Monthly Archives: December 2020

7, December 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Amba fighters enforce the death penalty in Widikum ⁰

A few hours after the polls closed in Cameroon’s regional elections, a municipal councilor from Widikum, Momo Division, Northwest Region, Encho Elias, has been shot dead shortly after having voted in the fake elections organized by the corrupt Yaounde government.

It has been reported that the councilor and some of his colleagues had voted and were returning to Bamenda when the Southern Cameroonian fighters decided to enforce the death penalty decreed by the Interim Government.

Also, Reverend Father Anthony Viban of Akum, in the North West region, was attacked by armed men who opened fire on his car as the Southern Cameroonian fighters were seeking to enforce the law.

Sources on the ground said the man of God was on his way to mass when it happened. It should be underscored that this is not the first time that a priest has been attacked. The retired archbishop of Douala, Christian Cardinal Tumi, was recently kidnapped by gunmen who later released him after the gunmen found out that the man of God was a free thinker.

Meanwhile, Fon Sehm Mbinglo of Nso surprised many when he showed up at a polling station in Kumbo to vote.

The traditional ruler who spoke shortly after voting under heavy security said the separatists were ruining the country, adding that he was working towards bringing peace back to the land.

The separatists have already declared that they would enforce the death penalty very soon in Kumbo and the Fon’s name is first on the list.

Also, there was shooting in Nveh in Kumbo, Bui Division in the North West region which unfortunately did not stop the voting.

Sources say some chiefs and councilors across Southern Cameroons were transported to the polling centers in military vehicles just to prove that the elections took place in normal circumstances.

More will be yours as Cameroon Concord News Group gets more details.

6, December 2020

US: Dr. Eyong Eyong Ebot announces ground-breaking new book on COVID-19 ⁰

MED-CHAINS & COVID – 19: Innovative Solutions for Pandemics is the groundbreaking new book by Dr. Eyong, offering the medical community new insight into COVID-19 and previous pandemics. Rather than quarreling over the inadequacies and inconsistencies of current pandemic practices, Dr. Eyong’s new book offers his tangible and innovative solutions on how to approach, analyze and handle a pandemic crisis.

His thoroughly researched approach to pandemics employs the expertise of respected medical researchers, acclaimed scientists, and innovative medical device developers across the industry.

By employing their combined medical wisdom, Dr. Eyong provides feasible solutions for preparing, managing, and the ultimate goal of preventing a pandemic, such as COVID-19, from occurring in the future.

The book is published in ten languages – English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Latin, Japanese.

We want it to be accessible so that everyone can read it. All proceeds from the book will go to charities that help kids who lost a parent during this pandemic.

6, December 2020

Record US virus cases as reports say British queen to get vaccine soon ⁰

The United States notched a record number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours for the third day running, as it was reported that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will get a vaccine within weeks.

A tally by Johns Hopkins University showed the world’s worst-hit country — which has seen a dramatic virus resurgence in recent weeks — reached nearly 230,000 new infections and 2,527 Covid-related deaths on Saturday alone.

For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country’s outbreak.

Source: AFP

6, December 2020

French Cameroun: Four civilians killed in Boko Haram raids ⁰

At least four civilians have been killed between Thursday and Friday by terror group Boko Haram in Cameroon’s Far North region, local authorities said on Friday.

The traditional ruler of Wemdeley village was killed overnight into Friday, while three other persons were killed early Thursday in Talla Massali village when Boko Haram invaded the localities, authorities confirmed.

The terrorists who came on motorcycles also made away with foodstuffs and kidnapped at least two people during the raids, according to local sources.

The Boko Haram group has been active in Cameroon’s Far North region since 2014, posing enormous humanitarian and governance challenges until this day.

Source: Xinhaunet

6, December 2020

French Cameroun: Social media a major factor in domestic tensions ⁰

Social media in Cameroon are heightening political and ethnic tensions unleashed by the disputed 2018 presidential election – that’s according to a report by the International Crisis Group. The ICG says social media platforms, especially Facebook, should improve filtering toxic content and promote verified pages to reduce the tensions.

The ICG report says Cameroon is already facing serious security challenges and should find a way to ease political tensions and stop offensive language, such as ethnic slurs, that are causing the central African country to sink into violence.

Arrey Elvis Ntui, the ICG’s senior analyst for Cameroon, says hate speech and inter-ethnic tensions have increased since the October 2018 poll. He says the hate speech problem could endanger Cameroon’s stability.

“This period has also been marked by a lot of street protests. The country is currently dealing with a separatist insurgency in its Anglophone regions. Also, the army is dealing with the Boko Haram insurgency in the far north of the country with nearly daily attacks. Cameroon cannot simply afford to allow the ethnic and political tensions it is facing to rise to levels where they could constitute inter community violence,” Ntui said.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 38 years, was declared the winner of the elections. His victory is still contested by opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who insists he, not Biya, prevailed in the poll.

Ntui says Cameroon can avoid a slide into instability by reforming its electoral system.

“[The International] Crisis Group is proposing that Cameroon should strengthen its institutions which are responsible for addressing discrimination and improving its policy of living together. Some of these include discussions with the extra-parliamentary opposition in order to review the electoral system to make it more acceptable,” he said.

Ntui said the ruling CPDM party and the opposition should take measures to address the excesses of their supporters on social media, especially Facebook. He added that Facebook itself should also help check inflammatory language, provocative content and fake news which, he said, contribute to inflaming ethnic and political tension in the country.

Government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said there is growing hate speech due to social media. He blamed opposition parties that he says want to weaken Biya’s rule.

“The government of the republic appeals to the majority of the Cameroonian people who have never allowed themselves to be misguided by unscrupulous politicians. The government through my voice exhorts Cameroonian men and women at home and abroad to thwart destabilizing maneuvers wherever they come from,” Sadi said.

Thursday’s report comes at a time when NGOs and journalism groups in Cameroon are warning against the use of media organs to propagate hate speech.

Rose Obah, the national coordinator of the Cameroon Community Media Network, said journalists should not be used as propaganda tools.

“We just come in to advise our members of our Cameroon Community Media Network as well as other journalists to be the first persons to [exercise] some kind of censorship around hate speech and fake news. Such words are unhealthy. Such words just come in to incite more violence and definitely with our main tool, peace journalism, we use it to encourage reporters and editors to encourage a peaceful society,” Obah said.

The ICG says President Biya should be wary of leaving behind a country riven with fighting and separatist sentiment in Anglophone areas but also by wider tensions, endangering Cameroon’s relatively amicable inter-ethnic relations.

Source: VOA

5, December 2020

France-Afrique: Military officer elected head of Mali’s interim legislature ⁰

Mali’s interim legislature on Saturday elected Colonel Malick Diaw, a member of the military junta that toppled president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August, as its president.

The 121-seat body known as the National Transition Council was meeting for its inaugural session in the capital Bamako, and is a key part of the post-coup interim government apparatus in Mali.

Young army officers in the conflict-ridden Sahel state toppled president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18 after weeks of anti-government protests.

Under the threat of international sanctions, the officers between September and October handed power to an interim government, which is meant to rule for 18 months before staging elections.

Figures with army links dominate this interim government, however, and anger over their prominent role is growing.

Coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita was elected interim vice president, for example, and retired army colonel Bah Ndaw was also elected interim president.

Members of the defence and security forces have 22 seats in the transition council, according to a government decree, while political parties, civil society groups and trade unions also have seats.

On Saturday, the council elected Colonel Malick Diaw as its president unopposed, according to AFP journalists, with 111 votes in his favour and seven abstentions. Three council members did not vote.

Diaw was second in command of the military junta that took power after Keita’s ouster. The junta has never formally been dissolved.

Last month, Goita was also given veto power over the appointments to the new legislature, in a move seen by critics of the interim regime as strengthening army control.

The opposition June 5 Movement, which led protests against Keita this year, said in a statement on Friday that it was boycotting the new legislature and that it would not serve as a “stooge for a disguised military regime”.

Source: AFP

5, December 2020

Ambazonia Interim Gov’t confirms four-day lockdown ⁰

Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima has confirmed a four-day lockdown of Ambazonia territory that started on Friday against the staging of French Cameroun so-called pioneer regional elections scheduled for today Sunday December 5.

The lockdown will run from Friday to Monday, according to a statement issued by the Southern Cameroons Interim Government on social media.

We understand the streets have been deserted and all sorts of activities are not operational. Ambazonia Restoration Forces have also issued death threats to residents if they participate in the Biya Francophone election.

On Wednesday, the Francophone dominated army told observer missions and media organizations that it has taken necessary security measures to ensure the elections unfold without hitches in Southern Cameroons.

The ruling CPDM party hopes today’s regional elections will help appease Southern Cameroonians by accelerating decentralization.

Southern Cameroons Self Defense Groups have been clashing with Cameroon government forces since 2017 in a bid to defend their homeland now known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

5, December 2020

Cameroon becomes the 33rd party to ratify the AfCFTA ⁰

Cameroon has joined the list of countries to formally ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, one month to the commencement of trading, the African Union Commission’s (AUC) Trade Commissioner Albert Muchanga announced today.

“The Republic of Cameroon became the 33rd AfCFTA State Party following the deposit of its instrument of ratification this 1st December, 2020,” Ambassador Muchanga said on his Twitter handle.

Cameroon’s decision comes after Lesotho and Tunisia submitted their own instruments on 27 November, leaving only 21 countries yet to ratify the treaty. They are Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Libya. The others are Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

The AfCFTA agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019 after the treaty was ratified by 22 countries — the minimum number required under the treaty — out of the 54 that agreed to be members of the bloc. Eritrea is the only country which has yet to make any commitment to the continental body.

Trading was earlier scheduled to start on 1 July this year but it was postponed for six months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AfCFTA provides the opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area with the potential to unite more than 1.2 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development. It has the potential to generate a range of benefits through supporting trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction.

The ECA through its African Trade Policy Centre has been working with the AU to deepen Africa’s trade integration through the effective implementation of the agreement by supporting the AfCFTA ratification process through policy advocacy.

The ECA is also assisting the member-states to develop national strategies for the implementation of the AfCFTA in partnership with the AUC, International Trade Centre (ITC), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and a selection of independent trade experts with the financial support of the European Union (EU).

Source: Modern Ghana

5, December 2020

The cost to repair the fire-damaged Sonara refinery in Southern Cameroons is 250 billion FCFA ⁰

The cost to repair the fire-damaged Sonara refinery in Cameroon is 250 billion Central African francs ($461.8 million).

Even before Sonara has a chance to consider this investment, it must restructure its debt, Cameroon Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou told parliament on December 1.

The official said that talks were under way with “technical and financial partners who have expressed interest in the reconstruction of this refinery. However, the finalisation of these negotiations depends on the restructuring of Sonara’s large debt,” according to local newspaper Legideon.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported that Sonara’s debt was 731bn CFA ($1.35bn) as of the end of July. The IMF did say that progress has been made on restructuring.

Sonara became unable to pay its debts following the fire at the Limbe plant in May 2019. This damaged four of the 13 units at the facility. It is not yet clear which companies might be interested in rebuilding the facility, although Russia’s Lukoil has been mentioned.

Debt plans

As of September, local banks holding around one third of the debt had agreed to a process. This is based on a five-year plan of Sonara operating solely as an oil importer, the state providing a letter of comfort for the banks and a new levy to support the refiner.

Cameroon set new product prices in March. These include a 47.88 CFA ($0.09) per litre levy intended to repay Sonara’s debt. The international agency said the new price structure should generate enough revenues to pay the debt.

Should the refiner not be able to complete the restructuring, it would endanger Cameroon’s outlook. The IMF has said the country is at high risk of debt distress. Should Sonara not be able to pay the local banks, this would have a knock on impact on the country’s domestic financing ability.

The IMF also reported that Cameroon was in talks with oil traders, who also hold Sonara debt.

Source: Energy Voice

5, December 2020

Boko Haram: Nigerian governor receives Cameroonian military delegation ⁰

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on Thursday, received a delegation of the Cameroonian military at the Government House in Maiduguri, the state capital.

At the meeting, the governor tasked the Cameroonian delegation on the need for Nigeria and Cameroon to team up to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists.

The Cameroonian military delegation was led by the 4th region joint military commander, General Saly Mohammadou. He was accompanied by Commander Sector 1 Multinational Joint Task Force, General Bouba Dobekreo; Commander Fourth Gendarmerie, Brigadier General Essoh Jules-Cesar; GOC 7 Div Bridgdier, Gen. AK Ibrahim, among others.

Zulum in a statement said the Cameroonian military was in Nigeria to share experience and improve collaboration between forces of the two countries in the fight against insurgency in the Lake Chad region.

He said, “Cameroon and Nigeria, most of our people shares the same tradition and culture. Though the insecurity has affected all the countries in the Lake Chad region, all our economies have been affected. Therefore, there is need for us to come together and fight this insurgency.

“The issue of trans-border trade is very important, all of us know Banki. We are doing everything possible to reopen Banki market, we are planning to reopen Bama-Banki road. Let us support the security architectures, so that we can ensure free movement of our people.”

Source: The Punch