Monthly Archives: July 2019

7, July 2019

Cameroon fines main local telecom companies ⁰

The local mobile telecom companies Orange and MTN in Cameroon have been fined over $160 million for failing to pay taxes on games and gambling services.

The Central African country corruption board announced on Wednesday.

A probe into the sector led to fines totaling $283 million, and found other companies including Camtel and Viettel were also in violation of regulations.

The amount paid by each company was not clear and the companies were not immediately available for comment.

In the report the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency said MTN and Orange were also accused of not paying taxes on their money transfer system, known as Mobile Money.

The report is another blow for MTN, which is already contesting a $3.9 billion fine in Nigeria for failing to disconnect users with unregistered SIM cards.

Unregistered SIM cards can be used for criminal activity – a growing concern in Nigeria facing the threat of militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

MTN successfully lobbied to get the fine reduced from $5.2 billion in December.

Source: AFP

6, July 2019

AFCON 2019: Seedorf faces moment of truth with toiling Cameroon ⁰

His brilliance as a player was undisputed but Clarence Seedorf’s transition into management has come with a steep learning curve. Unable to replicate his on-pitch achievements in the dugout, Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations showdown with Nigeria represents a defining moment for the Cameroon boss.

With a haul of four Champions League wins, five national titles and a host of individuals awards, the former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder’s career was one to envy. But two successive failures with Milan and Chinese club Shenzhen, and a relegation with Deportivo La Coruna have clouded his reputation as a coach.

The former Dutch star, now 43, succeeded underperforming Belgian Hugo Broos last year and has won three, drawn four and lost once in competition since taking charge of the five-time African champions.

Part of his legacy is at stake in Egypt as coach of the title-holders, and Seedorf will be judged by what happens here with anything less than a quarter-finals place almost certainly set to trigger his post-tournament dismissal.

Since his appointment alongside former Ajax and Netherlands team-mate Patrick Kluivert, Seedorf has found it difficult to rouse the Indomitable Lions.

His record in qualifying was tarnished by an embarrassing 1-1 draw with the Comoros and a goalless stalemate against Malawi, while repeat failures to score against Ghana and Benin at these finals have again raised questions over his suitability as coach.

– Full of stories –

“As a midfielder it’s a joy to be coached by him,” Hearts midfielder Arnaud Djoum told AFP. “He’s very attached to details. He also has a lot of stories. When he wants to give an example he always tells one. We listen to him closely because we know about his career. He’s trying to bring his experience.”

But inconsistent displays and his minimalist style are fuelling plenty of debate in Cameroon. “He’s taking a while to enter the hearts of Cameroonians who would like to see more sparkle to their game,” said local journalist Leger Tientcheu.

“We have the impression that Cameroon doesn’t have a particular way of playing and that they play according to the opponents. The Seedorf touch remains to be seen.”

During the group stage in Ismailia, Seedorf’s chopping and changing merely added to the uncertainty as he heavily rotated his line-up while his trial and error approach in attack failed to yield results.

While Karl Toko Ekambi started all three games, he was partnered by a different team-mate each time with Christian Bassogog, Clinton Njie and Stephane Bahoken all given a chance. Of the four only Bahoken found the target, in a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau, which failed to quell the persisting doubts over the Cameroon frontline.

– Off-colour attack –

The numerous changes “don’t bother us. We always respect the coach’s choices. We have confidence in all the players. The most important thing is to stick together,” said Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who has also found himself on the bench at times despite serving as team captain.

“We must improve in several areas, notably in attack. We must be more intelligent to create more chances. We’ve shown our potential. We haven’t yet conceded a goal, there are positive things going forward,” said Seedorf.

“Sometimes teams don’t score for weeks, forwards for months. We’re remaining confident,” he said after the Benin game.

Seedorf can draw on the 3-0 victory over the Comoros that clinched qualification as a reference point for performing under pressure, but Saturday’s encounter will be a much tougher obstacle for a coach still trying to find his way.

“Before that match everyone was worried we weren’t scoring, and we scored three goals. That’s football,” mused Seedorf. Against Nigeria he will have another opportunity to silence the critics.

Clarence Seedorf’s Cameroon scored just twice in three group games in Egypt.

Source: AFP

6, July 2019

Cameroon, Nigeria discuss transborder security ⁰

The seventh session of the Cameroon-Nigeria Transborder Security Committee opened in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde on Thursday, with an emphasis on the need to strengthen security along the borders of both countries.

“The security situation along our common borders which started witnessing a great improvement has all of a sudden become a cause for concern,” Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji said at the start of the talks, enumerating secessionist tendencies, illegal exploitation of natural resources, and illicit trafficking of firearms as major challenges.

“As we can see, our two countries need to be more vigilant and proactive because the security challenges require regular consultation,” Nji added.

“We will continue to support the commitment of the Republic of Cameroon to strengthen stability along our common borders with a view to establishing effective monitoring and response mechanisms,” Nigerian Brigadier General Emmanuel Ndagi said.

The committee, with a prime objective of strengthening border security for both countries, was created in 2012 in Nigeria.

Source: Xinhuanet

6, July 2019

Disgraced president Biya leaves Geneva after spate of protests ⁰

Cameroon president Paul Biya, whose presence in a luxury Geneva hotel caused protests and some diplomatic upheaval, has left the city.

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairsexternal link (FDFA), which instigated diplomatic contact with Cameroon over a reported attack on a Swiss journalist, said it was aware of the departure. It pointed to Geneva-based Tribune de Genèveexternal link, which first announced that a plane carrying the presidential couple had flown off at 12:30.

On Thursday six members of Biya’s staff were convicted by Swiss judges investigating a reported attack on a Swiss public television journalist in Geneva last week. Geneva prosecutors found the individuals (five men and one woman) guilty of coercion, damage to property, and illegal appropriation.

A journalist from public broadcaster RTS filed the complaint following an incident on June 26 outside the InterContinental hotel in the city. The journalist says he was assaulted by members of Biya’s security team who took his bag containing a mobile phone and wallet. The seized items were later returned.

Ambassador summoned

The incident took place during a demonstration outside the hotel, where Biya was staying. The alleged assault prompted Switzerland to summon the ambassador of Cameroon to Bern, where he was told that “such incidents are unacceptable, and that freedom of the press is protected and must be respected.”

At around the same time, the Swiss foreign ministry announced that Switzerland was acting as a facilitator in the crisis in north-western and south-western Cameroon.

Some 250 anti-Biya protesters returned to the hotel last Saturday and were dispersed by tear gas and water cannons after some tried to break through police lines.

A 2018 report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) accused Biya of spending a considerable amount of his time abroad since coming to power in Cameroon in 1982, much of it at luxury hotels in Geneva.

Source: Swissinfo

6, July 2019

Manyu Convention Opens in Washington DC ⁰

The annual Manyu convention (MECA-USA) has opened in the American capital of Washington DC.

The annual event which brings together all Manyu sons and daughters in the United States is marked by traditional dances and a display of Manyu culture.

The two-day event is designed to raise funds for the financing of development projects in Manyu Division in the South West region of Cameroon.

The event will end on Saturday, July 5, 2019 with a fund-raising gala that is expected to bring in thousands of dollars to the coffers of MECA-USA which the umbrella organization of all Manyu organizations.

By Kingsley Betek in Washington DC.

5, July 2019

Goal-shy Cameroon bank on Ekambi in mega clash with Nigeria ⁰

Cameroon coach Clarence Seedorf wants forward Karl Toko Ekambi to rediscover his La Liga form when they meet Nigeria on Saturday in an Africa Cup of Nations last-16 blockbuster in Egypt.

Ekambi was the leading Villarreal scorer in the Spanish top flight last season with 10 goals, but has failed to find the net for the Indomitable Lions in three group matches.

Seedorf tried various attack combinations, all including Ekambi, but after a 2-0 win over Guinea-Bissau, the defending champions were held to 0-0 draws by Ghana and Benin.

Former Dutch star Seedorf deflected media criticism away from his misfiring forwards, saying: “Sometimes teams do not score for weeks and forwards do not score for months.”

“Karl and the other forwards have to improve a few details, be smarter and create more chances,” added the four-time UEFA Champions League winner.

“We pushed forward in each group game, we introduced attacking players off the bench, but we dare not try crazy stuff. We have to respect our opponents.”

Here, AFP Sport looks at the Saturday matches with the clash of Cameroon and Nigeria in Alexandria too close to call, while hosts Egypt are expected to defeat South Africa in Cairo.

Cameroon v Nigeria

In 2004, the last time Cameroon were Cup of Nations defending champions, they were eliminated in the first knockout round by Nigeria.

The great rivals have met six times in the biennial tournament, including three finals that Cameroon won, one after a penalty shootout.

Only once did more than one goal separate the sides and the latest episode at the 20,000-seat Alexandria Stadium looks evenly balanced.

After single-goal victories over Burundi and Guinea, Nigeria came a cropper against minnows Madagascar, losing 2-0 to finish second in the group and get tougher last-16 opponents.

Captain and former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel put a positive spin on the setback, saying: “It is better this (losing) happened now than in the knockout stages.”

Egypt v South Africa

Unlike the showdown between Cameroon and Nigeria, this match appears easy to call with record seven-time champions Egypt overwhelming favourites to defeat poorly performing South Africa.

While the Pharaohs won all three group games without conceding a goal, Bafana Bafana (The Boys) sneaked into the last 16 as the lowest of the best four third-place qualifiers.

Prolific Liverpool scorer Mohamed Salah and Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan have been constant threats in attack for Egypt while Aston Villa right-back Ahmed Elmohamady netted twice.

In stark contrast, South Africa did not have a single goal attempt on target in losses against the Ivory Coast and Morocco.

But South Africa coach Stuart Baxter sees a glimmer of hope, telling reporters: “If we can improve our attacking game by 10 to 15 percent, we will give Egypt problems.”

Source: AFP

5, July 2019

President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe attends Father Berinyuy mass in Kondengui as Biya regime bans Catholic Devotion prayers ⁰

Rev Father Basil Berinyuy who was ordained priest on the 24^th of April 2019 reportedly celebrated Holy Mass at the Kondengui High Security Prison yesterday with President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe in attendance. Father Basil Berinyuy who hails from Kisenjam in Bui County told the detained Southern Cameroons leaders that “It will be well.”

“Ashia …it will be well” noted the Conceptionist Missionary who after the Eucharistic celebration spent more than an hour with the detained Ambazonia leaders exchanging views with President Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and rest of cabinet in detention.

Father Basil Berinyuy during his homily observed that despite bullets flying in the air, more than 300 people attended his First Mass in Melim. He also revealed that even children have become very used to sound of guns! He recognized Prof Asasum whose mother Mama Anastasia and her late husband have been of great assistance to the work of Conceptionist Missionaries in Njimafor Parish and St Kisito Mission, Azire.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that Catholic devotion prayers have now been technically banned in Kondengui High Security Prison. The decision taken by prison authorities is that no community should go to pray in the chapel in the absence of a pastor or Rev father. This decision has generally affected essentially the Catholic community which used to gather for Morning Prayers and Rosary everyday in French and in the evenings for daily Evening Prayers in English.

A prison administrator who spoke to CIR’s Rita Akana pointed out that the decision to ban the Catholic devotion prayers was made immediately after Barrister Shufai Blaise Sevidzem an ex-seminarian and a senior aide to President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe started doctrine classes and was elected president of the community. With the current decision, Roman Catholics are only permitted to have Holy Mass on Thursdays and Sundays.

Rev Father David N. Etoundi the chaplain of the prison has raised a finger against the ban.

By Sama Ernest in Yaounde

5, July 2019

Biya regime says 150 former Boko Haram fighters drop arms in Far North region ⁰

Cameroon’s National Committee on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) said Thursday its center in Far North region is hosting 150 ex-fighters of terror group Boko Haram who have voluntarily laid down their weapons.

Francis Fai Yengo, national coordinator of NCDDR, told reporters the ex-fighters will benefit from professional training in agriculture, livestock, business and handicraft during their stay in the center.

Yengo visited the center with officials from International Organization for Migration and United Nations Development Programme.

Cameroon is facing serious security challenges in the two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest where separatists want to create an independent nation and in the Far North, where terror group Boko Haram is intensifying attacks on civilians and government forces.

NCDDR was created by President Paul Biya last year “to avoid the use of extreme measures” and supervise and manage the disarmament and reintegration of ex-combatants of Boko Haram and armed separatists in the Anglophone regions.

A total of 56 separatist combatants have already dropped their weapons according officials of NCDDR.

Source: Xinhuanet

5, July 2019

The Swiss luxury getaway of president Biya has become a hotbed of conflict ⁰

Cameroon’s longtime president Paul Biya’s latest “private visit” to his usual retreat at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva has sparked more than its usual mix of political controversy and quiet embarrassment.

Over the last decade, Biya, 86, who has been in power since 1982, has made the top floor suites of the five-star luxury hotel into his home away from home spending months at a time even as his country has slowly descended into conflict from Boko Haram Islamic terrorists in the north of the country and an Anglophone-led insurgency in north- and southwest of the country. The knowledge of his presence there has long infuriated various sections of Cameroonians at home, particularly in the opposition, but also in the Cameroonian diaspora in Europe who have been protesting in larger and larger numbers with each Biya visit.

This past weekend Swiss police fired tear gas and water cannons at Cameroonian protesters who clashed with security at the hotel where dozens of Biya’s personal security agents and federal police have stayed on guard in- and outside.

Violent scenes outside Geneva hotel of Cameroon president

And even while Geneva has long been seen as a personal break for Biya, it has now become the venue for possible peace talks between the Anglophone and Francophone sides and mediated by Switzerland. And the arrival last week of Biya and his wife, Chantal, is now seen as problematic.

“Not helpful” is how one source close to the diplomatic process described the arrival of Biya just days before a second meeting between factions from the predominantly Anglophone regions was to take place in Saint Luc—some 200 kilometers to the east of Geneva. The International Crisis Group reports that some 1,850 people have been killed and more than half a million left homeless, as an armed separatist movement evolved in response to political and social tensions.

Switzerland’s foreign affairs ministry, together with the Geneva-based Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, are leading the mediation process aimed at putting an end to the deadly conflict which evolved after peaceful protests by English-speaking professionals to structural discrimination in October 2016. Groups in the two western regions of the country want the creation of an independent state called Ambazonia. President Biya has branded separatists as terrorists. Ebenezer Alwanga, chairman of the African People’s Liberation Movement, one of the main participants at the peace talks said that Biya’s repeated visits to Geneva “complicate” the peace talks, given he spends so much of his time here “rather than running the state he claims to be president of”.

Nfor Hanson Nchanji, a Geneva-based Cameroonian journalist emphasized that parties to the discussion need to communicate with their communities back home for talks to succeed.“The presence of Paul Biya in Switzerland has caused some Ambazonians to reconsider whether Switzerland may be the perfect mediator. But should they refuse the Swiss mediation…they will have nowhere to go.”

The Swiss mediated talks have been supported by United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

Meanwhile some Francophone opponents to Biya’s government, regretted that Maurice Kanto, a rival to Biya in the October 2018 presidential election, who won 14% of votes according to the Constitutional Council, was not included in the talks. The opposition accused the government of having rigged results. Doris Toyou, a Cameroonian lawyer living in Washington, who supports groups behind Saturday’s protest in Geneva, said Switzerland could not be trusted in talks.

It’s been reported Biya had spent at least 1,645 days abroad on private trips since 1982, with Geneva being his top destination. It estimated it costs Intercontinental Hotel around £40,000 ($50,000) a night for the president and his entourage. “How could Switzerland be trust-worthy in mediating the talks after the way the police treated protesters?” said Toyou.

Meanwhile, Jean Philippe Brandt of Geneva’s police explained that as protesters did not respect the agreed terms for protesting, and left an authorized area accorded for the demonstration, “The use of any accessory or armament was related possibly to the aggression by the protesters and to disobey instructions given by the police.”

The confrontation came just days after a Swiss journalist, Adrien Krause, who was covering Biya’s stay from in front of the Geneva hotel, was attacked. “It is very probable that they were security guards” associated to Biya.

Since then six members of Biya’s security team have been convicted of assault on the journalist.

Culled from Quartz Africa

4, July 2019

Liberia’s Health sector lacks almost everything!! Weah won’t talk ⁰

A young woman lies in intensive care at Liberia’s Phebe Hospital.

Her mother comes running in with the drugs she needs, but the doctor shakes his head. It is too late.

“When patients come, we are obliged to send (family members) out to get drugs. Sometimes by the time they get back (the) patients are dead,” laments Dr Jefferson Sibley, the hospital’s medical director.

“People are dying in front of our eyes, and we cannot do anything.”

Battered by years of civil war and then in 2014-16 by the worst Ebola epidemic in history, Liberia’s health sector is on its knees.

The crumbling infrastructure lacks almost everything — medicine, beds, equipment, ambulances, even a reliable electricity supply.

Phebe, in central Bong county, is the second largest hospital in Liberia, with 200 beds and seven doctors on its staff.

Despite chronic shortages, it still manages to treat at least 2,500 patients every month.

“We are supposed to get supplies from the ministry of health and the National Drug Services (NDS) but we haven’t received supplies for almost a year,” Sibley told AFP.

“We can’t do anything about it.”

Malaria was the cause of death of the woman in the intensive care unit.

She was 25.

– ‘Only the mercy of God’ –

According to the World Health Organization, total health expenditure per person per year is about $100 (87 euros) in Liberia, among the lowest in the world.

There is fewer than one regional or district hospital per 100,000 people in the country of about 4.7 million.

In 2010, accordiong to the latest available data, there were eight hospital beds per 10,000 people.

In Jenepeleta, a village 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the hospital in Phebe, Regina Kollie, 45, is trying to lower the fever of the youngest of her five children, a four-year-old girl.

Like many in the region, Regina sought help in traditional medicine and gathered leaves with which to wash her daughter, following the advice of a healer.

The treatment is not working and the child’s fever has raged for days. But going to the hospital is not an option.

“I don’t have the money to take my daughter to Phebe. The ambulance used to help us in these cases, but we don’t see it any more,” Regina says, weeping.

“The two ambulances we had are broken down,” Sibley confirmed, noting the vehicles had been “instrumental when it comes to saving lives”.

The ambulances “used to go for pregnant women, children and other people who are seriously ill in the villages… and bring them to us,” he said.

But now if there is an emergency case, “only the mercy of God can help.”

– Surgery by storm lantern –

“We have so many problems, but the key problem is that no funding is coming to the hospital,” said Sibley.

“We find ourselves indebted to vendors. People we take fuel from, people we take drugs from, all of them refuse to supply us because we owe them lots of money. The hospital owes $300,000 (265,000 euros) to vendors.”

The hospital’s electricity is frequently cut off, plunging it into darkness at night and forcing the lone surgeon to carry out operations by the light of storm lanterns.

A shortage of medicines is also crippling Liberia’s largest national health facility, the John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia, says its medical director Jerry Brown.

“There are some drugs you can’t find in local pharmacies and government regulations prohibit us from procuring drugs currently from pharmaceutical companies outside the country,” the chief doctor told AFP.

“Our next source of drugs is the National Drug Services,” but it provides only enough to treat the most vulnerable, including children.

The hospital was negotiating with the ministries of health and finance for authorisation to buy directly from manufacturers, Brown said.

Health Minister Wilhelmina Jallah said the problem stemmed from the previous government, under which hospitals ran up big debts by obtaining drugs and fuel on credit.

“We have inherited all these debts, and the vendors no longer want to give us credits,” she said. “We have to pay some of these debts so that we can open the credit lines.”

In a sign of progress, eight container-loads of drugs had arrived, and these will help to ease shortages, she said.

AFP