Monthly Archives: August 2017

Buea: Zacharie Nkwo reaches his final resting place

6, August 2017

Buea: Zacharie Nkwo reaches his final resting place 0

Former senior football commentator, Zacharie Nkwo has been buried in a strict family ceremony in the Buea County in Southern Cameroons. His final funeral rites were staged at the mortuary of the Regional Hospital in Buea on Saturday, the 5th of August 2017 in the presence of a crowd of relatives, friends and fans of deceased including Mister Isaac Sinkot, a former indomitable lion and friend of the deceased.

After a brief stop at the family home, the long funeral procession went to the parish of St. Peter and Paul in Molyko for a requiem mass. In his homily, the Bishop of Mamfé, Monsignor Andrew Nkea, exhorted the audience to seek more the kingdom of heaven. For his part, veteran journalist, Gregory Allen, a comrade of the deceased, noted that the career of Zacharie Nkwo was rich in positivity and love for his country.

Some, like Jules Mbende, a journalist, still remembers some of the performances of the late sports chronicler, which he mimed in the ceremony before the emotional audience. Zacharie Nkwo graduated from the Yaounde School of Journalism (ESJY) in 1975 and worked at Radio Cameroon, Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) until his retirement in 2003.

He died on the 4th of June from an illness at the age of 68. With Abel Mbengue, Zacharie Nkwo whom many recognize as the precursors of this trade in our country formed a tandem of anthology. Two powerful voices (French and English) who made the glorious days of the sports desk in the 80s and 90s on the antennas of Radio Cameroun now national post of the CRTV.

By Rita Akana
Cameroon Concord News



Man who criticized Obama in 2011 for playing golf, goes to golf club resort on 17-day vacation

5, August 2017

Man who criticized Obama in 2011 for playing golf, goes to golf club resort on 17-day vacation 0

US President Donald Trump has gone on a 17-day holiday to one of his golf resorts near New York. Trump arrived at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey on Friday for his extended break. The Trump National Golf Club occupies 535 acres of rambling countryside in central New Jersey, 45 minutes away from New York City.

The president, who had repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Barack Obama, for taking too many vacation days to play golf and even vowed during his election campaign not to go on vacation if he became president, left the White House in complete shambles.

This is his first long absence from the White House since he became president. The White House said the president’s stay at his golf resort would be a “working vacation”. “The President will continue to work over the next two weeks,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters. The White House’s faulty cooling and heating systems were cited as one of the reasons for the president’s untimely leave.

Trump criticized Obama in 2011 for playing golf and then heading to a 10-day vacation. “Nice work ethic,” Trump tweeted back then. “Pres. Obama is about to embark on a 17 day vacation in his ‘native’ Hawaii, putting Secret Service away from families on Christmas. Aloha!,” Trump tweeted on another occasion. Not only did Trump criticize Obama for his vacations, he routinely told supporters he would never take time off if he were elected because he would be swamped with work.

“I would not be a president who took vacations,” he said in 2015. “I would not be a president that takes time off.” Despite his comments, Trump has taken considerably more time off than Obama in their respective first seven months in office.

According to a Washington Post tally, by the end of August Trump will have spent all or part of 53 days at leisure during his presidency, compared with 15 days for Obama through August 2009. Trump, who is grappling with a Russia scandal, has been the target of extraordinary leaks from government officials since he took the helm.

Trump has also failed to win any major legislative scores in his first seven months in office, and is at odds with several Republican lawmakers on multiple fronts. Trump’s popularity is at an all-time low, as well. A recent poll from Quinnipiac University found that only 33 percent of American voters approve of his performance in office, while 61 percent were against him. This marks Trump’s lowest approval and highest disapproval number since elected. ‘If you are not happy, leave!’

Vicente Fox, Mexico’s former president, who is an outspoken critic of Trump, has questioned the reason for his extended vacation, saying he should leave office if he is unhappy. “[L]eaving on vacation, huh? What for? If you’re not happy with your job, just leave. After all, it was never for you,” the former Mexican president tweeted.
The tweet by Fox seems to be in reference to a former tweet by Trump in which he stated his aversion to vacations. “What’s the point [of vacation]? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job,” Trump had tweeted back in 2012.

Source: Presstv


Kagame seals victory in Rwandan presidential election

5, August 2017

Kagame seals victory in Rwandan presidential election 0

Rwanda’s incumbent leader Paul Kagame has sealed a crushing victory in presidential elections that granted him a third term in office, extending his 17 years in power. Kagame has won international plaudits for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery in the Central African nation since the 1994 genocide, when an estimated 800,000 people Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

But he has also faced mounting censure for what critics and rights groups say are widespread human rights abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. With 80 percent of votes accounted for, the 59-year-old former guerrilla leader secured 98.66 percent, the National Electoral Commission’s Executive secretary Charles Munyaneza told a news conference.

“We expect that even if we get 100 percent of votes, there will not be any change,” he said. The board expected turnout to top 90 percent in the East African country of 12 million citizens once full details emerged, in elections that fielded only a single opposition candidate, Frank Habineza, and an independent.
Kagame, who cast his vote in Kigali’s Rugunga polling station on Friday, said he would work to sustain economic growth in the tiny nation.

“This is another seven years to take care of issues that affect Rwandans and ensure that we become real Rwandans who are (economically) developing,” he said in a speech broadcast live on television. He won the last election in 2010 with 93 percent of the vote and during this campaign for a further seven-year term, said he expected an outright victory.

(Source: Reuters)


ECOBANK rules out leaving Cameroon

5, August 2017

ECOBANK rules out leaving Cameroon 0

Media reports in Cameroon recently hinted of an imminent departure of Ecobank. Messages both audio and written circulated on social networks, appealing to customers of the bank to withdraw their savings before it was “too late”.

The rumor came following a statement from the bank, some ten days ago, announcing the reduction of its staff and the closure of some of its agencies. A strategy already in place in Western Europe and the US aimed to reduce crowding while leveraging evolving digital channels to expand services.

The management of the bank has issued another statement signed this time around by its general manager, Gwendoline Abunaw. The GM in the press release noted that Ecobank is committed to deliver cost-effective, convenient and flexible banking.

Said Gwendoline Abunaw, “We want to tell all our customers that Ecobank continues to attach great importance to its activities in Cameroon. For the last sixteen years, we have been working to expand our business and increase the number of our customers, and we have become the fourth largest bank in the country.

Ecobank is a modern, pan-African, forward-looking bank committed to using digital technology – in our case, mobile banking – to deliver cost-effective, convenient and flexible banking solutions to its customers.

While we are committed to rolling out our digital strategy, we continue to offer our services in our agencies, ATMs and cash points in nine of the country’s ten regions. We would like to sincerely thank our customers for their loyalty. ”

By Sonne Peter with files from Cameroon Info.Net



Torture allegations against French Cameroun troops on American base is investigated

5, August 2017

Torture allegations against French Cameroun troops on American base is investigated 0

The U.S. military has opened an inquiry into allegations that French Cameroun troops carried out torture and murder at a base where American troops were present, a U.S. spokesman said Friday.

Amnesty International last month said it had documented 80 cases of abuse by La Republique troops at their Salak base in the country’s Far North region. Amnesty alleged the abuses were carried out between 2013 and 2017 against people suspected of involvement with Nigeria-based Boko Haram extremists.

Amnesty said U.S. troops were present at several locations within the Salak base, headquarters of the Rapid Intervention Battalion. Col. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command, said a “commander’s inquiry” has been launched to determine if any U.S. troops were aware of any of the alleged abuses.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government has criticized the Amnesty report. Most of the cases investigated by Amnesty International involved men 18 to 45 years old, though the group documented the mistreatment of some women, children and people with mental and physical disabilities.

“Detainees were severely beaten with various objects including electric cables, machetes and wooden sticks,” suspended from poles and subjected to drowning, the report said, adding that many were deprived of food, water and medical attention.

Several people interviewed said they had witnessed deaths after torture. Boko Haram’s insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in northeastern Nigeria and neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The countries all contribute to a multinational force to combat the insurgency.

Source: FOXNews



TB Joshua: How to know your CPDM political leader uses witchcraft

4, August 2017

TB Joshua: How to know your CPDM political leader uses witchcraft 0

If you see a rich CPDM politician such as Hon. John Ebong Ngolle or Minister Atanga Nji Paul emerging from a funny nasty building or location, putting on African attire, or if you watch them address the masses in a specific coat and regularly pats their shoulder that is witchcraft in action.

We had witnessed many of the above scenarios in the early days of multiparty politics when the Right Hon. Simon Achidi Achu had control of the North West province and the Maradona of South West politics, John Ebong Ngolle was still in active service.

During the 1990s, an election was the season of harvest for witch doctors, and if Southern Cameroons history is anything to go by, politicians were seen trooping to dusty huts in droves to ‘bewitch’ voters, their opponents or to simply arm themselves with talismans to ward off juju.

When party nominations or news of a new cabinet appeared to be just around the corner, witch doctors were raking in cash by the truckload. CPDM politicians even accused opponents in the SDF of visiting witch doctors at night while joining congregations in Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches on Sunday mornings.

Some years ago during the violent demonstrations that were caused by food shortage, President Biya in a statement, made a mockery of his opponents within his ruling CPDM party that they were visiting some weak and inefficient sorcery dens to boost their chances of ousting him. Biya did not name the said politicians but we now know them from the lists of those in the Kondengui High security prison.

While some CPDM politicians visit native doctors to win elections, others outsource them to eliminate rivals. In Manyu Division, elderly women were paid millions to dance on the streets naked so that no CPDM candidate could lose a seat in the National Assembly.

To win a ministerial seat, many from Southern Cameroons had to visit the twin lakes in the Kupe Muanenguba constituency while many others traveled to neighboring Nigeria. A parliamentary seat required some nights with the chief priest at a cemetery. To be a governor, the stakes were even higher including numerous trips to the Pigmies in the East and to Oku in the North West. The witch doctors in some occasion accepted installment payments. One had to pay a reasonable amount before the elections and the rest after winning.

For instance, when the CPDM wins, the cabinet minister pays more and part of the extra is burnt and is mixed with special ointment. The Minister had to apply this oil on his seat in his office to enable him stay in the Biya cabinet. A witch doctor revealed that he gave CPDM politicians ‘special spices’ to rob on their manhood and make love to young girls recruited from nearby high schools.

The spices were added to the food served to the girls during the reception after the rallies. The concoction worked like magic, noted one of the South West CPDM regime. “It hardly backfires and you were assured of a lucrative position in government.”

The CPDM clients must undergo a special ‘cleansing’ ceremony. The big men and women had to drop a 500 frs coin in a calabash for greeting the spirits then proceeded for body anointment, similar to a massage, using oil and fresh herbs. This was aimed at ensuring the client’s body responds to the so-called medication. After this, you were ready to receive the juju powers.

Affluent people who are predominantly in the ruling CPDM have a lot to lose if things don’t go their way. So, for them, if it’s witchcraft that can make sure they are comfortable in their positions, they will go for it. Poor people have little to lose and their solution is usually fervent belief in Jesus Christ. So, many CPDM politicians are engaging in witchcraft despite being active in their professed religions, and this is worrying.

John Ebong Ngolle, seen recently at TB Joshua in Nigeria was a youthful administrator very much loved by Prime Minister A.N Jua and was appointed Senior Divisional Officer by Jua in 1965. He served in all divisions in the South West and North West provinces and in some cases twice. His last SDO position was in Ndian Division from where he was appointed Governor of the South West Province in 1989 to replace Magloire Ngemba who was transferred to Bamenda.

Just over a year later, he was appointed to the North West Province. He played his political cards very well and helped get the CPDM all the 20 parliamentary seats in the North West that made Achidi Achu prime minister and head of government.

He became a cabinet minister in 1992 and was given additional responsibilities as board chair of Sonara and CPDM political bureau member. His other administrative colleagues (Majority of blessed memory) served honorably and died peacefully. Joseph Mbassi Ngoh, Bambot Sickot, Tabi Arram Mpey, Akoto Ndang. Today, here is the biological son of a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC rolling on the floor in a black church in Nigeria with a pastor pushing his head like a common sinner.

Another pathetic CPDM case is that of Oben Peter Ashu! The late arrogant administrator was Senior Divisional Officer for Ndonga Mantung and many Southern Cameroonians have opined that he masterminded the ‘Ndu Masacre’. With the help of John Ebong Ngolle, the then Minister of Territorial Administration, Gilbert Andze Tchoungui appointed Oben Ashu as Governor of the South West province to replace Etame Massoma who was moved to the West.

Governor Oben Peter Ashu instituted his famous “Come No Go” policy and targeted the grass field people. Oben was dropped by the Biya regime and on retirement in Buea he worshiped at St Martin Catholic Church in Bokwango Buea. He met HIM and openly asked for God’s forgiveness.

Chief Inoni Ephraim had a meteoric rise in the system and it was believed he had the best juju man that the CPDM leadership could rely on. President Biya even spent a night at his residence in Bakingili when he visited the volcano eruption site.

He has been everything in the regime including prime minister and head of government. Recently, he told some Supreme Court judges that he has met HIM and he was now at peace with Jesus Christ.

We all know that Ebong Ngolle did not go to TB Joshua for healing. He went there to destroy the pact he had signed with the devil over the years. Our Southern Cameroons politics needs hygiene.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
Cameroon Concord News Group


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Major Darrel Efu Egbe is installed as the new commander of the Support Battalion

4, August 2017

Major Darrel Efu Egbe is installed as the new commander of the Support Battalion 0

Major Darrel Efu Egbe, 41, has taken over from another woman, Col. Dr Nga Owona Nkounou as Commander of the Command and Support Battalion. She was commissioned during a ceremony at the court yard of the headquarters of the First Joint Military region in Yaoundé.

The Military Region that covers the Centre, South and East Regions is in charge of protecting the administrative units of its zone of command. During the brief military ceremony void of speeches, the new commander was presented to the troops of the Command and Support Battalion with instructions to obey her orders in the line of duty, the execution of military orders and in respect of Cameroonian law.

Brigadier General Simon Ezo’o Mvondo, Commander of the First Joint Military region told the newly installed to revive the command and support battalion.

The senior military officer is a wife and mother of three. She holds a War College Diploma obtained in Jaji Kadouna in Nigeria. She is also holder of a Higher Diploma in International relations. She began her military career in 1988 in the Combine Service Military Academy. She graduated as a lieutenant as part of the Captain Lissia Matna batch.

Source: CRTV



Southern Cameroons-Bakassi crisis: Biya sends moderate Anglophone minister as envoy to Abuja

4, August 2017

Southern Cameroons-Bakassi crisis: Biya sends moderate Anglophone minister as envoy to Abuja 0

Cameroon has denied reports of the killing of 97 Nigerian fishermen by its gendarmes in Bakassi peninsula and maltreating Nigerian refugees in that country. A three-man delegation dispatched by Cameroonian President Paul Biya stated this in Abuja on Thursday at a joint briefing at the end of a meeting with the Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama. The leader of the delegation, Cameroonian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, said the delegation was in Nigeria to discuss issues of mutual benefits to both countries.

Ngute said there was no iota of truth in all the reports, saying Cameroon is a law abiding country and no such thing would ever happen. On the reported killing of over 97 Nigerians, the minister said nobody was killed, noting that it was a fabrication which appeared in the media, which nobody knew its purpose.

“We are here to inform the government of Nigeria that a month ago, we had reports in the media concerning massacre of people in the Bakassi area. “We sent our administrators and we asked Nigerian Counsel in Buea to accompany them. They went there and realized that not a single person was touched and nobody was injured or killed,” he said.
The minister said that the team came to discuss the situation that afflicted North Western part of Cameroon and North-Eastern part of Nigeria concerning the fight against Boko Haram. Ngute said that the two countries had been working perfectly in trying to clip the Boko Haram terrorists group and make sure that the evil group was completely alienated.

He also denied the report that his country maltreated Nigerian refugees, saying that they had protested to UN human right commission on the issue. “You know being a refugee is a very difficult condition. We in Cameroon are very sensitive to the issue. “If you visit our camp where we have about 60,000 refugees, they are being given the most humane treatment that we in Cameroon can give and can afford along with the UNHCR.

“We were a bit surprised by that report and we take exception to it. We drew the attention of the UNHCR that in Cameroon we have been abiding by the law,” he said. Ngute also briefed Nigeria on other issues of interest, especially the Southern Cameroons revolution and the stance of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium including resolving the industrial action by the Anglophone teachers and lawyers trade unions in the area.

Onyeama in his remarks said there was no distrust between the two countries. “On the contrary both countries are extremely close, working together very closely and I think sending this delegation by the president himself shows the importance he attaches to that relationship.

“We are also keen that this should trickle down to average Nigerian and Cameroonian. And I think by and large, it does. “However, we also have to be careful of social media where you can have a very small minority of people generating a narrative that is not in any way reflective of the reality,” he said.

Onyeama noted with pleasure the recent cooperation between both countries in the fight to reclaim territories under Boko Haram in the North East. He said that Cameroon had been fighting shoulder to shoulder with Nigerian soldiers against Boko Haram. The minister said that Cameroonian intervention in the fight had been very important and decisive.

Source: Vanguard


Trump says ‘I am the world’s greatest person’

4, August 2017

Trump says ‘I am the world’s greatest person’ 0

US President Donald Trump had tense exchanges during phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia in January, just days after his inauguration, according to leaked transcripts of his calls. Transcripts of the two conversations Trump had with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were obtained by The Washington Post, which posted them online on Thursday.

The transcripts were assembled from the notes of White House aides listening to the calls, the newspaper said. The transcripts confirm previous news reports of tension during the conversations with Peña Nieto on January 27 and with Turnbull the next day, just a week after Trump’s inauguration.

When the Post published an account of the conversations in early February, Trump tweeted that it had been a “very civil conversation that FAKE NEWS media lied about.” The publication is the latest of sign that established norms are breaking down inside the White House and reflect the vicious infighting inside the White House between rival factions, despite the appointment of the new chief of staff John Kelly.

The transcripts of his conversations “show the president to be no more coherent in private than he is public: ill-informed – even about a major attack on US soil – and narcissistic to the point of absurdity,” The Guardian said.

Trump told Turnbull during their call on January 28 that “I am the world’s greatest person” and “you are worse than I am.” The exchange was so sharp that Trump said talking to President Vladimir Putin of Russia was more pleasant.
The conversation became combative after Trump said he would not honor a bilateral agreement between Australia and the administration of former President Barack Obama concerning refugees landing in the US.

“I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country,” Trump said. “It makes me look so bad and I have only been here a week.” “Somebody told me yesterday that close to 2,000 people are coming who are really troublesome,” he complained to Turnbull.

Turnbull explained that it was important for the United States to live up to the agreement and the deal required the US to accept up to 1,250 refugees, not 2,000, and each of them would be subject to vetting and could be rejected. “That is a good idea,” Trump said. “We should do that too. You are worse than I am.” “Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous,” Trump said shortly before ending the call abruptly.

During his conversation with Mexico’s Peña Nieto, Trump repeatedly threatened to impose a stiff border tax to keep out Mexican products and complained about “pretty tough hombres” who were bringing so many drugs over the border. The biggest point of contention came as Trump insisted that Peña Nieto stop saying publicly that he would not pay for the border wall that the US president had promised to build on the US-Mexico border.

“If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that,” Trump said. “We find this completely unacceptable for Mexicans to pay for the wall that you are thinking of building,” Peña Nieto told Trump. “My position has been and will continue to be very firm, saying that Mexico cannot pay for that wall.”

Culled from Presstv


Southern Cameroons: Security forces arrest members of heavily armed gang in Mbengwi

4, August 2017

Southern Cameroons: Security forces arrest members of heavily armed gang in Mbengwi 0

The Francophone Governor of the Bamenda County in Southern Cameroons, Adolphe LELE L’Afrique has been holding series of security meetings regarding the arrest of a group of seven heavily armed persons in Mbengwi, the chief town in Momo Division.

Local media report says the 6 unidentified men and a woman were neutralized in the Mbengwi County by elements of the Francophone dominated elite force known as the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR.

Nothing has so far filtered from police interrogation. However, reliable sources deep within the Mbengwi colonial administration hinted that their intention was to wreck havoc with explosives they carried on them.

The 7 reportedly dressed themselves up as United Nations personnel wearing cloths inscribed with the UN Logo. It is still not clear whether they are workers with the United Nations or impostors.

The arrest was made at about 4 a.m on Thursday and it has caused general panic in the entire Southern Cameroons territory.

Culled from Cameroon Info.Net



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