Monthly Archives: April 2020

8, April 2020

Coronavirus: How President Biya is protecting himself ⁰

The last public appearance made by Cameroon’s president was on 11 March. On that date, he was paid a visit by Peter Henry Barlerin, the US ambassador to Cameroon, at his office in Etoudi Palace.

Unlike the vast majority of other heads of state in the region, Paul Biya did not address his fellow citizens to announce measures to combat the epidemic. Prime minister Joseph Dion Ngute and health minister Malachie Manaouda are regularly informing the public about the health crisis.

Biya’s absence has provoked criticism from the opposition and alarmist rumours about his state of health. However, according to our information, Biya has not tested positive for COVID-19.

To prevent any contamination, he has retreated to his hometown of Mvomeka’a, located 180km to the south of Yaoundé. Shut away in his home, he has prohibited nearly all work-related meetings and only sees a handful of people.

He still speaks to his loyal special adviser, Rear Admiral Joseph Fouda. He also receives the Deputy Chief of Civilian Staff, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, while Biya’s aide-de-camp, Squadron Leader Mike Davy Ottou, makes himself available. Non-essential staff are no longer allowed to enter his home, which sits atop a hill overlooking the town. The government awaits his instructions to act.

Culled from The Africa Report

8, April 2020

CPDM crime syndicate sweeps coronavirus elections in Southern Cameroons ⁰

Cameroon’s ruling party has swept all 13 seats in parliamentary by-elections held late last month in the conflict-wracked anglophone west of the country, the constitutional council announced Tuesday.

Long-ruling President Paul Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) won all 13 seats at stake in 11 constituencies in the North-West and South-West regions of the central African country.

The CPDM “ran the table” in 10 North-West districts and one in the South-West, state broadcaster CRTV reported.

The wins reinforced the party’s massive majority in the 180-member parliament to 152 seats.

The two anglophone regions have been rocked by deadly violence as armed separatists campaign for independence from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking.

The conflict has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced nearly 700,000 in less than three years, according to humanitarian organisations.

Separatist fighters had called on people in the two regions to boycott nationwide municipal and legislative elections on February 9, issuing threats to anyone who planned to vote.

Several NGOs including Amnesty International reported multiple clashes between the separatists and the army ahead of the polling, though only one incident — in the North-West region — was reported on election day itself.

The constitutional council said on February 25 that the vote would have to be rerun in several parts of the two anglophone regions.

The opposition Social Democratic Front, dominated by anglophones, contested the results of the by-elections, but the constitutional court rejected their demand for another re-run.

Source: AFP

8, April 2020

France’s coronavirus death toll passes 10,000 after steep rise at nursing homes ⁰

France officially registered more than 10,000 deaths from coronavirus infections on Tuesday, becoming the fourth country to go beyond that threshold after Italy, Spain and the United States.

The total death toll from Covid-19 rose to 10,328 from 8,911 on Monday, Jérôme Salomon, head of the public health authority, told a press conference, warning that “the epidemic is continuing its progression.”

Salomon said 7,091 fatalities have been recorded at French hospitals since March 1. A further 3,237 people have died at care homes for the elderly, he added, giving a much higher figure than reported on Monday.

He stressed that the latter count was still partial, with some nursing homes yet to report.

More than 30,000 people were being treated in hospitals around the country, with 7,131 in intensive care, Salomon added.

“We are in the ascending phase of the epidemic, even if it is slowing a bit,” he warned. “We have not yet reached the peak.”

The death toll of 10,328 included 597 fatalities in hospital in the last 24 hours, according to a government update .

Paris bans daytime jogging

Earlier on Tuesday, Paris officials said they would ban lone daytime jogging as people continue to flout anti-coronavirus lockdown rules.

“Every excursion avoided aids the fight against the epidemic,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and police chief Didier Lallement said in a statement announcing the partial jogging ban.

Paris bans daytime jogging in bid to slow spread of coronavirus

Paris and other cities have already closed public parks and gardens as part of the nationwide lockdown that requires people to carry a document justifying any excursion from the home.

Addressing parliament, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the unwinding of the lockdown, which at this stage is supposed to run until April 15, would not “happen overnight”.

The lockdown “is difficult for many French people, I am fully aware of this. But it is essential if we do not wish to find ourselves in an even worse situation than the one we are experiencing today”, he said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)

8, April 2020

EU to continue missions in Africa, Balkans despite covid-19 ⁰

The European Union says some of its training missions have seen personnel cuts in the Balkans and Africa. This is due to conditions imposed by hosting countries amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The bloc has no intention of halting those missions though, saying that security is the priority.

Speaking on Monday after chairing talks between EU defense ministers via video conference, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said it was important to keep the six missions going “to avoid a negative security impact.”

It’s also launched a new mission off the coast of Libya. The purported goal is to monitor the UN arms embargo on Libya. But what many fear, is that it’s just another attempt at keeping thousands of migrants off European shores. According to Human Rights Watch, EU states and institutions are sustaining a network of detention centers within Libya, where torture, sexual violence, extortion and forced labour are rife.

Part of the EU’s new mission is to continue training the Libyan coastguard, so they can intercept migrants and asylum seekers at sea more effectively. The EU says it is providing security, and stopping arms from being trafficked, as well as stemming the flow of migrant. But observers say security measures should not override humanitarian endeavors at a time when the world is facing a common threat.

Source: Presstv

8, April 2020

Ambazonia War of Independence: Unite in Manyu County, Unite the struggle ⁰

Paul Biya’s war on the peaceful people of Southern Cameroons is atrocious and constitutes crime against humanity. Cameroon Concord News Group believes his day in the International Criminal Court will surely arrive and that would be sooner than his ruling CPDM gang expects. On the 12th of February 2020, statistics from the renowned Human Rights Watch revealed that more than 3,000 civilians have been killed with over 679,000 internally displaced.

A Cameroon Concord News Group record indicates that over 321 villages have been burned down by French Cameroun forces and there are more than 800 political prisoners languishing in French Cameroun jails. We of this publication believe that the deliberate silence from the international community is the greatest dereliction of moral duty ever exhibited. Consequently, recent calls by the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat for all Africans to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, which claimed over one million lives was seen as a joke within diplomatic circles.

Moussa Faki Mahamat made the plea on Tuesday after the Rwandan government announced last week that the commemoration would take place on April 7 but with limited events and participants due to the global coronavirus outbreak. Correspondingly, the good and courageous people of Southern Cameroons- Ambazonia should keep fighting for their inheritance and freedom for success will surely be theirs in the near future.

Cameroon Concord News Group considers the current Ambazonia governing structure in the Manyu county including a Senate, Congress and a “state government” cumbersome, excessive and ill-advised. The Manyu county leaders have indeed been biting more than they can chew. It takes intelligent people to realize that they made premature decisions but it takes wisdom and humility to reverse them. The time for the people of Manyu to display wisdom and humility has come. To make Manyu ungovernable as well as facilitate the liberation of Ambazonia, the county structure should be simplified with the leader being a County head and assisted by coordinators in Defense, Communication and Health. This abridged structure will be efficient and accountable.

We believe that Sessekou Dr. Peter Ako, the current leader of the Manyu County, has the energy, pedigree and commands the respect within and without the county to continue leading any future streamlined structure during this liberation struggle and all Manyu people of goodwill should support this noble initiative and his leadership. No Manyu citizen should be allowed to derail this revolution in this operationally significant county. Any attempt from individuals within and outside the current structure to repel this positive change would be ruthlessly crushed and severely dealt with!

Sessekou Dr Peter Ako deserves some criticisms over certain decisions last year but overall, his leadership has multiplied and consolidated Manyu County gains and is moving in the right direction at a grim time. What is at stake in Manyu and by extrapolation in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is four years of sweat, blood and immense sacrifice. Logic must prevail over emotions and egos. Once we get to Buea, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government would create senates and congresses. Success in this struggle requires great ingenuity, organization and cooperation, as well as a strong base in favour of calm and strong leadership including accountability.

A social media emotional rebuttal of this proposal to get Manyu back on track is expected but that would none of Cameroon Concord News Group business. The simple fact is that over the last few weeks, Manyu has stalled in defense operations but this important county can’t afford to start shrinking. True believers who are proud to wear that Ambazonia label must embrace this opportunity and initiative.

Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report warns any Manyu citizen attempting to experiment bogus and cumbersome administrative and legislative exercises that produces no positive results in the middle of this struggle to stop or face severe consequences. The implementation of democracy and the rule of law can’t and should never be used as an excuse to satisfy the ego. Southern Cameroons is at war!

Paul Biya has already proven his willingness to kill our people in Ambazonia with impunity by giving his marauding and lawless forces carte blanche to implement his criminal orders. Manyu can’t help and abate him with needless wrangling over ill-advice changes in the leadership in the next few months. Any persons who threaten to derail this impending structure at this crucial period will be branded an enemy to the Ambazonian nation and will be treated as such!! To clasp to the drivel of power sharing within LGAs and the sovereignty of an ineffective and ill-advised county senate and congress is a triumph of emotions over logic.

Over the last nine months, some within the Manyu community particularly in the diaspora have blamed the current structures for a lack of progress on the ground, so, the time for change is now.

Isong Asu

London Bureau Chief

7, April 2020

Yaounde: 19-year-old diagnosed with coronavirus gives birth to baby girl ⁰

Doctors in Cameroon helped a 19-year-old, who tested positive for coronavirus, safely deliver a baby girl.

The patient had initially complained about breathing problems but medics at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé kept her in isolation after her result showed she had the virus, Dr. Sone Charles told CNN.

Charles said the teenager, whom authorities have not named, went into premature labor on Saturday night and doctors on duty raced to protect the baby and the mother.

The delivery happened within an hour with no complications, according to Dr. Yaneu Ngaha, who led the team that assisted with the birth.

“It was quite fast. The baby came out and we separated her from the mother, who did not touch the child,” Ngaha said. “We wore protective jackets and the mother also wore a mask.”

The mother and baby are in good condition, Ngaha said.

She added that samples were taken from the baby 14 hours after her delivery and the hospital is awaiting her test results.

“The baby has been transferred to the neonatal unit and kept in an incubator because she is premature, weighing about 2,000 grams. We check her temperature three times per day,” Ngaha told CNN.

Cameroon has reported 650 cases of coronavirus within a month of its first case, according to the World Health Organization.

The spike in cases has been blamed on indiscipline from people with travel history abroad who evaded quarantine, Erick Tandi with the Public Health Emergency Operations Center in Yaounde said.

“When the Minister of Public Health announced, before the closing of borders, that those who have come from abroad within early March should quarantine themselves in their homes — this was not respected fully,” Tandi said.

“That is the result of the community Covid-19 cases we are having now,” he added.

Source: Erie News Now

7, April 2020

Cameroon at stage 2 of coronavirus epidemic with 658 confirmed cases! Biya won’t talk ⁰

Cameroon is in stage 2 of the COVID-19 epidemic, with the main objective to curb the spread of the virus in the national territory, health minister Manaouda Malachie said Sunday evening.

“I am afraid that we are to this day, already in a community transmission therefore at stage 2 of the epidemic,” said on twitter the minister answering questions by netizens on the extent of local transmission in Cameroon.

The Central African country announced its first COVID-19 case on March 6, and a month later, counted until Monday morning 658 confirmed cases including nine deaths and 17 cured cases, according to the latest official report.

In epidemiology, stage 1 is where the priority is to stop the introduction of the virus, followed by stage 2 whose objective is to slow down the spread.

The peak of the epidemic is in stage 3 characterized by an active circulation of the virus, and the strategy becomes the mitigation of the effects of the epidemic before it ends at stage 4.

“Although (the number of cases are) growing, the situation remains under control because we are looking for cases and putting them in isolation,” reassured Manaouda via twitter.

Cameroon is currently the second country in sub-Saharan Africa most affected by the new coronavirus after South Africa, which has 1,655 cases, according to official statistics.

In the capital Yaounde, two new care centers are under preparation at the military stadium and in the old building of the Orca supermarket, which should make it possible to increase the reception capacity up to 3,000 beds, according to the health ministry.

Since March 18, a series of barrier measures have been put in place by the Cameroonian government. These include closing of borders, isolation of people at high risk, the restriction of mass gatherings and movement. However, these measures have not been scrupulously respected by the population.

“Some of our compatriots do not make our job easier, thus endangering the lives of others,” said Manaouda, calling on the populations to remain confined as long as possible, and to cover their noses and mouths when leaving their house.

Recently the wearing of a protective mask has become mandatory for all those wishing to approach certain hospitals and public services, like the General Hospital of Yaounde, and government bodies in the Cameroonian region of Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

7, April 2020

WHO warns against easing COVID-19 measures ‘too early’ ⁰

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the precautionary measures enforced by governments to curb the COVID-19 epidemic should not be lifted “too early” as health risks still largely persist.

In a statement on Tuesday, the UN agency said that it could not come up with a blanket recommendation for all countries and regions across the globe on easing the precautionary measures, but urged them not lift them prematurely.

“One of the most important parts is not to let go of the measures too early in order not to have a fall back again,” said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier in a virtual briefing. “It’s similar to being sick yourself; if you get out of bed too early and get running too early, you risk falling back and having complications.”

The COVID-19 disease, caused by a new coronavirus, is believed to have transmitted from wildlife to human beings in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and is currently affecting 209 countries and territories across the globe. It has so far affected more than 1,362,040 people and killed over 76,340. The WHO has already declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

The United States leads all countries and territories affected by the highly contagious virus across the world with 367,720 confirmed infections as of Tuesday. Italy remains the country with the highest death toll, now at 16,523.

The WHO warning comes as many European countries such as France, Spain, Belgium, and Finland are already looking to ease the crippling lockdowns imposed across their territories.

They have established expert committees to work out a gradual easing of stay-at-home orders for some businesses and schools while trying to avoid a likely second wave of the pandemic that could overwhelm their health services.

Source: Presstv

7, April 2020

UK PM Johnson receives oxygen support in ICU but is not on ventilator ⁰

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in intensive care on Tuesday after receiving oxygen support when his coronavirus symptoms worsened, leaving his foreign minister to lead the government’s response to the accelerating outbreak.

Johnson’s personal battle with the virus has shaken the British government just as the United Kingdom enters what scientists say is likely to be one of the most deadly weeks of the pandemic, which has killed 70,000 people worldwide.

Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital across the River Thames from the House of Commons late on Sunday after suffering persistent coronavirus symptoms, including a high temperature and a cough, for more than 10 days.

His condition rapidly deteriorated over the next 24 hours, and he was moved to an intensive care unit, where the most serious cases are treated. Although he had received oxygen, his office said on Monday he was still conscious and was moved to intensive care in case he needed to be put on a ventilator.

“He’s not on a ventilator no,” Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove told LBC radio on Tuesday. “The prime minister has received some oxygen support and he is kept under, of course, close supervision.”

“The prime minister is in intensive care, being looked after by his medical team, receiving the very, very best care from the team at St Thomas’,” Gove said.

Johnson is the most prominent global political leader to be hospitalised for the new coronavirus.

While Britain has no formal succession plan should a prime minister become incapacitated, Johnson had asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise for him “where necessary,” Downing Street said..

Earlier on Monday, Johnson had said he was in good spirits and Raab had told a news conference that the prime minister was still running the government, although Raab also said he had not spoken to him directly since Saturday.

Raab takes the helm at a pivotal time. The official death toll in the United Kingdom currently stands at 5,373, and last week the health minister said the deadliest peak for deaths was projected to be Easter Sunday, April 12.

The United Kingdom is in a state of virtual lockdown, a situation due to be reviewed early next week, and some ministers have suggested it might need to be extended because some people were flouting the strict rules.

The pound edged lower against the dollar and the euro in Asia on Tuesday, trading at $1.2234 following a 0.3% decline on Monday.

Business will continue

Johnson’s move to intensive care added to the sense of upheaval that the coronavirus crisis has wrought after its spread caused widespread panic, sowed chaos through financial markets and prompted the virtual shutdown of the global economy.

“The government’s business will continue,” a sombre Raab, 46, told reporters.

“The focus of the government will continue to be on making sure that the prime minister’s direction, all the plans for making sure that we can defeat coronavirus and can pull the country through this challenge, will be taken forward.”

There have also been calls for ministers to detail what the exit plans were from the shutdown, which has hammered the world’s fifth-biggest economy after the government ordered restaurants, bars, and nearly all shops to close and told people to stay at home to curb the spread of the virus.

Johnson tested positive for the virus on March 26. After 10 days of isolation in an apartment at Downing Street, he was admitted to hospital. He was last seen in a video message posted on Twitter on Friday when he looked weary.

Downing Street said repeatedly on Monday that Johnson remained in charge and was reading documents, but the move to intensive care revealed the gravity of his condition.

“There is no doubt this turn of events means Boris Johnson is extremely sick,” said Derek Hill, a professor of medical imaging at University College London (UCL).

U.S. President Donald Trump said all Americans were praying for his recovery.

“He’s been really something very special – strong, resolute, doesn’t quit, doesn’t give up,” Trump told a news briefing, adding he had asked two pharmaceutical firms developing potential COVID-19 therapies to get in touch with the British government to offer their services.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Johnson a “dear friend” and said he was praying for his swift recovery.

Johnson, who is not a smoker, said recently that he wanted to lose weight. He plays tennis and while mayor of London used to cycle around the capital.

Johnson’s pregnant 32-year-old fiancée, Carrie Symonds, also had symptoms but said on Saturday she was feeling better.

The face of the 2016 Brexit campaign, Johnson won a resounding election victory in December before leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union on Jan. 31.

(REUTERS)

7, April 2020

Coronavirus world updates: Over 1.34 million infected worldwide ⁰

Confirmed coronavirus cases across the globe now number at 1,347,803, and a total of 74,807 people have lost their lives as a result of complications caused by the virus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. More than 277,400 people have recovered.

The United States leads all the 213 countries and territories affected by the highly contagious virus across the world with 368,196 confirmed infections. Italy remains the country with the highest death toll, which now stands at 16,523. And China — where the virus first emerged late last year — has reported no deaths from the virus for the first time since it began releasing daily data in January.

Source: Presstv