waging operations to back up the police since end March in Kasai,” the army’s Brigadier General Leon-Richard Kasonga told a news conference on Monday.

According to Kasonga, there were 390 tribal militia fighters and 124 government forces among those killed in the violence gripping the country’s central Kasai region “Our troops respect international humanitarian law and human rights… we have acted professionally,” said Kasonga, without providing a civilian death toll. The unrest was triggered by the killing of tribal chief Jean Pierre Mpandi, also known as Kamwina Nsapu, by army troops last August. The tribal leader had launched an uprising against President Joseph Kabila.

The Kamuina Nsapu uprising has become the most serious threat to the administration of Kabila, whose refusal to step down following a defeat in the latest polls sparked chaos in the vast central African country. Kabila’s presidential term expired on December 19, 2016, but ruling officials have effectively prolonged his mandate until 2018, claiming that the government would not be able to arrange elections before then.

Source; Presstv

CPDM burglars raid Finance Minister’s Office, Hundreds of millions, Valuables carted away

16, May 2017

CPDM burglars raid Finance Minister’s Office, Hundreds of millions, Valuables carted away 0

A well-placed source has hinted Cameroon Concord News that the Francophone Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey reported a burglary in his ministerial department that took place between Thursday the 11th and Friday the 12th of May to the police.  A security agent who confirmed the incident observed that the alleged burglars made away with several hundreds of millions of CFA francs including several documents classified as “top secrets” in the offices of the Minister and His private secretary.

Camcordnews understands the robbery took place without any breaking-in, an act that raises many questions. A highly placed civil servant at the ministry who spoke to our undercover reporter said many people have been seeking to know if Minister Alamine Mey and his secretary share offices with third parties or whether it is a job ordered by some “rogues” in Etoudi.

A journalist with the state radio and television who contributed to this report also noted that the perpetrators of the alleged burglary are not in the populous neighborhoods of Yaoundé city but are all lined up in the corridors of the Ministry of Finance.

By Sonne Peter

Cameroon Concord News

SDF Secretary General says public funding does not oblige the party to follow Biya in his totalitarian and irresponsible abuses against West Cameroonians

16, May 2017

SDF Secretary General says public funding does not oblige the party to follow Biya in his totalitarian and irresponsible abuses against West Cameroonians 0

The Social Democratic Front (SDF) has expressed outrage with certain Francophone newspapers that recently accused the leadership of receiving financial donations from the Biya regime.  In a statement issued on May 15, 2017, the Secretary General of the party, Jean Tsomelou disputed the allegations leveled against the SDF.

Reacting to reports that the main opposition party received 6.5 billion CFA francs from the government, he replied that this was only a campaign of blackmail and intimidation. “The large family of the SDF was astounded on May 15, 2017 by a suspicious and anti-professional behavior of certain Francophone bodies of the Cameroon press.”

Jean Tsomelou also accused the Yaoundé based Francophone media of serious and misleading reporting against the Social Democratic Front -SDF and its national president Ni John Fru Ndi. For the Secretary General of the SDF, public funding of political parties “is not a gift” and does not oblige the party “to follow the Head of State in his totalitarian and irresponsible abuses since the beginning of the Southern Cameroons crisis.”

The SDF also pointed out those there vicious allegations came from a highly placed Cameroon government official. For this reason, the SDF Secretary revealed that a special edition of the SDF ECHO will clarify national and international opinion on the realities of public funding of parties as provided for by law and that the SDF will prosecute before the competent courts “the perpetrators and accomplices of this acts.”

The newspapers Le Soir and L’Independent are among the press organs that have reported the billions received from the government by the SDF.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

Francophone media attacks on Fru Ndi provoke backlash

15, May 2017

Francophone media attacks on Fru Ndi provoke backlash 0

Francophone ferocious media attack on Chairman Fru Ndi sparked equally fierce commentary from SDF militants and sympathizers. Biya reportedly ordered his Beti-Ewondo media gurus to launch a malicious attack on the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, Ni John Fru Ndi following the SDF decision to boycott the upcoming National Day celebration. The leadership of the main opposition party in La Republique du Cameroun has come under fire from pro Biya newspapers in Yaoundé who accused the Chairman of political banditry.

A few days after a communiqué from Ni John Fru Ndi called on Cameroonians not to celebrate the 45th edition of the so-called National Day, Francophone media houses serving the Yaoundé regime have published sensitive documents from the Ministry of Finance criticizing the SDF and its 76-year old leader for having received public funding amounting to 6.5 billion FCFA.

Fru Ndi’s die-hard supporters have however dismissed the allegations and opined that Biya was applying the same guerrilla tactics that his government recently condemned the Paris based international news magazine Jeune Afrique for negative reporting on Cameroon. Nevertheless, several political parties in Cameroon have benefited from the allocated sum of money by the state.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

African American family kicked off JetBlue flight over birthday cake

15, May 2017

African American family kicked off JetBlue flight over birthday cake 0

An African American family has been kicked off a JetBlue flight for carrying a birthday cake that flight crew said posed a “safety risk.” The incident took place at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 3, when Cameron Burke, his wife and their two children tried to board a Las Vegas-bound flight en route to a birthday party for the mother.

The flight crew gave the Burkes conflicting advice on where to store their birthday cake and ended up forcing them off the plane although they were fully compliant, said the family. A video clip from the incident shows that the Burkes were forced off the plane even after Port Authority officers showed up at the scene and saw “no wrongdoing” on their part.

JetBlue confirmed Sunday that the family was asked to leave the airplane after they insisted on storing the cake in “improper” places and refused to move it. “The customers became agitated, cursed and yelled at the crew, and made false accusations about a crew member’s fitness to fly,” JetBlue spokesman Doug McGraw said.

Burke children and their mothers look on nervously as flight crew confront them for bringing a cake on board an airplane, May 3, 2017.

Apparently, one of the crew first asked the family to move the cake from their overhead bin to another one and then told them to store it under a seat. However, another flight attendant appeared and asked the family to leave.

“I just want to know why,” Cameron’s wife, Minta, is heard shouting on the video. “Exactly!” Cameron replies. “For a cake?” McGraw said that all passengers were deplaned and rebooked as a result. The plane then took off with the family’s luggage.

The Burkes flew to Las Vegas on a United Airlines flight the next day. However, Cameron said he was going to file a lawsuit against JetBlue.

Source: Presstv

Lord Justice Ayah Paul Affair: PAP to boycott May 20th parades

15, May 2017

Lord Justice Ayah Paul Affair: PAP to boycott May 20th parades 0

PAP

The Secretary General of the Popular Action Party, PAP, Akoson Raymond has announced the party’s decision to boycott the May 20 celebration in Cameroon.

In a release signed by the Scribe, PAP explained that the events from October 2016 portrayed a lack of unity between the two peoples that make up Cameroon. PAP pointed out that the continuous detention of Anglophones arrested during the heart of the crisis and the failure by the Yaoundé regime to open constructive political dialogue as recommended by International bodies like AU, UN,UK and the US prompted its leadership to adopt the boycott strategy.

Lord Justice Ayah Paul Abine’ s secretary general in his release, reiterated that it will join other Southern Cameroon groups to observe ghost town on May 20 and that PAP members and sympathizers will dress in black attires in memory of all those who have died during the crisis.

The leader of PAP, Lord Justice Ayah Paul Abine is one of the prominent Southern Cameroonians arrested during the crisis and the SG revealed that the decision to boycott the parade came after intensive consultation with the Advocate General of the Supreme Court.

PAP now joins SDF, CPP, PADDEC to boycott the May 20 Parade in Cameroon. Cameroon Renaissance Movement of Maurice Kamto has also announce a boycott if security measures are not beefed up in the two regions.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

Emmanuel Macron inaugurated as France’s president

14, May 2017

Emmanuel Macron inaugurated as France’s president 0

France’s centrist Emmanuel Macron has taken the reins of the French government as president of the country. The inauguration ceremony took place in the Elysee Palace in Paris on Sunday. Macron, 39, who is a former investment banker and economy minister, won the presidential election with 66 percent of the votes on May 7.

Macron officially became president after Laurent Fabius, who is chairman of the constitutional council, read out the results of the presidential election in the Sunday ceremony. To win the post, Macron defeated ten other candidates, far-right contender Marine Le Pen being the last one.

In his inauguration speech, Macron vowed to support French people and businesses. “France has the potential to play a leading role in the global stage,” the new president said. He said France had to overcome divisions in the society to activate those potentials. Macron also said that, on his first official foreign visit as French president, he planned to travel to neighboring Germany.

Germany and France are the European Union’s two heavyweights, who aim to jointly set the tone on policy in the EU. “Europe needs to be re-founded… EU will be reformed and re-launched,” Macron said. Prior to the inauguration, Macron took part in a private one-on-one meeting with outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande.

French outgoing President Francois Hollande (R) is escorted by his successor Emmanuel Macron (L) as he leaves the Elysee presidential Palace at the end of their handover ceremony.(Photo by AFP)

In the meeting, Hollande briefed his successor, who had served as his economy minister for two years, and handed over to him the secret codes to launch France’s nuclear missiles.

Macron is France’s youngest president ever and the first to be born after October 5, 1958, when President Charles de Gaulle set up the Fifth Republic from the ashes of the Fourth Republic, replacing a factional parliamentary government with a centralized one.

Culled from Presstv

2017 GCE Crisis: Tension as Black Vipers issue stern warning to Anglophone parents

14, May 2017

2017 GCE Crisis: Tension as Black Vipers issue stern warning to Anglophone parents 0

The Francophone government has made it public that the practical part of the 2017 June session of the General Certificate of Education, GCE, will begin tomorrow Monday May 15, 2017 in all Centers across the country including students who did not register for the examination.

The decision to allow those who did not registered for the 2017 GCE session was taken by the Francophone Secondary Education Minister, Jean Ernest Massena Ngale Bibehe while on a tour of Southern Cameroons territory. The Minister revealed that new centers have been created and those who did not register will be separated from the eligible candidates.

Tight Security has been previewed for Monday in all the centers following assurance that came from Mr. Jean Ernest Massena. This year, the corrupt management of the GCE Board announced that some 129 000 students registered for the exams— 54 000 less than last year’s figures.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has warned parents to keep their children at home at all times and to also boycott the so-called National Day parades coming up on May the 20th. The newly created military wing of the Southern Cameroons revolution known as the ‘black vipers’ have promised to ruthlessly crush any student whoever dares to go out to take part in this year’s GCE. The Francophone government has assured parents that nothing will happen to their children.

Several candidates who fled the troubled North West and South West regions will be writing in Douala, Bafoussam and Yaoundé.

By Rita Akana with files from Cameroon Info.Net

DR Congo hit by fresh Ebola outbreak

13, May 2017

DR Congo hit by fresh Ebola outbreak 0

The first Ebola outbreak since the crisis in West Africa that killed 11,300 people has been declared in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday, after the virus caused three deaths in the area. In a television address, Health Minister Oly Ilunga confirmed the cases while urging the population “not to panic.”

The country “has taken all necessary measures to respond quickly and efficiently to this new outbreak,” he said. The DR Congo outbreak is the first there in three years. The three deaths all occurred since April 22. The WHO said it was working closely with DR Congo authorities to help deploy health workers and protective equipment in the remote area, which is difficult for teams to access, in order to “rapidly control the outbreak.”

The organization underlined the importance of tracing people who had contact with confirmed victims to prevent the disease spreading. Sufferers are advised to keep themselves isolated while awaiting treatment for a disease whose incubation period is 21 days.

The WHO said the outbreak, the eighth to date in DR Congo, had affected an equatorial forest region difficult to access in Bas-Uele province, bordering Central African Republic. The last instance of Ebola in Congo in 2014, which was not linked to an outbreak in neighboring states at the time, was quickly contained and killed 49 people according to official figures.

That outbreak saw 66 registered cases hit the district of Boende some 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of Kinshasa for an official fatality rate of 74.2 percent. The United Nations at the time saluted the “immense work” DR Congo authorities had put in to contain the disease spread. In 2013, an Ebola crisis began in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Source: Presstv

Fear of Consortium: MRC says militants will not take part in 20th May parades in Southern Cameroons

13, May 2017

Fear of Consortium: MRC says militants will not take part in 20th May parades in Southern Cameroons 0

The leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, Prof. Maurice Kamto has announced that his party will not take part in 20th May celebrations in the South West and North West regions of the country.  The Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) said it wishes to preserve the safety of its militants during the next parade in which it will actively take part in other areas in French Cameroun.

“It is not, therefore, a boycott of the parade in these Regions, because to do so would be to validate the end of the Unity of our Nation, an idea that is unimaginable for the MRC and which no patriot can think of . It is only a matter of preserving the security of our militants, sympathizers and the populations of these regions, taking care not to add to the tensions prevailing there.” says Maurice Kamto, The president of the MRC.

Kamto reminded his militants that the 45th edition of the feast of National Unity has been interpreted by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society as provocative following the CPDM government’s posture of defiance faced with the deep political crisis born from legitimate Anglophone frustrations. He added that the unity of the nation now remains in danger.

In addition, the MRC reiterated that it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the populations and leaders of West Cameroon and support the idea that only the release of all the English-speaking leaders currently held in Francophone prisons and the opening of a real political dialogue can reduce the situation which is slowly but surely going out of control due to an irresponsible and anachronistic approach of the crisis by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

By Sama Ernest

Cameroon Concord News

 

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