Monthly Archives: December 2017

Indomitable Lions: Stoke’s Cameroon international settling into ‘tough’ league

26, December 2017

Indomitable Lions: Stoke’s Cameroon international settling into ‘tough’ league 0

Cameroon international Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting says he is enjoying life in English football despite the recent slump in form by his Stoke City side.

Choupo-Moting, 28, joined the Potters in the summer from German Bundesliga team Schalke, and was on the scoresheet in a morale-boosting 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday which ended a run of three straight defeats.

“I am doing good, I am feeling good. It’s a great championship, great competition but a tough league, every game is tough,” said Choupo-Moting.

He has so far been used as both a striker and winger in Mark Hughes’ side and admits English football can be demanding.

“Physically you have to be 100% to play in the Premier League,” Choupo-Moting told BBC Sport.

The former Hamburg, Mainz and Schalke player announced his arrival in the league with a brace against Manchester United in only his second game for Stoke.

He has scored four league goals but says that conversion rate does not truly reflect his contribution to his team.

“This game is not only about goals,” he said.

“I try my best, I like the league, I play a lot and that’s the most important thing because I came here to play.”

Choupo-Moting says some former team-mates from his time in Germany – such as Manchester City’s Leroy Sane and Joel Matip of Liverpool – have also helped him settle in England.

“The football world is very small. I contacted all the guys I played with in Germany and it’s nice to see each other here in England,” said the Cameroonian.

Strugglers Stoke are 14th in the Premier League – just three points above the relegation zone, having lost 10 of their 19 league matches this season.

They play Huddersfield away on Boxing Day before a home game against Chelsea on 30 December.

Choupo-Moting says the Stoke players need to remain united to produce positive results.

“We have to keep working as a team and I will also try and score more goals,” he added.

 

Source: BBC


Cameroonians Pray for Peace on Christmas Day

26, December 2017

Cameroonians Pray for Peace on Christmas Day 0

This Christmas, both Christians and Muslims are praying for peace to return to Cameroon. Until a few years ago, the country never experienced serious violence or unrest; but, the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, the spillover of violence from the Central African Republic and the turmoil in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions have made life difficult for many.

Thirty youths representing churches and mosques are roaming the streets of Cameroon’s capital, urging everyone to pray that peace returns to the trouble spots of this central African state.

Among the singers is Bertrand Bayaga of the Full Gospel mission. He says he does not want more bloodshed in Cameroon.

Bayaga says he is praying for the government to be tactful and tolerant in finding solutions to all problems, because he does not want the country that their forefathers shed their blood for, to achieve its independence and unity, to be divided.

A nationwide prayer campaign was organized by pastor Jean Libom Li Likeng of the evangelical church of Cameroon.

The pastor says he organized the prayers to call on God to urgently come to the help of the Cameroon nation. He says through the massive participation and prayer he witnessed, he is satisfied that the country’s elite and people of God have understood that God is calling them to contribute in bringing peace to Cameroon.

Peace under attack

FILE - Christians breaking fast wtih Muslims at a mosque in Yaounde.

FILE – Christians breaking fast wtih Muslims at a mosque in Yaounde.

At the Yaounde central mosque, Imam Oumarou Issa says he is respecting the call for prayer because peace is under attack.

“Every one of us must apply the command of the almighty God to live in peace, in harmony with the other people everywhere,” he said. “We are and we must be, all of us, without any distinction, ambassadors of peace.”

Cameroon had not experienced any major challenges for decades. In the past few years, however, it has been enveloped by the bloody Boko Haram insurgency in the north, incursions from armed groups based in the C.A.R. and calls for secession from two English-speaking regions where many feel ignored by the country’s French-speaking majority.

FILE - A still image taken from a video shot on Oct. 1, 2017, shows protesters waving Ambazonian flags in front of a road block in the English-speaking city of Bamenda, Cameroon.

FILE – A still image taken from a video shot on Oct. 1, 2017, shows protesters waving Ambazonian flags in front of a road block in the English-speaking city of Bamenda, Cameroon.

Peter Ndzelen, who attended Christmas Day services at the Yaounde cathedral, says he especially hopes the government will engage in sincere dialogue with the secessionists.

“It is good to bring people together, [for them to] express your [their] minds, bring the advantages and disadvantages of one system [of government] or the other and you talk and agree. It is not a taboo. Do not think that the person who is claiming independence or anything is somebody who cannot even change his mind or sit at the table and talk,” he said.

Cameroon is due to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in 2018, with longtime President Paul Biya expected to seek a seventh term.

 

Source: VOA


Southern Cameroons Crisis: Biya regime announces unprecedented, wildly irrational spending binge

26, December 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Biya regime announces unprecedented, wildly irrational spending binge 0

Of the 238.910 billion CFA francs accorded the Ministry of Defense during the recent controversial budgetary session of the National Assembly, 124.212 billion CFA francs will be spent on military hardware to combat the Southern Cameroon Defense Force.

Defense Minister, Jospeh Beti Assomo made the revelation and pointed out that Yaoundé intends to beef up Cameroon armed forces logistical, human, technical and operational aspects to “preserve the territorial integrity of the nation and ensure the safety of citizens and their property”.

“The goal is to win the war in the South West and North West regions” noted Mr. Beti Assomo. The Francophone member of government indicated that “no part of the South West and North West will be neglected and it is the question of providing appropriate answers to these two poles of insecurity in Anglophone Cameroon”.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report


Moscow: Bus drives into pedestrian underpass, kills 5

25, December 2017

Moscow: Bus drives into pedestrian underpass, kills 5 0

Five people were killed when a city bus ploughed into a pedestrian underpass in western Moscow on Monday, traffic police said.

“A bus drove into a pedestrian underpass,” a traffic police spokesman, Artyom Kolesnikov, told AFP.

“According to preliminary information, five people died.”

There were also unconfirmed reports that some 15 people had been injured.

Footage broadcast on national television showed a bus driving down the stairs, running over several pedestrians.

The incident happened on Kutuzovsky Avenue, near the Slavyansky Bulvar metro station in the western part of the Russian capital.

This photo shows the bus which crashed into an underground passage in Moscow. (Photo by RT)

 

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident but Russian news agencies said that the driver had been detained.

The Interfax news agency said investigators were looking into whether the incident had occurred as a result of a technical fault with the bus.

“There are dead and wounded,” tweeted Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. “We are providing emergency aid,” he said, offering condolences to families of the victims.

(Source: Agencies)


As Trump rages about Immigrants, Cameroonian sisters go to the Ivy League- New York Times

25, December 2017

As Trump rages about Immigrants, Cameroonian sisters go to the Ivy League- New York Times 0

Ten years ago, a family arrived in the Bronx from Yaoundé, Cameroon, not speaking a word of English. This Christmas, they are celebrating a feat that would be impressive for any family: Three of the family’s five daughters have been accepted to Ivy League universities.

In a year in which our nativist president would have you believe that immigrants are, at best, a job-stealing drain and at worst, criminals, rapists and people with AIDS, these three remarkable sisters are worth paying attention to. Not just because they are inspiring — they are — but because they are far better ambassadors for this country and exponents of its ideals than the 45th president.

“We brought the girls to this country because there are better opportunities here,” says Flore Kengmeni, their mother, who works as a nurse. “I don’t know of another country where you can try hard, work hard and get somewhere. Where you are given the opportunity to fulfill your potential.”

“This country is built on immigrants,” Francois de Paul Silatchom, their father, a professor of economics at SUNY, starts to say, before his middle daughter, Ella, a sophomore at Yale, interjects: “Our experience as a family is what America is.”

That experience is marked by hard work, optimism, resilience and a persistent sense of gratitude even to have the opportunity.

 All three girls admit it wasn’t easy. They recall sitting in class during their first year in America and not understanding what their teachers and classmates were saying. They remember being made fun of, but not really knowing why.

“Everyone spoke so fast and I guess we speak that fast now, too,” says Xaviera, the youngest of the three, who was accepted to Harvard earlier this month.

They turned to books for guidance. Their parents got the girls library cards and made reading mandatory — “Education is the most valuable asset,” the parents say repeatedly when we meet. The sisters were encouraged to read broadly, from “The Magic School Bus” to “ Harry Potter,” and they practiced English as a family in their two-bedroom apartment in the Bronx’s Pelham Parkway neighborhood.

By the end of their first year at their local public schools, the girls had learned enough English to take the state exams, and were excelling in their classes. But their parents were alarmed that they were finishing their homework during the school day and coming home bored. They asked teachers to assign their daughters more homework. But even that wasn’t enough.

“Something was wrong,” Mr. de Paul Silatchom says. “I started looking for schools that would challenge them and keep them busy. At a school fair, we learned about Democracy Prep.”

At Democracy Prep, a public charter school in Harlem where I met them one recent afternoon, the day begins at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. Longer school days, many argue, allow teachers to spend more time on subjects other than math and English, and keep students out of trouble.

Francois de Paul Silatchom, left, poses for a portrait with his daughters (Left to right,) Xaviera, 17, Ella, 19, and Chris, 20, and their mother Flore Kengmeni, center, at their church on the Upper East Side.Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Through the school’s Korean language program, the sisters were exposed to a culture completely different from their own, which sparked an interest in global affairs for all of them. Civics is a core part of the school’s curriculum, which Xaviera says showed her that, “Regardless of how disadvantaged you are in society, you have an advantage if you understand how our system of government works.”

“I learned so much here,” Ella says of the school. “And between that and our parents, my work ethic — our work ethic — really developed. Our parents required us to do an extracurricular, so sports or choir or whatever and that was for after 5 o’clock. That was normal for us.”

When the oldest, Chris, now a junior at Dartmouth, got into the college in 2014, friends and family were elated, but her parents made it clear that the work wasn’t over.

“The night I got into Dartmouth, Mom asked me, ‘Have you done the dishes?’ Getting in was exciting and I knew she was proud, but it was just a regular day,” Chris says.

“They haven’t ‘arrived,’ as people like to say, just because they are into Ivy League schools,” Mr. de Paul Silatchom says. “It’s a good start and a platform of opportunity.”

When speaking, the sisters transition seamlessly between New York-accented English and French, their first language. The irony that they landed at a school called Democracy Prep after immigrating from one of the world’s least democratic countries is not lost on them.

It’s something they’ve spent a lot of time thinking about as President Trump has rolled out various cruel immigration policies, from his proposed travel ban to, in September, rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA — an Obama-era program that protected the country’s approximately 800,000 undocumented youth raised in the country from being deported.

“It’s scary to see because this is not the country we know,” says Chris, who along with her sisters, became an American citizen in 2016. “America at its core is principled on immigrants. We came to this country to improve our futures and I feel as American as anyone born here.”

“These girls are more American than Cameroonian,” their mother says. “Can you imagine being undocumented? We were very lucky,” Xaviera adds.

Watching videos of immigration agents separating families in recent months has been particularly difficult for Ms. Kengmeni and Mr. de Paul Silatchom. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like for these children who go to school in the morning knowing they might come home at the end of the day to no parents,” Ms. Kengmeni says.

This year, Christmas break involves running around to pack for Chris’s semester abroad and attending three Christmas Masses, but the family is grateful to be all together, even if it’s for just a few days. They know they are the lucky ones.

Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded or co-founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Watching Ella, Chris and Xaviera, I’d bet good money that they will join those ranks of these world-class leaders. But the question I find myself asking as I leave their school: Who are the young women the Trump administration is currently keeping out?

Culled from The New York Times



The Southern Cameroon crisis: bridging the middle ground

25, December 2017

The Southern Cameroon crisis: bridging the middle ground 0

There is an ongoing crisis in Cameroon. Thousands have fled the English-speaking areas of the country because of violence and unrest, and many are calling for an independent state. What has the government done to alleviate this situation, and does it go far enough?

For several decades, the minority English-speaking community in Cameroon has been expressing its disillusionment with the reunification process that brought the English and the French-speaking parts of the country together in 1961.

They complain about marginalisation and under-representation in the country’s Francophone-dominated administration. Such conditions are in direct contravention to the reunification accords which pledged to preserve the status of the erstwhile autonomous English-speaking state of West Cameroon federated with French-speaking East Cameroon. This union was abruptly terminated in 1972 leading to the dissolution of the State of West Cameroon into two administrative provinces.

This issue of contention has since sparked recurrent waves of protests in Anglophone Cameroon. Fresh protests broke out in October 2016, following a strike by Anglophone teachers and lawyers demanding for educational and judiciary reforms.

Pro-Anglophone movements took advantage of the strikes to demand a return to a federal system of administration that was abolished in 1972 while others have been pushing for the establishment of an independent state, separate from the majority French-speaking areas.

As it now stands, thousands have fled the English-speaking areas because of continued violence and unrest.

Protests, strikes and boycotts

Thus far, protests have largely been nonviolent in nature. These include controversial school boycotts, enforcement of general strikes (known locally as ‘ghost towns’), public protests, advocacy campaigns and the establishment of a governing council to speak on behalf of the Anglophones, which was set up by pro-Anglophone movements in the diaspora.

However, violent incidents such as the burning down of school buildings have also recently been witnessed. The involvement of pro-Anglophone movements in these crimes, however, has yet to be fully established beyond a set of unproven assumptions claiming that their aim was to reinforce continued school shut down.

Current protests have resulted in increased youth radicalisation, the loss of lives, the destruction of property, the imprisonment of Anglophone activists, school shut downs, poor school performance, a slowdown in economic activity, an Anglophone diaspora at odds with the government, a general sense of insecurity and a deep sense of political distrust between the Anglophone communities and the government.

The crisis contributes to the multiple conflicts risks threatening Cameroon’s fragile peace. These include the Boko Haram insurgency infiltrating the country from neighbouring Nigeria and the uncertainty that characterises the peaceful political transition from the 34-year old regime in Cameroon.

Dialogue for peace

This Anglophone crisis is a divisive and politically sensitive subject handled with caution by civil society organisations and Cameroon’s friends and partners.

None of them boldly identify themselves with either side but have however expressed concerns over human right abuses. They have called for dialogue towards sustainable peace. These include the United States Department of the State, The African Union Commission, the United Nations Secretariat for Central Africa, the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, Pope Francis and the Bar Council of England and Wales.

Earlier in the crisis, Roman Catholic Bishops in Anglophone Cameroon issued a letter stating their understanding of Anglophone grievances. They have called for dialogue to facilitate their peaceful resolution. The same call came from the Fons (ethnic traditional rulers) of Cameroon’s North West Region who, like some Independent Opinion Leaders, have urged for the release of pro-Anglophones detainees to foster peace.

Palliative measures

n December 2016, the government responded to the crisis by engaging in talks with members of a civil society consortium that was created to speak on behalf of the Anglophone communities. These talks, however, were short-lived due to the political nature of some of the demands.

In a subsequent controversial move, the state resorted to arresting and detaining the leaders of the consortium. Others went into exile. Access to the internet was suspended in English-speaking Cameroon for three months to curb the flow of information that the government believed was fanning the crisis.

Since then, continued calls for dialogue have largely been ignored. In August 2017, the government sent delegations to discuss the state of the crisis with the diaspora. This initiative was met with stiff resistance from Anglophone activists living abroad.

Nonetheless, the government has begun introducing a series of progressive measures to address some pertinent concerns regarding the effective integration of the Anglophone communities in Cameroonian society.

These include the translation of the OHADA Uniform Act (a law harmonising business transactions in Africa) into the English language, the creation of the National Commission for Bilingualism and Multiculturalism to foster greater national integration, the creation of a Common Law Bench at the Supreme Court of Cameroon as well as a Common Law Department at the School of Administration and the English-speaking Universities of Buea and Bamenda. Some pro-Anglophone activists under detention have also been released.

These, however, have been judged as palliative measures. They do not tackle the root cause of the crisis – supposedly the quest for a federal state or secession. Some pro-Anglophone movements want a neutral third party mediating talks to resolve the crisis.

This is where the deadlock lies and until this is broken, it is uncertain the crisis will end anytime soon.

 

Source: Reliefweb


Ambazonia: The body of the Chief of Nyang may have been wrapped in plastic and dumped in the Manyu river

25, December 2017

Ambazonia: The body of the Chief of Nyang may have been wrapped in plastic and dumped in the Manyu river 0

The body of the Chief of Nyang village in Akwaya Sub Division gruesomely murdered a week ago by a militant group with ties to the Southern Cameroons Defense Force has not been found. Cameroon Concord News gathered that Chief Abang Ashu had conspired with Cameroon government forces and betrayed some of the youth in his village. The pro CPDM traditional ruler was also feeding the Cameroon army with information regarding the activities of his subjects.

A source  confirmed  to our Manyu bureau chief  that on the faithful  day the  late Chief  Abang  Ashu  had compiled a list of  names of some youths  and was  heading  to Mamfe  the chief  town  in Manyu  Division to make a report to the troops stationed in Egbekaw. The angry young men caught him in Mukoyor inside Eshobi village en route to Mamfe.

He was beaten, legs chopped off and later tied on a bike and dragged to death in Mukoyor. His remains were taken to unknown destination by the Ambazonian militants. Cameroon government soldiers have been deployed to search the area for over a week now.

We understand the family of the late Chief made preparations for his burial and dug a grave inside his residence at Mile One in Mamfe and people have been keeping wake. But government troops have still not located his body in the Akwaya forest. Some have suggested his body may have been wrapped in plastic and dumped in the Manyu river.

By Judith Fon in Mamfe


Flu Shots for US troops in Cameroon

25, December 2017

Flu Shots for US troops in Cameroon 0

The soldiers of 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, are serving in a support role for the Cameroon military’s fight against the violent extremist organization Boko Haram.

However, “Warriors” of 1-87 IN also have to beware of foes that take the form of sicknesses or diseases like malaria or the flu.

The flu vaccination is an annual Army requirement that helps control this common contagious adversary according to Capt. Joshua Randles, the 1-87 IN physician assistant and native of Argyle, New York.

“Flu vaccination reduces the chance of getting influenza,” said Randles, “and if a Soldier happens to get influenza, the vaccine is shown to reduce the severity of the illness.”

“This is important in an austere environment where evacuation may take days,” Randles said.

All vaccinations and medicines arrive here on military flights that rotate in and out of this region. However, flights may become delayed or assigned to other missions causing a lull in deliveries.

As a result, 10th Mountain soldiers here did not receive the vaccinations until December 20.

“We have been waiting for about six weeks for the vaccinations,” said Sgt. Clayton Young, 1-87 IN medic from Rochester, New York.

The night the vaccinations arrived, soldiers lined up to receive their flu shot.

The Warrior medic team was able to vaccinate 120 soldiers in about three hours inoculating a significant number of the service members in need of the flu shot.

 

Source: dvidshub


Indomitable Lions: Ambroise Oyongo agrees to Montpellier switch

25, December 2017

Indomitable Lions: Ambroise Oyongo agrees to Montpellier switch 0

Fit-again Cameroon international defender Ambroise Oyongo has agreed a four-year deal to join 2012 French champions Montpellier.

The 26-year-old, whose contract with MLS club Montreal Impact ends on 31 December, ruptured a tendon in June.

He becomes the club’s first major winter signing, according to club president Laurent Nicollin.

“It’s done, it’s signed,” Nicollin told French publication ‘Midi Libre,’

“He’s an endearing boy, who has not played since June and is only making a big return from his injury.

“I hope it’s going to be a nice surprise, he’s here to help us from this season, but most importantly to be starting from the next.”

It will be Oyongo’s first professional club in Europe in a career which began at Coton Sport in his native Cameroon, where he won three league titles between 2010 and 2014.

He had a brief spell with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls in 2014, before switching to Montreal Impact in January 2015.

Oyongo scored three goals and provided six assists in 72 games for the MLS Eastern Conference outfit.

Capped 28 times by Cameroon scoring twice, Oyongo played all six games as the Indomitable Lions won their fifth African Cup of Nations title in Gabon early this year.

 

Source: BBC


2 survivors after military plane crashes in Garoua

24, December 2017

2 survivors after military plane crashes in Garoua 0

A Cameroon military plane that had on board two colonels returning from an observation mission in the National Park in Benoue has crashed.  The incident occurred on Saturday, December 23, 2017 at Ngong some fifty kilometres from Garoua the chief city in the North region.

A sister publication, Cameroon Info.Net quoted military sources within the Garoua Air Base 301 that the Tetras-type ULM aircraft, registered TJ-XDA, crashed while on a mission in support of the 31st Mechanized Infantry Division (BRIM).

The plane was carrying two senior Cameroon military officials namely Colonel Tchouasseu Serge (deputy commander of Garoua Air Base 301) and Colonel Mbezele Dieudonné.  The two valiant officers came out safe and sound. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that an engine stopped in full flight prompting the two officers to force an emergency landing.

Returning from a reconnaissance mission against Boko Haram, a Cameroonian army helicopter crashed on the 22nd of January 2017 at Bogo, Diamarét Division.  Four Cameroonian officers including Brigadier General Jacob Kodji, Commander of the Joint Military Region No. 4, were killed in the crash.

By Sama Ernest


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