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12, June 2016

Kick tribalism out of African political and religious establishments ⁰

Education and tribalism are two words, each having its own meaning and existing as a unique entity.On account of the special configurations of many societies in terms of ethnic groups and languages,very extra care should and must be taken in every African country’s educational enterprise for the inculcation of more practicable attitudes and values in this direction. Many African countries have demonstrated a penchant for excessive emotional attachment to their respective tribes or ethnic groups in such a manner as to generate ethnic consolidations and inter-ethnic competition, which tends to put in jeopardy valid aspirations towards national unity.

If ethnic consolidations served the old primitive systems and the struggle for independence, they should not be given much future in today’s African political and religious settings.Through the educational machinery, there should and must be a conscious effort to de-emphasise ethnic bondings, but instead to accentuate the necessity to build tribal bridges. Tribal hostility must be replaced by inter-tribal co-operation and understanding. Local expressions such as “Anglo”, “Biafra”, “Nkwah” and “Come-no-go” in the case of Cameroon should be discarded.Hence, Africans can eliminate permanently that phenomenon which constantly manifest its ugly head now and again in different parts of Africa. Consequently, Africa would never again have for instance Sawas against Bamileke, Igbos against Yourubas, Kimbundus versus Kikongos, Kikuyus against Luo, Luhya versus Kalenjin etc.

Like Uhuru Kenyatta and Goodluck Jonathan including Koffi Anan have always noted, it is not anti-developmental per se to identify racially, tribal, religiously, since communities, of necessity,define themselves around a class, a creed or a race precisely because it distinguishes them from other community groups. What should be eschewed from the national framework of every African country is the penchant for inter-tribal hostility and the exclusion of other tribes or ethnic groups from compassion, equity and affection. Globalization has globalized every aspect of the human race, so Africa should not be left behind.Integration must reign at all cost.

In order to build a progressive, cohesive national systems that will better serve the African continent, there must be an inculcation of free competition which is not a cut-throat in an open society; so that the aspirations of individuals can soar; so that our men and women can discover their hidden talents and, within the bounds of reason, be untrammeled actors in the drama of life. In this way, Africans will rely on success, not because of their origin in terms of tribe, but the content of his character and productivity.

Furthermore, education should not only re-orient the national population towards inter-ethnic, inter-tribal bridges, but also towards inter-state understanding and cooperation. Policies geared towards the enhancement of mutual trust must be encouraged and demonstrated in action. Cameroon Concord’s contributing editor Dr. Joachim Arrey has always reminded us of the adage that “together we stand and divided we fall”. Let Africans, Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, Paul Biya and John Fru Ndi, Goodluck and Buhari work hand-in-hand and develop our people to better standard of living for the sake of humanity.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11, June 2016

Cameroon says identification of mobile phone customers will “enhance efficiency” ⁰

This is obviously not the first time that the issue is coming up. About five years ago, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications issued directives calling on all mobile telephone companies in Cameron to ensure that their customers were identified and registered. After much feet-dragging, the process finally took place and all subscribers to mobile telephone in the country were supposed to have been identified and their data placed in a server somewhere.

In September 2015, a text signed by the Prime Minister gave new modalities for the identification of all subscribers to mobile telephones in the country. One remarkable innovation in the decision was that no individual could have more than three numbers per mobile company. Most observers expected that the mobile telephone companies were going to follow suit and launch other identification campaigns in conformity with the new regulations. Almost one year after, the process has finally taken off, but with many irregularities.

During the initial operation, there were wanton cases of abuse and neglect both on the side of the mobile operators and the regulatory structure that is expected to protect the rights of the client and the State. People had to queue up for hours on end and there were even cases of deaths as users waited in hot sun to have their numbers registered. Several formulae were experimented before any user-friendly procedure could be put in place to make the exercise easier for subscribers.

Regrettably, the recent resumption of the identification process is still fraught with problems and unanswered questions. Nothing exists to show that anyone has been identified, at least for those who have gone through the long queues to perform the ritual. Mobile telephone companies still seem to negatively exploit the excitement that their products offer by treating customers as helpless citizens. People are made to line up as early as 7 A.M. to wait for the exercise and no one bothers if it rains on them or not. What of those with busy schedules who have to be at their jobs so often?

The multiplication of identification sites at road junctions could have been a salutary move. Yet, no one bothers to communicate on the existence of such places. People only stumble on them or meet some young men and women on street corners and public places offering to identify them. Worse still, messages being sent to subscribers hardly distinguish between those who have gone through the process and those who are still to do so. What happens to the data earlier collected by the mobile companies from subscribers?

Curiously, those who have had security problems posed by con men using fake mobile telephone companies can better tell the story of how difficult it is to identify such contacts. Some of the mobile telephone companies take weeks and even more to produce information on their subscribers. That is if they ever do so! Such a pattern of operation is perplexing and keeps ordinary users wondering if no possibilities exist to know if A or B has already been identified. Could the obstacle be the lack of regulatory framework, complicity between the various operators and the regulators or simply an act of negligence?Whatever the situation, the repetitive nature of the mobile telephone identification process is disturbing and requires more attention than is actually the case. There should certainly be possibilities to avoid users the trouble of having to line up every now and then for the same exercise as if they lacked something to do.

Cameroon Tribune

11, June 2016

US bombs Pentagon-trained militants in Syria ⁰

The US military has acknowledged bombing a Syrian militant unit it had trained and armed purportedly to fight Daesh terrorists in the country, a report says. The incident was the most serious setback for a controversial Pentagon program that is angling to find new recruits for training after last efforts ended in disaster, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Pentagon carried out a series of airstrikes in and around Syria’s northern town of Mare’ on May 27 and May 28. The Mutasim Brigade, a force of US-trained militants, said one of the airstrikes hit the brigade.

The US military said at the time that three strikes had targeted “two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL tactical vehicles and an ISIL vehicle” near Mare’. But Mutasim Brigade’s leaders told The Journal that one of the airstrikes hit the brigade’s fighters while they were battling Daesh terrorists. Ten US-backed militants were killed in the “friendly-fire incident.” Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, said an investigation had been launched into the incident. “We will continue our support to counter-ISIL forces and will apply any lessons learned derived from the investigation to improve our operations in the future,” Col. Ryder added.

It is unclear why the US military chose not to disclose the errant airstrike earlier. Col. Ryder told the Journal that the “dynamic and complex nature of the battlefield” led to a lag time in reporting.The US military acknowledged last year that a $500 million program to train and equip militants for Syria had managed to produce only a handful of fighters. The mission was halted under mounting pressure from members of Congress. However, new training efforts were launched this year for more “vetted” recruits. Daesh terrorists, who were among the militants initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control parts of Iraq and Syria. They are engaged in heinous crimes against humanity in territories under their control.

Presstv

11, June 2016

Ali buried in home city of Louisville ⁰

Rousing tributes have been paid to boxing legend Muhammad Ali at a memorial service in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky. Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other speakers spoke of his fight for civil rights, while a message from President Barack Obama praised his originality.

The interfaith event took place hours after thousands said farewell as his coffin passed through city streets. Ali was buried in a private ceremony attended by friends and family.

BBC

10, June 2016

Euro 2016: How prepared was the French Republic? ⁰

Riot police in France have used tear gas to halt clashes between British soccer fans and locals in the French port city of Marseilles ahead of a European soccer event. Police said on Friday that two British fans were injured and four police officers slightly hurt in a string of incidents overnight involving British soccer fans and locals. Euro 2016 is now more of a problem to the EU political nation. The issues are too many!! UK Hooligans, industrial action, train drivers strike, Takfiri attacks and like CPDM Cameroon, over flowing rubbish bins littered everywhere in Paris.

Witnesses said the fight between the fans and the locals, outside a pub in the Mediterranean city’s Old Port district, was stopped by police, who quickly restored order by separating the two groups from one another. It is not clear how the brawl began. Police said that two British hooligans were arrested.

France is already in the grip of industrial action, mainly over reforms to labor law. President Francois Hollande warned against attempts to disrupt Euro 2016 with strike action. Train drivers are threatening to strike on a line serving the Stade de France in St Denis just outside Paris, where France play Romania in the first match. France is also on high alert since Takfiri attacks on Paris in November, one which took place at the Stade de France, and is still reeling from floods in central and northern regions. “I appeal to everyone’s sense of responsibility because if the state must do its duty – and it will, it will take all the measures that are necessary,” Hollande said on Thursday.

Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said Friday France may order striking rail employees back to work. Vidalies told Europe 1 radio that the government would use “every tool available” to get fans to the match and “if we have to issue orders tomorrow (for trains to be driven), we will do so.” He also ruled out any new negotiations with workers who have been striking for 10 days and warned the authorities would show “no tolerance of actions that threaten the big celebration.” “The strike has no meaning anymore,” he added.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo meanwhile announced that rubbish which has been piling up in the capital over the past few days would be cleared. Pictures of overflowing rubbish bins have dominated front pages since unions began blockading incineration plants a few days ago and rubbish truck drivers walked off the job. “All the rubbish will be collected,” Hidalgo told BFMTV channel, adding that dozens of extra garbage trucks had been deployed as part of the cleanup.

Presstv/CIR

10, June 2016

War on Corruption: Special Criminal Court to announce verdict on the CAMPOST Affair ⁰

The Special Criminal Court in Yaounde will soon make public its verdicts on cases of embezzlement that allegedly took place in the Cameroon Postal Services (CAMPOST). Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the judgments of some 21 cases involving highly placed officials of CAMPOST have already been reached. The corruption scandal at the Cameroon Postal Services was estimated at nearly 3 billion 815 million Francs CFA.

Prosecutors at the Special Criminal Court revealed recently that Damba Tezi on registered case No 047 / RG-SCC / 2013 alongside Zamngang Florence Kyen, Mbock David Désiré and Bekale Jean Marie charged for the diversion of 51 million CFA Francs from CAMPOST accounts have all escaped from the country. The court is also aware that Mvogo Jules Martin and Miste Gisèle sentenced via case file No 008 N / RG-SCC / 2014 to 10 years in prison have never been seen or heard.

Today’s hearings were centered on Mbamzomo Jacques Cyrille and Olé Ndoutoumou Emmanuel,both former controllers in Kribi, and Ebolowa respectively charged for siphoning 108 million CFA Francs and Martial MEDJOU Foanze and Louis Paul Kombo accused of embezzling 51 million CFA Francs.

CIR

10, June 2016

Biafra: Amnesty International says Nigerian army killed 17 unarmed separatists ⁰

Amnesty International said on Friday that Nigeria’s army last month killed at least 17 unarmed members of a group calling for secession from Africa’s most populous nation, but the military dismissed the allegations as unfounded.An army spokesman said Amnesty’s accusations, the latest in a series of allegations of impropriety levelled against Nigeria’s military in the last year, revealed a bias that undermined its credibility. Amnesty’s report — which it said was based on details from eyewitnesses, morgues and hospitals — says soldiers opened fire on members of the Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) and their supporters in the southeastern city of Onitsha during the build up to a march in late May.

The human rights group said the killings took place during a security operation in the early hours of the morning shortly before the march when the military raided homes and a church where IPOB members slept. The army issued a statement in which it said troops had to “resort to self defence” after IPOB members attacked security agencies with “firearms” and various weapons including dynamite. It said five members of IPOB were killed, eight wounded while nine were arrested. “These efforts were in order to de-escalate the palpable tension as well as ward off the apparent threats to lives and property in the general area,” it said.

Secessionist feeling has simmered in the southeast since the Biafra separatist rebellion tipped Nigeria into a 1967-70 civil war that killed an estimated 1 million people. It flared up again last year after IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and detained on charges of criminal conspiracy and belonging to an illegal society. He remains in detention.
Amnesty said its investigation showed at least 17 people were killed and nearly 50 injured, adding that “the real number is likely to be higher”. “Information gathered by Amnesty International indicates that the deaths of supporters and members of IPOB was the consequence of excessive, and unnecessary use of force,” said Amnesty, which urged the government to investigate.

The contents of the report were rejected by army spokesman Sani Usman. “The allegations are unfounded,” he said.
The report is the latest in a series of accusations levelled at the army by Amnesty. Last year, Amnesty said more than 8,000 people died in detention during a crackdown on Boko Haram and that soldiers killed hundreds of Shi’ite Muslims in the northern city of Zaria in December. “Amnesty is losing credibility,” added Usman, who accused the group of being biased against the army.

Reuters

10, June 2016

Euro 2016: Three Cameroonians to defend France and Switzerland ⁰

The largest European male football competition begins today the 10th of June, 2016 in France. To be sure, it is the world’s second most important football competition among nations after the FIFA World Cup due to the quality of the teams involved. Cameroon will be well represented in the 15th edition of the EURO as three footballers born in Cameroon will take part in the competition.

Cameroon-info.net reported that Breel Donald Embolo, who plays his professional football with FC Basel, will be defending the national colors of Switzerland. Europe’s most athletic defender, François Moubandje, of FC Toulouse in France will also be a part of the Swiss national team and Samuel Umtiti, a defender with Lyon in France, will defend the colors of his adopted country.

Breel-Embolo Donald is 19 years old, was born February 14, 1997 in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital. He migrated to Switzerland at the age of 6. He prefers to play with Switzerland at the expense of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.

Jacques François Moubandje was born June 21, 1990 in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital. He moved to Switzerland at the age of 8.

Samuel Umtiti was born on 14 November 1993 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. He landed in France in 1995 at the age of 2 years.

Cameroon-info.net

10, June 2016

Chad sends 2000 troops to Niger ⁰

Chad has sent some 2,000 troops to neighboring Niger to help the fight against Boko Haram following last week’s terrorist attacks by the Takfiri militants in the Nigerien town of Bosso. The “heavily armed” soldiers will “search everywhere for Boko Haram,” a military source said Wednesday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that some 50,000 people have fled the town of Bosso in Niger’s troubled Diffa region near the Nigerian border following deadly attacks by Boko Haram terrorists.

Boko Haram militants first took the town of Bosso on Friday in an attack, during which 26 soldiers, including two from Nigeria, were killed. A total of 55 militants from the Nigeria-based militant group were also killed during the fierce fighting. The terrorists reportedly torched military barracks, police facilities and looted shops during the terror campaign in the town. The ambush and looting came as Niger’s army was preparing to attack Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Nigerien troops later retook Bosso on Saturday, but the militants once again took over the town on Sunday night.

The mayor of Bosso, Mamadou Bako, and a military source confirmed the takeover on Monday, but the Nigerien government denied it. Regional countries have created a joint military force that plays a key role in helping Nigeria fight the terrorist group. Back in February, the four littoral nations of Lake Chad launched a military campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram militants in the region.

The Boko Haram terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri militant group, has killed thousands of people, mostly civilians, since it launched its terrorist activities in Nigeria in 2009. The Takfiri militant group has intensified its campaign of terror since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in the African country in May 2015.

Presstv

10, June 2016

Football under tight security: Euro 2016 kicks off today ⁰

The 2016 edition of the European nation’s cup, Euro 2016 will begin today with the opening encounter between host France and Romania. For the first time in history, 24 teams will be taking part in the final round of the competition with some 51 matches scheduled to take place in ten different locations across France including new stadiums in Bordeaux, Nice, Lille and Lyon.

The tournament will be taking place under tight security as over 90.000 police, soldiers and private security officers have been mobilized for the event. Despite the security concerns, over 90 per cent of the tickets have been bought already with about 80.000 still up for grab.

The 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four teams each and the groups winners and runners up sail through to the knock out stage which begins from the round of 16. All 24 teams are now in France after playing warm up matches in the billed up to the event.

The fixtures for the weekend will comprise France versus Romania today, followed by Albania versus Switzerland on Saturday. On that same Saturday, there will also be Wales versus Slovakia and England versus Russia. The final of the tournament will be on July 10 still at the Stade de France which was the target during the recent terrorist attack in Paris.

Cameroon Tribune