Monthly Archives: November 2017

27, November 2017

Trump launches attack on news media again ⁰

US President Donald Trump has suggested that a contest should be held to determine which news network covers him in the most “dishonest” and “corrupt” way, as he has again labelled many of the outlets “fake news.”

“We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!” Trump tweeted on Monday.

Trump’s comments were his latest attack against the news media for the coverage he receives. During a speech in Phoenix, Arizona, in August, he called journalists “truly dishonest” and “sick people.”

The president also took repeated jabs at the media on Twitter over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at his golf courses in Florida.

Trump has repeatedly used the term “fake news” to cast doubt on critical media reports about his administration, often without providing any evidence to support his case that the reports are false.

As a candidate, Trump had pursued the same anti-media rhetoric threatening to “open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”

Source: Presstv

27, November 2017

China denies role in Zimbabwe’s coup ⁰

China’s Foreign Ministry has denied playing a role in the recent political developments in Zimbabwe that led to the ouster of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe.

“China always upholds the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs and this remains unchanged,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday while congratulating Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Geng also denied claims that a visit by Zimbabwe’s army chief General Constantine Chiwenga shortly before the political crisis erupted in Harare earlier this month was a sign of China’s role in the developments that led to Mugabe’s house arrest.

Geng said Chiwenga’s visit was pre-planned and had nothing to do with the political situation in Zimbabwe.

“It was planned long before and it was also approved by the former president Mugabe,” said the official, adding that the visit was a “normal interaction.”

For nearly half a century, China has maintained a huge influence in Zimbabwe as it originally supported anti-colonial guerrilla fighters in the 1960s and then helped their leader Mugabe rise to power in the South African country.

Beijing backed Mugabe during his 37 years in power and has been among Zimbabwe’s major trade partners.

Mnangagwa, who served as Mugabe’s deputy for years, also received training in China during the liberation struggle of the 1960s.

The spokesman said Mnangagwa, whose sacking by Mugabe sparked the political unrest in Zimbabwe, could further steer Zimbabwe toward progress.

“We congratulate President Mnangagwa on his inauguration … We firmly support Zimbabwe following a path that supports its own national conditions and we believe under the leadership of Mr Mnangagwa Zimbabwe … national development will make further progress,” Geng said.

Source: Presstv

27, November 2017

Of Fru Ndi and the Agbor Balla Press Release ⁰

Dear Editor,

In Africa I remember how we use to arrive at the train stations thirty minutes after the scheduled departure time but were still able to board the train. I was fascinated years after that in Europe, arriving a few minutes after the scheduled departure time had adverse effects. Without exception, whenever I arrived at the train station late, the train had left.

Reading the Press Release from Dr Balla, Fru Ndi and co yesterday regarding the Ambazonia struggle gave me the impression that they have arrived at the train station after the scheduled train had departed. In my estimation they are preachers with no congregations. They should realise that our struggle has taken a diverse bearing. Our people spoke on the 1st Of October and the interim administration has a mandate to implement the demands of our people

This publication arrived a few days after the interim Prime Minister published his first government. You tell me if this is a coincidence. The people of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia are level-headed but can’t be taken for fools.

We can all clearly see through this so call press release. This was meant to have a deleterious outcome on the work that the interim government is undertaking. There are challenges ahead for all Ambazonians and no distractions are required at this stage. As we pull together to support our first administration, the efforts of all who intend to disrupt our struggle must be treated with the contempt it deserves. Do they think that this pathetic and morose statement will have any effect in Etoudi? We all know the answer to that.

For a very long time, Ambazonians and people with brains have not taken Fru Ndi any seriously. His partnership with Paul Biya to betray his constituents has been nothing more than a disgrace. Dr Balla has been exposed as compromised and now they have formed a preposterous partnership. One is left with no alternative but to ask Dr Balla’s political party or leaning?

My submission is they are grossly ignoring the fact that the direction of this struggle has left them with no support. They should join the struggle or stay unobtrusive. Their press release carry no influence.

Nso John Bessong

Barcelona, Spain

27, November 2017

These are the nominees for the 2017 Cameroon Concord News Man of The Year, but do you agree? ⁰

We hereby announce the nominees for the 2017 Cameroon Concord News Man of the Year.

Our panel of experts have argued long and loud about the merits of those on the long list and have now whittled those names down to a shortlist of seven. From here on, democracy reigns. It is up to you. Cast your vote at the bottom of the post.

Tassang Wilfred (The Consortium)

He is principally remembered now for empowering the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium by shutting down all academic establishments in British Southern Cameroons. But this is only one element of what was a glorious contribution to the Southern Cameroons struggle.

For a start, he demonstrated a true West Cameroon’s humility in his description of the plight of Anglophones in La Republique du Cameroun. To the casual observer, it looked like the hard work had been done by Tassang himself when he slalomed through Paul Mingo Ghogomu in Bamenda, lifted the Southern Cameroons debate over Prime Minister Yang Philemon and swiped the baton of command into the hands of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

But according to Tassang, the hard work had in fact been done by the dismissal of the “Show Boy” Barrister Agbor Balla from the Consortium’, a verdict which saw him crowned as the patron saint of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Hon. Joseph Wirba

The Southern Cameroons National anthem is how many Ambazonians now refer to him. Politicians in power have a proud tradition of achievement in the Cameroon Concord News Man of the Year award. Wirba is not one of them.

As Southern Cameroonians were responding to calls for civil disobedience campaigns, blissfully unaware that they were about to witness a historic change in their history, the camera zoomed in one man who was belting out the sufferings of the people of Southern Cameroons with greater solemnity and ferocity than anyone else in his vicinity. Swept up in the moment, he gave the passing lens a hearty salute with these words: “No one can take the Name West Cameroon from the mouths of the Anglophones again”

The People of Southern Cameroons and their powerful Diaspora

Opinion in our editorial desk was initially divided as to whether a group could be classified for the Cameroon Concord News Man of the Year Award. In our snap poll, the verdict came back loud and clear to us from one of our readers, Polycarp Kansamga.

The resilience demonstrated by the people of Southern Cameroons particularly in the afterglow of the famous victory on October 1, took on a new significance. It’s impossible to witness it now and not feel that Southern Cameroonians both at home and abroad deserve to be honored.

Philemon Yang (French Cameroun Prime Minister and Head of Government)

After a harrowing 2016 in which he suffered with depression and poor health with numerous quarrels with Ama Tutu Muna, Philemon Yang emerged from the darkness to lead a Francophone dominated government that had only him as a minister with portfolio. An inspirational tale.

His sister Ama – the 2015-16 Anglophone cabinet minister of the year – functioned as a virtual bodyguard during those bright days before the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium came into existence. With tears in his eyes today, Yang has been caught up in the pangs of a monster he helped in creating. Ever since the beginning of the Southern Cameroons uprising, Prime Minister Philemon is either committing the same errors or falling into spectacular new ones. He has said stuff that really hit home. He said that if I do what Anglophones expect me to do, you’re not just going to kill yourself, you’re going to kill your parents, and you’re going to kill me. It is not nice to be listening to him and seeing the tears flowing down his eyes inside his bedroom.

Professor Messanga Nyamding (French Cameroun CPDM Central Committee Member)

The French Cameroun University lecturer, Professor Messanga Nyamding has been speaking from his heart since the Southern Cameroons crisis started. He blamed the crisis on the so-called collaborators of President Biya. According to him, the staff of the Head of State are divided into two clans namely, the administrative staff he calls bureaucrats and worthless and the collaborators whom he claims have imprisoned Cameroon in a war of networks forming a mystical resilience.

Professor Messanga Nyamding told the world that it is the mystical resilience that is at the root of the Southern Cameroons crisis. He stood firmly for the release of all Anglophone detainees and argued that the same Biya regime had pardoned men like Niat Njifenji, Ahmidou Marafa Yaya, Dakole Daissala who participated in the 1984 April 6th coup.

Prof. Messanga Nyamding recently said that President Biya’s collaborators were staging a comedy show in government. “They tar the roads, repair the bridges, paint the buildings only when it is announced that Biya will be passing in that area. Yet the reality is quite different. It is this CPDM comedy that has angered Anglophones for decades.”

Bibixy Mancho

The Southern Cameroons radio host Bibixy Mancho was always destined to one day contend for the Cameroon Concord News Man of the Year Award. His performance at public demonstrations in the Bamenda County gave the Anglophone struggle the impetus that was needed.

He proceeded to score major political victories during his trial at the Yaoundé Military Tribunal. Unfortunately, the Biya Francophone regime is still keeping him at the Kondengui High Security prison in Yaoundé. This year, Bibixy Mancho painted a picture that the world will never forget on the plight of Southern Cameroonians when he appeared during one of his hearings at the Kangaroo court in Yaoundé.

He has remained defiant and is his face is now the symbol of the Southern Cameroons struggle. When Bibixy Mancho appeared in front of a French Cameroun judge recently, he pleaded that the Francophone regime should release all the teenagers arrested in Bamenda. He did not stop there!! He told the judge to sentence him to death. At the time, many thought it took quite an amount of cheek to turn around and claim the death penalty in these circumstances.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe (Interim Head of State Federal Republic of Ambazonia)

He has firmly established himself as the Southern Cameroons favorite leader ever since the history of the struggle. Any man who can rename the Southern Cameroons territory as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia and it is accepted by all is clearly the author of great deeds.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe emerged as the chosen one in the Southern Cameroons quest for independence. He has provided responsible leadership and continues to do so. It is his performance as the interim head of state that has elevated Southern Cameroons to the status of international treasure, but we were more enthralled by his efforts in the 4^th Conclave that held in Nigeria.

It was there that he elevated the unglamorous and oft-derided skill of ‘holding the leadership up and managing the Milan Affair diplomatically. His composure, the nimble brainwork, the magnificent use of one’s arse – were all present and correct.

By Chi Prudence Asong

VOTING IS NOW UNDERWAY. HAVE YOUR SAY ON WHO SHOULD BE MAN OF THE YEAR BELOW

27, November 2017

Ambazonia Crisis: French Cameroun National Assembly Speaker defiant in face of SDF opposition ⁰

The Speaker of the French Cameroun National Assembly, Cavaye Djibril has said that work will resume at the Ngoa Ekele building today Monday the 27^thof November 2017. Officially, SDF Members of Parliament have not declared an end to their strike action that rocked the 3^rd parliamentary session and caused activities to be suspended in the so-called Lower House since Thursday, November 22, 2017.

The SDF MPs have been demanding that the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime opens an inclusive dialogue on the Southern Cameroons crisis.

Without revealing the aftermath of the talks that were held between the government and SDF parliamentarians, Hon. Cavaye announced on the official website of the National Assembly today’s recovery program in the Francophone dominated national assembly.

– 10 am Conference of Presidents,

– 10.30 am Plenary session deposit of a text and

– 11 am Committee on Foreign Affairs with the adoption of the report on the draft law number 1015 / PJl / AN.

Mr. Cavaye revealed that the MPs including those of the SDF will all answer present today. Another French Cameroun CPDM MP, Hon. Marlyse Rose Douala Bell was quoted as saying that “Unless they change in the meantime. We met at the funeral of Hon. Arthur Ekeke Lysinge in Buea and we talked a lot about how the parliament should discuss this Anglophone crisis. When I say, it’s with the SDF deputies. I think there are also negotiations that are being done at the parliamentary group level and elsewhere to keep this 3rd session going without further disruption.”

By Sama Ernest, CCN

27, November 2017

Ireland urges UK to stay in customs union to avoid hard border ⁰

The Republic of Ireland has threatened to veto Brexit trade talks unless Britain provides guarantees over Dublin’s border with Northern Ireland.

The Irish EU commissioner, Phil Hogan, said on Sunday that the border problem can easily be solved if British Prime Minister Theresa May drops her plans to take Britain out of the European Union customs union and the single market when it departs the 28-nation bloc in 2019.

“If the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issue,” he said. “That’s a very simple fact.”

Britain’s international trade secretary, Liam Fox, quickly rejected Hogan’s solution. He told Sky News that the resolution of the border issue between the two Irelands will have to wait until details about future trade relations with the EU have been worked out.

“We don’t want there to be a hard border, but the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market,” he said.

A hard border would make passport and customs controls mandatory, hampering business ties between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The EU has required sufficient progress on the border issue as a pre-condition to launch the Brexit trade talks next year before officially leaving the bloc in 2019.

In an interview with the Observer, Hogan (pictured above) also warned there was “blind faith” from some UK ministers that Britain would secure a comprehensive Brexit free trade deal. He warned that Ireland would “continue to play tough to the end” over its threat to veto trade talks until it had guarantees over the border.

The Irish government wants a written guarantee that there will be no hard border with Northern Ireland, something Dublin emphasizes can only be achieved, in effect, by keeping the region within the single market and customs union. However, May has repeatedly made clear that Britain will leave the single market and customs union, regardless of the border implications.

Ireland’s approach has also been rejected by Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionists, a Northern Ireland party that is using its votes in the parliament to prop up May’s minority government.

Foster told her party conference Saturday that the party would not back any agreement that “creates barriers” between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, in effect ruling out special status for Northern Ireland in the post-Brexit era.

Source: Presstv

26, November 2017

US: Cameroonian dies after being hit by 2 cars on Thanksgiving Day ⁰

On Thursday, many of us celebrated Thanksgiving with our families. Serge Deumeni from Cameroon did not. 40-year-old Serge Deumeni was struck and killed in Adelphi, MD near New Hampshire and Metzerott Rd. Deumeni’s family is now pleading for a second driver to come forward as the family continues to search for answers in their loved one’s death.

Prince George’s County Police said Deumeni was hit by two cars trying to cross New Hampshire Ave and Metzerott Rd. at around 7:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

Deumeni’s twin brother told WUSA 9, he didn’t know what Serge was doing in the area, but he did say, they were expecting Deumeni later that night. The 40-year-old never showed. Deumeni’s brother said he got the phone call at around 2 a.m. the next day.

“He has an 18-year-old girl,” said Deumeni’s brother. “She still back in Cameroon, and she’s been crying, and she’s been telling me I’m lying. It’s not true, her father’s not dead.”

Deumeni came from Cameroon, a country in Central Africa, about a year-and-a-half ago. Deumeni’s twin described his brother saying, “He was a sweetheart, very funny guy. Hardworking guy.” A guy who took-on all kinds of tasks.

The immigrant activists group, CASA de Maryland, confirmed Deumeni was a part of their Day Laborer program. CASA’s Langley Park office is less than two miles from Thursday’s fatal collision. Police said Deumeni was found deceased in the roadway Thursday night.

He was struck by a car. That driver stopped. But while on the ground, police said he was hit again by a second car — a small sedan that didn’t stop.

Police are still investigating. It is unclear whether Deumeni was in the crosswalk at the time or when exactly he died. What we do know is: police are searching for that second driver and so is the victim’s family.

“Please, if somebody knows something, please, say something. Please. Say something,” said Deumeni’s brother.

The family is now preparing to fly Deumeni’s body back to Cameroon, where he will be buried. Prince George’s County Police said there is a chance that second driver did not know they hit a person. Police have not said yet whether the driver who did stop will face any charges.

Source: Wusa9

26, November 2017

Americans set record for gun checks on Black Friday at more than 200,000 ⁰

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has received over 200,000 background check requests from gun dealers across America on Black Friday, the highest demand for guns on a single day since 1998.

Overall there were 203,086 requests were submitted to the bureau, a sizable increase over single-day highs from past years such as 185,713 in 2016, and 185,345 in 2015.

The real number of the guns purchased on Friday is likely higher as multiple firearms can be purchased in just one transaction.

The checks, conducted by the FBI when a gun is purchased from a federally licensed dealer, reveal a person’s record of arrest on the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS).

However, pro-gun activists claim it fails to specify whether an arrest was dismissed or resulted in a conviction.

According to the NICS, five of the top 10 single-day highs have occurred on a Black Friday over the last five years.

The report comes amid heated debates over the need for a more effective background check system following several high-profile mass killings across the US over the past weeks.

In early October, a heavily armed gunman killed 59 and injured more than 500 people at a music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, which has some of the most lax gun laws in the country.

The shooter, Stephen Paddock, purchased 33 automatic weapons in the last year. Police found a total of 47 guns in the hotel room and house of 64-year-old, who rained down a barrage of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air concert.

In early November, Devin Patrick Kelley, a former US airman, attacked a small church outside San Antonio, Texas, killing 26 people.

The US Air Force admitted later on that it had failed to enter Kelley’s criminal record into the NICS.

According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, more than 100,000 Americans were shot each year from 2006 to 2014, as a result of assaults, accidental shootings or suicide.

Trump’s 2016 election campaign was heavily funded by the NRA. In response, the billionaire had pledged to protect the American gun owners’ right to keep and bear arms, assuring them that they now have a “true friend” in the White House.

Source: Presstv

26, November 2017

Crisis in Ambazonia: Shock as GHS Fontem burns ⁰

Government High School Fontem located in the Ambazonian State of Lebialem was burned on Friday, November 24, 2017. Cameroon Concord News gathered from sources close to the French Cameroun administrative official that flames consumed a good part of the administrative building.

According to French Cameroun news agencies, the fire broke out on the night of Friday around 23:00. An alert was issued to people who were quick to react to save the other buildings of the high school.

The flames were reportedly violent and reduced everything in the office apartment to ashes. One of the teachers who spoke to the media about the incident observed that the computers, chairs, tables and documents were completely consumed by the fire.

The so-called Sous-préfet of Fontem who visited the scene on Saturday morning declared that the origin of the fire is still unknown for the moment, but an investigation was opened to take stock of the situation . Nevertheless, according to one of the school’s discipline masters, the fire was orchestrated by those who want the doors of the institutions to remain closed. Since the beginning of the Anglophone crisis, many schools in the Federal Republic of Amabazonia have been ravaged by flames.

By Eyong Johnson

26, November 2017

US pastor impregnates 14-year-old girl who gave birth to his child ⁰

A certified pastor in the US state of Colorado has been arrested after allegedly impregnating a 14-year old girl, who gave birth to his child.

The 22-year-old pastor, identified as Romello Leach of Colorado Springs, faces multiple charges of sexual assault against a minor, local daily The Gazette reported Saturday, adding that he served as a pastor for several local churches in the city.

According to the report, the unidentified teenage girl gave birth to the child on September 15 when she was 15 years old.

She reportedly did not inform anyone about her pregnancy until her mother noticed her “larger belly” in May, according to arrest records cited in the report.

The teenager’s mother took her to the Colorado Springs Pregnancy Center where they notified an employee that Leach was the father, the affidavit further stated. The employee then informed the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office of the pregnancy, prompting the launch of an investigation.

Leach told his ex-wife in a recorded telephone conversation that he had sexual relations with the teenager and admitted to being the father of her baby, arrest records also indicated.

Leach further explained to his ex-wife that “he knows he had made the worst mistake” and “it’s not like he will go around and sleep with everybody’s 13 or 14-year-daughter,” according to the affidavit.

In a different recorded phone call, Leach admitted to an unidentified person of having sexual relations with the girl at least four times and being the baby’s father. Leach “admitted the behavior was wrong and said he was full of lust at the time,” the daily reported.

Leach is being held at El Paso County jail without bond, the report said, adding that deputies were probing whether there were any other victims of Leach’s.

Culled from Presstv