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23, June 2016

Corruption scandal rocks SODECOTON as 580 million disappears from company coffers ⁰

The CEO’s of public companies in Cameroon have continued their CPDM policy of looting in the open. This is the case with the Cameroon Cotton Development Company, SODECOTON, where 580 million FCFA have been stolen recently. Cameroon Concord News learned that SODECOTON created in 1974 by the Cameroon government is facing the worse ever financial crisis in its history.

Our chief intelligence officer hinted at the time of filing this report that a dozen company executive members have already been interrogated by prosecutors at the Special Criminal Court and 6 of them are in police custody. A sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report revealed that some of those highly placed SODECOTON officials arrested over the week end were transported to Yaoundé by a military plane from Garoua including the out gone general manager, Abdou Namba.

This is not the first time that cases of misappropriation of public funds have been reported in Sodecoton. In 2007, more than 174 million CFA francs disappeared from the state enterprise. The funds were reportedly diverted to Cotton Sport Garoua- a football club partly owned by SODECOTO.

The most recent case is that of Iya Mohammed, former general manager of Sodecoton, serving a 15 years sentence at the Kondengui central prison. He was charged in September 2015 for embezzling 11 billion FCFA.

Tambe Peter (Cameroon Concord News Group)

23, June 2016

Cameroon: Audit Bench of the Supreme Court publishes its 2014 report ⁰

The Audit Bench of the Supreme Court has published its 2014 Report in which it strongly requests chief accountants in public institutions to henceforth unambiguously designate in the management accounts submitted to the Audit Bench, the authors of deficits and get them to sign finding minutes with view of reimbursing.

More so, the chief accountants are expected to prepare “deficit files” to be submitted to the Directorate General of Treasury, Financial and Monetary Cooperation for their transformation into “administrative deficits” if reminders of reimbursement to authors of such deficits prove futile.

This is one of the five new recommendations contained in the report which was presented yesterday, June 22, 2016 in the Senate during the Sixth Exchange Forum between members of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Senate and the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court.

In the presence of Senate President, Marcel Niat Njifenji and the entire chamber, the President of the Audit Bench, Marc Ateba Ombala, said sharing the findings of the ninth Annual Public Report with Senators was a requirement of the law creating the Audit Bench.

All 13 management accounts by public accountants were submitted. However, irregularities noticed and punished included insincerity in the sequencing of balances and discrepancies between figures entered in the management and administrative accounts, amongst others.

A study of supporting documents also revealed the absence of mission orders during missions, absence of receipts and unstamped bills in public procurement procedures as well as undue allowances paid to staff. Besides the report, Senators were also debriefed on Budget Balance by two officials of the Supreme Court, Pierre Kameni and Elie Désiré Ndjom Nack.

Cameroon Tribune

18, June 2016

Nigeria: Aso Rock confirms extension of President Buhari’s medical leave ⁰

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has extended his four-day medical leave in London in the UK and will return to his country on Sunday, June 19 Buhari to resume service at Aso Rock palace on Monday, June 20. The announcement of the extension of the former coup leader was made on Thursday in Abuja by the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

In making the announcement, the current Nigerian Acting President reminded reporters at the presidency that Buhari had a 10-day medical leave which started on the 6^th of June for a “persistent ear infection.” And to reassure his compatriots about the state of Buhari, Professor Osinbajo said that “Mr. President is in good condition, he is doing very well, he is fine. He needs to have one or two days of rest”.

The Aso Rock announcement was prompted by rumors circulating in the country that Buhari was dying in a London hospital. The former military dictator has seen the cancellation of some programs on his agenda.

Chi Prudence Asong (CIR)

18, June 2016

Bodies of 19 Ethiopians found in a container in the Democratic Republic of Congo ⁰

The bodies of nineteen Ethiopians suffocated in a container have been discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo precisely in Mwenda, a town in the Mokambo district.

Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered from Congolese media sources that the nineteen Ethiopians were undocumented and their bodies were found in the bush 7 km from Mwenda, to the border town of Mokambo in Upper Katanga.

75 survivors (72 Ethiopians and 3 Zambians) were also discovered in the same container. We also learned that the illegal immigrants were being transported by a Zambian truck driver en route to South Africa.

CIR

18, June 2016

Germany censures NATO over war games in Eastern Europe ⁰

Germany’s foreign minister has censured war games by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Eastern Europe, saying such drills will not bring security to the region and will rather stoke tensions with Russia. Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the remarks in an interview with the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper, whose extracts were published on Saturday.

“What we shouldn’t do now is inflame the situation further through saber-rattling and warmongering,” Steinmeier said, adding, “We are well-advised to not create pretexts to renew an old confrontation.” NATO launched the Anakonda-16 maneuver on June 7, simulating a Russian attack on Poland. The two-week-long exercise involves some 31,000 troops, dozens of ships and fighter jets, along with 3,000 vehicles.

“Whoever believes that a symbolic tank parade on the alliance’s eastern border will bring security, is mistaken,” Steinmeier said.

Presstv

18, June 2016

More chaos in Euro 2016 as Air France pilots go on strike ⁰

Pilots with the French flag carrier, Air France, are set to walk out of their jobs over pay cuts as the country is hosting the Euro 2016 soccer tournament. Three major pilot unions said on Friday that they were going on strike between June 24 and June 27 after the Air France management made “very vague promises” in negotiations during the last industrial action on June 11-14.

Pilots complain that new pay rules, which were recently decided by the airline management, would lower their salaries by five percent. Air France pilots’ previous action, which ended on June 14, grounded around 20 percent of domestic and international flights and cost the carrier more than EUR 40 million (USD 45 million).

The Air France management said only a quarter of pilots joined the walk-out earlier this month, but unions said the figure was about seven in 10.

Presstv

17, June 2016

Nigeria: Boko Haram kills 18 women ⁰

The Takfiri Boko Haram militants have shot and killed at least 18 women when they stormed a funeral in a village in Nigeria’s troubled northeastern state of Adamawa.

Witnesses and local government officials said the attack was carried out at about 5:00 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) on Thursday in the village of Kuda near the Sambisa forest, where Boko Haram militants hide in far-flung camps to avoid the Nigerian military.

“They stormed our village on motorbikes and immediately opened fire on the people observing the wake,” a witness, requesting anonymity, said.

Presstv

17, June 2016

British pro-EU MP murdered ⁰

Campaigning for Britain’s EU referendum scheduled for next week has been suspended for a second day as the nation remains in shock from the murder of Jo Cox, a Member of Parliament (MP) who was pro-Europe. Cox, a 41-year-old former aid worker and pro-EU campaigner known for her advocacy on behalf of Syrian refugees, was killed on Thursday outside a library where she regularly met constituents in Birstall in northern England.

Cox, a Labour Party MP, had been repeatedly shot and stabbed, witnesses told local media. Following the attack, both sides in Britain’s June 23 EU referendum on staying or leaving the bloc said they were suspending their campaigns. British Prime Minister David Cameron also pulled out of a planned rally in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located on the southern end of Spain in Mediterranean Sea.

The Stronger in Europe camp, which campaigns in favor of the UK’s continued membership of the EU, said it was “suspending all campaigning” for Thursday and Friday, while a spokesperson for the rival Vote Leave group, an organization that campaigns for Britain to leave the EU, said their “battle bus” was returning to headquarters.

Her attacker is reported to have shouted “put Britain first” at least twice. A 52-year-old man, named locally as Tommy Mair, has been arrested. According to British media, Mair, may have had extreme right-wing leanings. “Britain First” is the name of a far-right anti-immigration group. Police said an investigation was under way to determine the motive of the murder, the first killing of an MP since Ian Gow was killed by a car bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army in 1990.

Earlier on Thursday, dozens gathered outside the Parliament in a vigil to remember Cox, including Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was flanked by tearful party colleagues. “What’s happened is beyond appalling. We are here in silent memory of her loss,” said Corbyn. “She was a fearless campaigner, and a voice for the voiceless. We feel shaken,” said Fatima Ibrahim, 23, an activist with the Avaaz civic organisation.

Presstv

17, June 2016

Cameroon’s new Penal Code: Revelations from the June 2016 Plenary Session ⁰

Top among the numerous issues deliberated at the June 2016 Plenary session in the so called Upper and Lower houses of parliament were proposals made by the ruling CPDM crime syndicate on the Cameroon Penal Code. Cameroon’s 50 year old Penal Code has witnessed some modifications which includes

–Adultery remains a criminal act not only against women, but men inclusive.

–The eviction of a spouse from the matrimonial home by any person other than the spouse of the victim is now a crime.

–Indecent or illegal practices in any public or private enterprise will lead to complete disintegration, permanent or temporal closure of the enterprise.

–Renting fraud: Six months to three years imprisonment terms for recalcitrant tenants: (those refusing to pay their rents) will be charged with fines ranging from 100 to 300,000 FCFA.

–Unscrupulous tenants who before leaving the house, damage some equipment will be severely punished.

–Street begging prohibited.

– Illegal sale of drugs is now a crime.

The scrutiny exercise was supervised by the Minister of Justice and keeper of the Seals, Laurent Esso, assisted by the Vice Prime Minister, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Amadou Ali. The Cameroon bar association has called for an immediate stop of the penal code review.

CRTV

17, June 2016

Cameroon: Youth Employment Service launches nationwide campaign to train 6000 entrepreneurs ⁰

The training organized by the Youth Employment Service, YES Cameroon consist of a three day training session within a period of two weeks in all 48 divisions in the country. According to the Executive Director of YES Cameroon, Gilbert Ewehmeh, the beneficiaries will include 80% of small business holders who do not have access to credit and financial support.

The workshop is targeting essentially those in the informer sector who will be trained on the techniques of attracting funding opportunities and how to triple investment capital. The training will also cover areas of management and leadership.

The different facets of the training were presented to the press during a launching ceremony that marked the beginning of the training exercise. The organizers indicated that at the end of the training, a Business Angel Fund of 50 million FCFA will be mobilized to support ten projects in each region.

CRTV