Monthly Archives: March 2022

Indomitable Lions: Song names final 27-man squad for World Cup qualifier

18, March 2022

Indomitable Lions: Song names final 27-man squad for World Cup qualifier 0

Cameroon national football team head coach Rigobert Song on Wednesday named his final 27-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff game against Algeria.

Vincent Aboubakar will captain the squad that also includes Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, Napoli midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

The list consists of three goalkeepers, but there is no place for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations-winning keeper Fabrice Ondoa.

Forwards Clinton N’Jie, Christian Bassogog and Jerome Onguene are also amongst players dropped by Song, who has included 16-year-old Patient Wassou Goue of local side Coton Sport.

Cameroon will host Algeria in Japoma Stadium on March 25 before traveling to Mustapha Tchaker Stadium for the return fixture on March 29.

Song replaced Antonio Conceicao at the helm of the national team last month after the country finished third at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.

Source: Xinhuanet

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Web of connected players could complicate biometric ID card tender

18, March 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Web of connected players could complicate biometric ID card tender 0

Augentic seems like a natural contender for the biometric ID card tender launched by Cameroon’s government last year, given its role in issuing the country’s new passports. Any bid from the company could be complicated, however, by its relationship with two other companies that provide technology for ID documents, Africa Intelligence reports.

A bid by Germany-based Augentic for the biometric ID card contract was made in partnership with IN Groupe, which is under review by the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA). Industry publication Printing notes that the investigation began in January, citing a report from Le Figaro, but no specific information about what part of the company’s operations are under investigation is available.

IN Groupe also recently won the contract for France’s national digital ID, and for biometrics passports in the Seychelles.

Africa Intelligence suggests that a consultant who played a part in bringing Augentic and IN Groupe’s bid forward in Cameroon is a special consultant to an elite unit within Cameroonian army and involved with procurement. The report also notes that the consultant denies the specific role it alleges, but goes on to claim that he previously worked with Germany’s Veridos in the country. Veridos has also supplied biometric technology for Cameroon’s electoral system.

The General Delegation for National Security (DGSN) launched the tender last September, with a dozen biometrics providers involved in different bids, including Veridos, which many members of Augentic’s leadership team formerly served as executives.

Now, Africa Intelligence reports that Veridos has been complaining about Augentic’s practices in Cameroon to the German embassy.

Culled from biometric update

Race and identity shaping US politics- Ukrainians got it. Southern Cameroonians didn’t

16, March 2022

Race and identity shaping US politics- Ukrainians got it. Southern Cameroonians didn’t 0

Looking at how swiftly the U.S. moved to grant temporary protections for Ukrainians living in the United States.    Russia’s assault on Ukraine careens toward its third week.

Talks between the two nations continue, but how or when the Kremlin-led bombardment will end remains anyone’s guess.

The Russian invasion ignited a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, particularly in major population centers receiving the brunt of attacks, including the capital city of Kyiv and the port city of Mariupol.

The International Organization for Migration, an arm of the United Nations, estimated the war has created nearly 3 million refugees who have fled the country since the conflict erupted on Feb. 24.

Temporary Protected Status, as its name suggests, is a short-term action and in this case will shield an estimated 75,000 Ukrainian nationals in the U.S., as of March 1, from deportation.

TPS is designated by the Department of Homeland Security for three main reasons: ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster or extraordinary temporary conditions that would make it impossible for nationals to return to their home countries.

“We in the Department of Homeland Security are acting in support of them,” said Secretary Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a video posted to Twitter on March 3 announcing the move. “Not just the Ukrainian people living in Ukraine, but also those here present in the United States.”

While no one can fault the Biden administration for its prompt action for the Ukraninans, many immigration advocates are taken aback by how quickly TPS came: a mere eight days after war erupted there.

“This was that aha moment, like OK, so you guys can make this decision in a matter of days,” said Haddy Gassama, an attorney based in Washington, D.C. “It should not take yearslong campaigns to establish proof that a certain country is too dangerous to deport people to.”

Gassama, who also serves as national director of policy and advocacy at UndocuBlack Network, which advocates on behalf of current and formally undocumented Black migrants, says countries like the central African nation of Cameroon also need TPS protections.

And after years of pushing, their efforts have yielded little results, which they say is disappointing for an administration that ran on a platform of rooting out inequities in federal agencies and programs.

Gassama added:

Haddy Gassama said: “I think what is a little bit jarring is that we did not expect that it would be such an uphill battle for a country that really should be a shoo-in."

Cameroon is in the midst of a conflict that goes back to 2016. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees from December found there were 1.5 million refugees and internally displaced people in Cameroon.

Should TPS be granted by the Biden administration, it would do nothing for those people in Cameroon. But without it, as is the case now, hundreds of Cameroonian nationals were deported by the Trump administration back to French Cameroun and have never been heard again and hundreds in the United States are at risk of being sent back to the current unstable conditions.

Advocates are also pushing for TPS action for Central American nations, including Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

Culled from Politico.com

Football: Man Utd must hit reset button after miserable season

16, March 2022

Football: Man Utd must hit reset button after miserable season 0

Manchester United were established members of Europe’s elite a decade ago but they have been reduced to the status of also-rans in the Premier League and even in their own city.

Under Alex Ferguson, the club reached three Champions League finals in four years from 2008 to 2011. Since then they have won a meagre two knockout ties in the competition.

United’s limp 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday consigned them to a fifth consecutive trophyless season and suggested they are as far as ever from finding the key to success.

A return to the Champions League next year looks highly unlikely, with Arsenal in pole position to grab fourth spot in the Premier League after a strong run under Mikel Arteta.

United, who drew 1-1 against Atletico in the first leg in Spain, started brightly at Old Trafford but were let down by familiar defensive lapses and a palpable lack of a cutting edge.

Cristiano Ronaldo did not have a shot on goal while substitutes Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford failed to make an impact against Diego Simeone’s well-drilled side.

Former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who won a famous Treble under Ferguson in 1999, said United must do better but believes their current mess is an opportunity for root-and-branch reform.

“For a club that professes to be one of the biggest in the world, we have to do better than that,” he told the BBC.

“It’s been a long period of not being great and it’s very disappointing. But it’s also a time of opportunity and one we cannot miss.

“The club is under different leadership and wants to move in a different direction. It’s a chance to restructure the whole football department — how we recruit, how we scout, how we educate.”

Richard Arnold is the new man at the helm at Old Trafford after taking over from Ed Woodward as the club’s most senior executive.

Manager hunt

The chief executive has the unenviable task of finding a new manager — United’s fifth permanent boss since the departure of Ferguson as a Premier League champion in 2013.

Schmeichel said despite the malaise at Old Trafford, the best managers in the world would “relish” the chance of replacing interim boss Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.

“They will see great potential here,” he said. “If they are the person to get it right, we’ve seen what that means. I think anyone who is not at Manchester City or Liverpool would take that opportunity if it was offered.”

Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino and Ajax’s Erik ten Hag are both among the favourites to be the next manager even though their clubs also exited at the last 16 stage of the Champions League.

Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel has been linked with the job because of the current turmoil at the Stamford Bridge club following the sanctioning of Russian owner Roman Abramovich over the Ukraine war.

Former midfielder Paul Scholes, who was part of Ferguson’s all-conquering side, said United needed to find an elite manager who “strikes fear into players”.

“This isn’t a terrible group of players,” he said on BT Sport. “I think if you give this group of players a structure and way of playing, there’s some real talent in the squad.

“The next man might not be the right man, but the people behind the scenes have to make sure he is the right man,” he added.

“Maybe they need a manager that they are going to be afraid of and that will scare them into performances.”

The problem facing United’s hierarchy is that there have been a number of chances to reset and rebuild since Ferguson brought down the curtain on the most successful spell in the club’s history.

United have not mounted a serious title challenge for nearly a decade, watching enviously as Manchester City and Liverpool have set standards they have been unable to match despite a huge outlay on players.

Few would bet that this time they will get it right.

Source: AFP

China says it is ‘not a party’ to Ukraine Crisis

16, March 2022

China says it is ‘not a party’ to Ukraine Crisis 0

China says it does not want to get caught up in the diplomatic and economic blowback Russia is facing from Western nations over its invasion of Ukraine.

State media said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his government’s wishes during a lengthy phone conversation Monday with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

According to a transcript of the phone call published Monday by the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang told Albares that Beijing is “not a party to the crisis” and does not want to be “affected” by the mounting economic sanctions imposed on Moscow over the nearly 3-week-old invasion.

The conversation took place as U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and officials from the National Security Council and State Department met in Rome with China’s top foreign policy adviser, Yang Jiechi. The Biden administration has warned that Beijing would face severe “consequences” if it helps Moscow avoid sanctions.

Media reports emerged Sunday that Moscow has requested military and economic assistance from China for its war in Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian Tuesday repeated an accusation leveled by Beijing that the United States is spreading “disinformation” over reports that China has responded positively to Moscow’s request.

Zhao calls the reports “not only unprofessional, but also immoral and irresponsible.”

He told reporters China’s position is “completely objective, impartial and constructive.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters Monday that the United States is watching very closely the extent to which China, or any other country, provides any form of support to Russia.

“We have communicated very clearly to Beijing that we won’t stand by, we will not allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses,” he said.

CNN reported late Monday that the United States told European and Asian allies in a diplomatic cable that China had indicated a willingness to help Russia in the war against Ukraine. CNN said the cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided and that it warned that China would likely deny any such offer.

Chinese arms sales to Russia would have “a devastating impact on the U.S.-China relationship, because it would clearly align the Chinese with the Russians, against the United States, Europe in a war,” Robert Ross, a political science professor at Boston College, told VOA.

China is in a unique position because of its partnership agreement with Russia, according to Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. He told VOA that China has “considerably greater” leverage over Russia than even Western countries that have implemented “unprecedented sanctions” on Russia.

 “China has something that the West does not have, and that is the partnership,” with Russia, he said.

Source: VOA

Biya regime says it will rebuild hospitals destroyed by Boko Haram

16, March 2022

Biya regime says it will rebuild hospitals destroyed by Boko Haram 0

Cameroon’s government says it will rebuild hospitals and clinics destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists along the border with Nigeria. In a visit to the area this week, officials said the facilities were needed for villagers who have suffered from the conflict as well as for former Boko Haram members who have been rehabilitated.

Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health says at least 35 hospitals along the country’s border with Nigeria have either been abandoned by medical staff or destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists.

Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie this week visited some of the remaining hospitals along the border.

He says although working and living conditions are very difficult, the few medical staff members in former Boko Haram prone towns and villages are doing their best to save lives. Malachie says Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has ordered his government to build and equip destroyed hospitals and recruit more health workers. He also says he asked several hundred hospital workers who fled Boko Haram terrorism to return to Cameroon’s border with Nigeria.

Malachie did not say when the hospitals would be re-built.

But Cameroon’s government says it will spend $300 million this year to reconstruct what Boko Haram destroyed, including hospitals and medical equipment.

Government troops have been fighting Boko Haram along the northern border with Nigeria since 2014.

Cameroon’s military says there have been about 25 cases of abductions and kidnappings for ransom this year, but no large scale attacks by the terrorist group.

The military says the return to peace has allowed several thousand internally displaced persons and former Boko Haram members to return to their villages.

But health care in the region is sorely lacking, say social workers like Jean Pierre Ndlend in Kolofata district via a messaging application.

Ndlend says youths of between 15 and 35 years old are a majority of the 150 people suffering from mental health disorders that the Kolofata hospital has received since January. He says trauma from seeing people dying or forcefully separated from loved ones, poverty, and risky living conditions are the highest causes of mental health disorders in Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria.

Ndlend says the Kolofata hospital receives hundreds of patients every day but has only seven health care workers.

Speaking to Cameroon state radio (CRTV) this week, Far North Region Governor Midjiyawa Bakari said the military has been helping civilians while they wait for the government to re-build hospitals.

Bakari says most Cameroon’s troops deployed to fight Boko Haram have been sent to border villages to provide health care and education to both returnees and militants who surrender and leave the terrorist group. He says Cameroon’s military health unit visits border villages to provide humanitarian assistance and treat sick returnees, former fighters, and the host community.

Bakari said thousands of Boko Haram fighters and supporters have defected from the terrorist group since last May, when the leader of the Nigerian militants Abubakar Shekau was declared killed.

The United Nations says the Boko Haram conflict, which started 13 years ago in northeast Nigeria, has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced 2 million across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Source: VOA

From airlines in Nigeria to shoppers in Malawi- Africa feels economic fallout from Ukraine crisis

16, March 2022

From airlines in Nigeria to shoppers in Malawi- Africa feels economic fallout from Ukraine crisis 0

From airlines in Nigeria to shoppers in Malawi, Africans are feeling the impact of the Ukraine crisis in wrenching increases in the price of fuel, grain and fertiliser.

Global oil prices scaled decade-long highs of more than $100 a barrel shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, inflicting a hefty blow to many businesses south of the Sahara.

Both Ukraine and Russia are also major suppliers of wheat and other cereals to Africa, while Russia is a key producer of fertiliser.

The impact of the war and the West’s sanctions against the Kremlin are already starting to translate into higher prices for farm inputs and imported grain, AFP bureaus in Africa report.

For Lagos baker Julius Adewale, the crisis is a perfect storm.

Nigeria’s fragile power grid had recently been supplying just a few hours of electricity per day, forcing Adewale to turn to diesel-fueled generators for power — the cost of which has now soared.

“There is no light since yesterday and we’ve been running on gen since yesterday,” Adewale said this week, as workers stacked piles of loaves in his bakery.

“(The) cost of production has increased immensely.”

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and biggest economy, but it has little refining capacity.

The government subsidises the cost of petrol, but diesel and aviation fuel are sold at market price.

Several local airlines warned this month they were forced to cancel flights due to aviation fuel scarcities.

Diesel used to sell in Nigeria at around 300 naira (0.72 cents) a litre but now goes for 730 ($1.75) a litre.

“I don’t know how we are going to cope because 70 per cent of industries are running on diesel,” Lanre Popoola, a regional chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), told local media.

“Other businesses are also running limited hours on diesel as they cannot afford to use generators all day.”

Hardship ahead

If the crisis is sustained, said Eurasia Group analyst Amaka Anku, African countries which are big importers of fuel and grain will rank among the losers, although exporters of those commodities may be among the winners.

There are also countries that are heavily indebted, such as Ghana, which will struggle with higher borrowing costs as investor risk appetite lowers, she said.

Gas producers like Tanzania, Senegal and Nigeria may benefit from Europe’s moves to end its dependence on Russian energy, said Danielle Resnick at the Brookings Institution think tank.

But, she said, the immediate challenge was hardship for African families, millions of which are already struggling to get by.

“War in Ukraine means hunger in Africa,” International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Sunday.

High prices will for instance aggravate food insecurity in conflict-torn Ethiopia, where nearly 20 million people are in need of food aid.

– Inflation already here –

In many parts of Africa, the inflationary machine has already lurched into higher gear, AFP bureaus report.

In Kenya, a two kilogramme (4.4-pound) bag of wheat flour now sells for 150-172 Kenyan shillings (US$1.3 to US$1.5), compared to less than 140 shillings in February.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s No. 3 economy usually gets a fifth of its imported wheat from Russia and another 10 percent comes from Ukraine, according to government figures.

As for fertiliser, a 50-kilo bag that cost 4,000 shillings last year now changes hands for 6,500 shillings ($57) — a figure that is likely to increase as the planting season starts this month.

In the Ugandan capital Kampala, Ukraine’s crisis has already caused a surge in prices of soap, sugar, salt, cooking oil and fuel.

“Most of the essential commodities are produced locally but some ingredients are imported and their prices are being dictated by the shocks on international markets,” Junior Finance Minister David Bahati told AFP.

Cooking oil has risen from 7,000 shillings per litre ($1.94) in February to 8,500 shillings ($2.4) and a kilo of rice from 3,800 to 5,500 shillings, according to Kampala retail shops.

“My family of four people spend an average of 5,000 shillings to cater for food and other necessities but this is no longer enough… I now spend more than 10,000 shillings,” Ritah Kabaku, 41, a shop assistant in Kampala, told AFP.

‘Victims of war’

Wary of Ukraine-fueled inflation, Mauritius’ central bank has raised its key interest rate to two percent — its first hike since 2011.

“It is unfortunate that as the sky cleared after Covid 19, more clouds appeared,” Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth said in a televised speech.

In Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, prices for fuel, cooking oil, construction materials and electricity have shot up.

“A week ago, the 20-litre jerrycan of cooking oil was $25, today it’s about $50. A litre of gasoline was $0.64 and today it runs about $1.80 — it’s crazy,” said Mohamed Osman, a trader.

In southern Africa, bread and cooking oil prices in Malawi have shot up by an average 50 percent.

“This war doesn’t concern us and it is not right that we should be paying such a high price,” Fatsani Phiri, an auditor who was buying bread in the capital Lilongwe.

“We cannot always be victims every time there is a war somewhere in the world.”

Source: AFP

SOBA UK and Saint Joseph’s Feast Day Celebration: When, Where and why

16, March 2022

SOBA UK and Saint Joseph’s Feast Day Celebration: When, Where and why 0

The Feast of Saint Joseph as a custom was adopted by the Vatican and in 1570; the Holy Father Pope Pius V extended its use to the entire Roman Rite.

From the late 19th century through the middle of the 20th century, Saint Joseph’s Feast Day was established to honour St. Joseph as the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the step-father of Jesus Christ.

Ex-students of Saint Joseph’s College Sasse in Cameroon will join the rest of the world in celebrating the feast day for St. Joseph – which falls on March 19th each year.

To the Sasse Old Boys in the United Kingdom, it is a Patronal Feast Day!

SOBA UK’s tables specially decorated for the 2022 Saint Joseph’s Feast Day have all arrived the city of Manchester, and the Sasse Old Boys are all heading for the celebration mindful of the fact that what will not be placed on the tables is any dish which contains meat because this holiday occurs during Lent.

For the first time ever in the history of SOBA UK, four Roman Catholic clerics from the Mill Hill Missionaries would be joining Sobans in Manchester. Mill Hill Missionaries were the founders of St Joseph’s College Sasse.

SOBA UK members will use this year’s celebration to give thanks to St Joseph and ask him to continue to guide and protect their association and its members.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Leicester

Ruxit: Russia says quitting Council of Europe

15, March 2022

Ruxit: Russia says quitting Council of Europe 0

Russia said Tuesday it would pull out of the Council of Europe after pressure mounted for Moscow to be expelled from the pan-European rights body over its invasion of Ukraine.

Essentially jumping before it was pushed from the Strasbourg-based body, the Russian foreign ministry said it had given notification of its departure to the Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric.

The decision draws the curtain on Russia’s quarter century membership of the Council of Europe (COE) and also opens the way for Moscow to reimpose the death penalty if the authorities decide.

The so-called “Ruxit” from the Council of Europe means that Russia will no longer be a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and its citizens will no longer be able to file applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

It is only the second time in the history of the Council of Europe that a member state has announced it has quit the body after Greece walked out temporarily in the late 1960s.

Russia was suspended from all its rights of representation a day after tens of thousands of troops entered Ukraine on February 24.

The body’s parliamentary assembly was Tuesday also expected to pass a resolution urging the committee of ministers — the COE’s main decision making body — to start a procedure to expel Russia.

Buric “received formal notification from the Russian Federation of its withdrawal from the Council of Europe”, the body’s spokesman Daniel Holtgen confirmed.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal had on Monday demanded that Russia be immediately expelled, saying it had no right to remain a member after sending troops to the pro-Western country.

Eyes on death penalty

The Russian foreign ministry posted a statement on “launching the procedure to exit the Council of Europe” on its Telegram account, adding it had “no regret” about leaving.

Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996.

The ministry said its exit would “not affect the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens” and that “the implementation of already adopted resolutions of the European Court of Human Rights will continue, if they do not contradict Russia’s Constitution”.

It claimed that EU and NATO member states within the Council of Europe had turned the organisation into an “instrument for anti-Russian policies”.

Russia’s exit will mark a major change for the ECHR which acts as a court of final instance when all domestic avenues are exhausted.

Cases brought by Russian citizens have piled up at the ECHR accounting for 24 percent of the current cases, such as those concerning dissident prisoner Alexei Navalny.

No member state has ever been expelled from the Council of Europe, which was created in 1949 and has 47 member states including Russia.

Moscow’s move has one precedent — when it was under military rule Greece walked out of the body in 1969 to avoid being expelled. Athens then rejoined in 1974 after the fall of the junta.

Not using the death penalty is a precondition of COE membership, and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy national security council chief, had evoked bringing back capital punishment if Russia left the body.

Medvedev had described Russia’s suspension as “a good opportunity to restore a number of important measures to prevent especially serious crimes — such as the death penalty… which is actively used in the US and China”.

Russia has observed a moratorium on the death penalty since 1996 though it has never formally abolished the practice.

Belarus, the only European country to still use the death penalty and Moscow’s ally, is not a member of the organisation.

A Russian exit will also deprive the COE of nearly seven percent of its annual budget, around 500 million euros ($545 million).

But Buric told AFP this month she had received “reassuring” signals from several member states, including France and Germany, ready to guarantee the financial sustainability of the organisation.

Source: AFP

Termination of French Cameroun military presence in Ambazonia only a matter of time

15, March 2022

Termination of French Cameroun military presence in Ambazonia only a matter of time 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government says the presence of Francophone army soldiers in Ambazonia homeland is temporary whose termination is only a matter of time.

Dabney Yerima made the comment on Monday during a conversation with the Cameroon Concord News Group.

The exiled Ambazonia leader said he recently endorsed a campaign across the entire Ambazonia territory for self defense units to use explosives against the occupying forces and their agents.

Yerima also asserted that in the days ahead French Cameroun civil administrators and troops loyal to the Biya French Cameroun regime will get to witness the bravery of the Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards.

Dabney Yerima noted that Amba fighters who surrendered their weapons were now regretting. He added that the enemy is arrogant and only interested in rendering the people of Southern Cameroons weaker.

Yerima, meanwhile, furthered that Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero will become stronger in all areas, including fire power and devotion.

By Chi Prudence Asong

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