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23, October 2023

At Celtic Manor in New Port: SOBA UK vow to reconcile, fulfilling St Joseph’s wish ⁰

St. Joseph is the foster father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He’s the patron saint of fathers and above all, he is the protector of the Church. Joseph is also the patron saint of laborers, because he was a working man, a carpenter. He’s the patron saint of families and, here’s a beautiful one, he’s the patron of the Sasse Old Boys Association all over the world.

St. Joseph represented peace and forgiveness but reconciliation was his trade mark.

At the Celtic Manor in the beautiful city of New Port in Wales, both President Obale Ebai and the much respected Gerald Nupa, echoed St Joseph’s sentiments during the SOBA UK Residential Annual Convention at the weekend.

The desire for reconciliation was visibly seen and spoken in all corners of the 5 Star International Golf resort and the general consensus was that unity is achievable.

The Sasse Old Boys were reminded that the prayer of His Lordship Bishop Bibi of the Buea diocese was that he wanted all Sobans in the UK to reconcile.

Outlining the vision of reconciliation that his predecessor Egbe Franklin had envisioned, SOBA UK president Obale Ebai observed that the era of negativity and unhealthy propaganda is over!

SOBA UK patron Dr Enow Humphrey who performed the installation ceremony ritual on the new executive told this reporter that “if we Sobans don’t reconcile, it’s like a powder keg that would torpedo all the achievements that have been made in SOBA UK.”

In his public statement during the barbecue, Valery Watat said that despite all the difficulties, Sasse Old Boys in the United Kingdom have to fulfill Bishop Bibi’s longstanding wish of having all Sobans bury the hatchet and to permanently reconciled and working together to build Sasse College.

“For this, we are today one SOBA UK” Valery Watat declared.

SOBA UK’s renowned master of ceremony Fritz Esambi also weighed in on reconciliation during the gala and vowed to continue working to rebuild and make SOBA an alumni force to be reckoned with in Cameroon and even beyond.

‘A good move’

Cameroon Concord News Group understands the blame game is now over as all Sobans in the UK are forging a good working relationship based on unity and integration.

In the words of Bertrand Abang, the 2023 SOBA UK Residential Convention at Celtic Manor was a kind of joint rally so that the working relationship matures organically among all Sasse Old Boys.

SOBA UK members have successfully discovered ways to overcome the obstacles that stand in their way.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Celtic Manor

23, October 2023

IG on Sisiku Ayuk Tabe: The greatest fear of any political prisoner is to be forgotten ⁰

The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has issued a statement detailing the current situation of the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides.

The statement decried La Republique du Cameroun’s crimes in Southern Cameroons and the holding of hundreds of Southern Cameroonians in French Cameroun jails.

The document made public by the office of the Vice President, Dabney Yerima observed that over the past 7 years, the French Cameroun regime has mastered the nasty game of arresting innocent Southern Cameroonians and Francophone army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons are now commercialising their freedom.

“The only message that Yaoundé is sending to the world by its continued incarcerating of the Ambazonia leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides is that it revels in the endless depth of its gratuitous cruelty” the statement noted.

“President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his senior aides are detained for demanding the dignity and freedom that every human being is inherently entitled to; for representing the marginalized people of Southern Cameroons; for nothing. President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his jailed cabinet deserve their liberty” the statement furthered.

The Ambazonia Interim Government statement urged the international community to initiate a game-changing global endeavor aimed at stopping the war in Southern Cameroons and collectively impose draconian consequences on the 90-year-old Biya and his ruling French Cameroun political elites.

The IG press release reminded every Southern Cameroonian that the greatest fear of any political prisoner is to be forgotten.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

23, October 2023

More than 1,400 African migrants reach Spain’s Canary Islands ⁰

More than 1,400 African migrants have reached Spain’s Canary Islands this weekend, with one vessel bringing a single-boat record of 321 people, authorities said Sunday.

A total of 1,457 migrants had reached the Spanish islands off the western African coast between Friday night and Sunday morning, the authorities said on X, formerly Twitter, adding to a recent spike in arrivals.

An emergency services spokesman said all of the arrivals hailed from sub-Saharan Africa.

Saturday saw 321 people reach the island of El Hierro aboard one vessel, a rescue services spokesperson told AFP, surpassing the previous record for a single boat of 280 on October 3.

Spanish broadcaster TVE showed images of a multicoloured vessel crammed with smiling and waving passengers reaching port.

Latest data from Spain’s interior ministry show 23,537 migrants reached the Canaries between January 1 and October 15.

The first fortnight of this month alone saw 8,561 arrivals — a record for a fortnight since a previous migration crisis in 2006.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska last week said on a visit to the archipelago the spike in numbers resulted from political “destabilisation in the Sahel”.

The Canaries route has been favoured in recent years with controls having been tightened in the Mediterranean.

However, many barely seaworthy vessels have not made it to shore as thousands of migrants risk their lives on the long and dangerous crossing from Morocco or Western Sahara — 100 kilometres (60 miles) away.

Others try even riskier routes from Mauritania, Senegal and even Gambia, around 1,000 kilometres away.

Source: AFP

21, October 2023

First of 20 aid trucks enter besieged Gaza from Egypt ⁰

The first of 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, said AFP correspondents on both sides.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he was “confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies… to the people of Gaza” and warned that “this first convoy must not be the last”.

The border crossing was closed again after the passage of the trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent which is responsible for delivering the aid, including food and medical supplies from various UN agencies.

Rafah is the only route into Gaza that is not controlled by Israel, which agreed to allow the aid in from Egypt following a request from its top ally the United States.

Israel has been bombing Gaza since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack of October 7 and has also declared a total siege, cutting off most water as well as food, electricity, fuel and other supplies.

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials.

Since then, more than 4,100 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed in relentless Israeli bombardments, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the aid passage as “an important first step that will alleviate the suffering of innocent people”.

Source: France 24

21, October 2023

Every drop of Anglophone blood brings Biya’s family closer to destruction ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government has said that the man heading the criminal French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé is only accelerating the demise of his own family by killing innocent Southern Cameroons women and children.

In a press briefing late on Friday, Vice President Dabney Yerima stated that every drop of Anglophone blood brings Biya, his wife and children closer to destruction.

Dabney Yerima wondered aloud why French Cameroonians have continued to remain silent and accepting the heinous crimes in Southern Cameroons where soldiers loyal to the 90-year-old Francophone dictator are Killing women and children and destroying hospitals.

Vice President Dabney Yerima also pointed out that Yaoundé is now suffering the economic consequences of the war in Southern Cameroons at the hands of Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces’

Yerima also emphasized the rising resentment towards the ruling CPDM crime syndicate and its leader Paul Biya.

By Chi Prudence Asong

19, October 2023

“Genocides are on-going in Southern Cameroons” ⁰

Professor Carlson Anyangwe has slammed the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé for its continued war crimes in Southern Cameroons.

The renowned academic told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the international community continues to ignore the killings in Southern Cameroons and that no world power has suspended foreign relations with the criminal regime in Yaoundé.

Elsewhere in his conversation with CIR, he likened the Biya Francophone regime to “Nazis” due to their brutal aggression in Southern Cameroons.

Since the start of the Ambazonia crisis, Professor Carlson Anyangwe has voiced his support for the Ambazonia Interim Government and has been helping Vice President Dabney Yerima on strategy formulation and implementation.

Anyangwe has repeatedly said La Republique du Cameroun must cease its systematic attacks on Southern Cameroons civilians and has urged the US government and its European allies to condemn French Cameroun crimes in British Southern Cameroons.

By Chi Prudence Asong

18, October 2023

Football: Neymar has torn knee ligament, facing surgery ⁰

Football superstar Neymar has a torn ligament and meniscus in his left knee and will have to undergo surgery after being injured during Brazil’s 2-0 loss to Uruguay, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said Wednesday.

The 31-year-old, who joined Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain in August, was stretchered off in tears just before halftime in Brazil’s 2026 World Cup qualifying match in Montevideo Tuesday.

Neymar will undergo surgery for the injuries at a “yet-to-be-determined date,” the CBF said, after a series of medical exams on the player in Sao Paulo.

“Brazilian and world football need Neymar healthy and recovered, because football is happier when he’s on the pitch,” CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement.

The CBF said its medical department and Al Hilal are in “constant contact” and “aligned” on helping the striker recover.

Neymar, who overtook Pele as Brazil’s all-time top goal scorer last month, twisted his knee in a collision with Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz in stoppage time near the end of the first half.

Carried off on a stretcher, he left the stadium on crutches and wearing a leg brace after the match.

It is the latest in a string of injuries for the star, who underwent surgery in March for an ankle problem that sidelined him for six months.

Fitness problems overshadowed much of his six seasons at PSG, which signed him for a world-record $234 million (222 million euros) in 2017.

He signed for Al Hilal for a reported $95 million in August.

Knee injuries are among the most common — and serious — in football.

The CBF said Neymar’s injury was to his anterior cruciate ligament, one of the worst of all.

Surgery to repair the condition often takes players out of action for months.

Source: AFP

18, October 2023

Turkey to declare three days of mourning over Gaza hospital strike ⁰

Turkey will declare three days’ mourning over a deadly strike on a hospital in war-torn Gaza that killed hundreds, a Turkish official told AFP on Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a fervent supporter of the Palestinian cause, has accused Israel of “striking a hospital sheltering women, children and innocent civilians” and urged the world to stop the tragedy in Gaza.

“Turkey will declare three days national mourning,” the official, who wished to remain anonymous, told AFP.

Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied blame.

Source: France 24

18, October 2023

Israel to allow aid into Gaza via Egypt, PM office says ⁰

Israel would let aid enter Gaza via Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Wednesday, saying only “food, water and medicine” would be allowed into the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Humanitarian supplies will not be able to enter the enclave from the Israeli side of the border.

“In light of (US) President (Joe) Biden’s demand, Israel would not foil the supply of humanitarian aid via Egypt,” the prime minister’s office said, announcing a cabinet decision.

The statement noted that aid to civilians in the southern Gaza Strip would be allowed “so long as these supplies do not reach Hamas”, which rules Gaza.

Source: France 24

18, October 2023

The flow of Chinese investment in Cameroon is expected to strengthen ⁰

The Cameroonian Ministry of Finance issued a note Tuesday informing of the signing of a new cooperation deal with China. The document, signed as part of a visit by Minister Louis Paul Motazé to Beijing, aims to “eliminate double taxation on income and prevent tax evasion and avoidance.”

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), double taxation, recognized as a barrier to trade and investment between countries, “arises when comparable taxes are imposed in two or more states on the same taxpayer in respect of the same taxable income or capital, e.g. where income is taxable in the source country and the country of residence of the recipient of such income.” To avoid this practice, which experts believe hampers international trade, cross-border investment, and the movement of people, states generally signs tax treaties.

National Development Strategy 2020-30

The Ministry of Finance revealed that the new agreement between Cameroon and China is the fruit of “a long negotiation process that began in 2013”. It marks “a decisive step in the implementation of the National Development Strategy 2020-30 (SND30) and towards the emergence of our country by 2035″. “Since China is one of Cameroon’s leading economic and trade partners, it was necessary to negotiate a tax agreement to remove tax obstacles to trade between the two countries, in particular the double taxation of companies operating in both countries,” the ministry explained.

Over the past two decades, China has become Cameroon’s leading customer (25.8% market share in 2021, according to the INS) and supplier (17.5% market share in 2020) as well as a leading investor. According to data contained in the 2021 World Investment Report published by UNCTAD, the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) captured by Cameroon between 2000 and 2020 is estimated at $9,026 million (CFA 5,434.3 billion), mainly thanks to China. “Between 2000 and 2014, Cameroon captured CFA 2,750 billion in foreign direct investment, including CFA 1,850 billion from China. This represents around 67% of FDI entering Cameroon”, points out a document from the Presidency of the Republic, citing UNCTAD data.

The Cameroonian government seeks through the new agreement with China to further enhance the existing level of economic cooperation with the Asian country. “This agreement will undoubtedly boost trade between Cameroon and China, and attract even more Chinese investment to Cameroon,” the Finance Ministry said.

New mining projects in the pipeline?

The signing of this tax agreement occurs at a time when the Cameroonian government is embarking on several mineral exploitation projects, many of which are of significant interest to China. One such project is the Mbalam-Nabeba mining project, a world-class iron ore deposit spanning Cameroon and Congo.

Cameroon has chosen Bestway Finance, an investment vehicle allied with China’s AustSino, to build the railroad that will make the deposit exploitable. The license to mine the deposit was awarded on August 17, 2022, to Cameroon Mining Company, also linked to Bestway Finance, which recently announced agreements with at least four Chinese companies for the project. At the Lobé iron ore deposit in Kribi, in the southern region of Cameroon, China’s Sinosteel was awarded the operating license signed on July 1, 2022.

By inking this agreement with China, Cameroon now has 15 double taxation treaties and two global multilateral agreements. On a bilateral basis, these include agreements signed with France (1976), Canada (1988), Switzerland (1990), Tunisia (1999), Morocco (2012), South Africa (2015), the United Arab Emirates (2017), Germany (2017), the Czech Republic (2023) and the six Cemac member countries. However, these agreements do not always guarantee an increase in FDI for Cameroon. For example, despite signing the agreement with the United Arab Emirates in 2017, the first investment from that country has yet to materialize.

Source: Business in Cameroon