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US Politics: Biden backs Kamala Harris as Democratic nominee after dropping out of race

21, July 2024

US Politics: Biden backs Kamala Harris as Democratic nominee after dropping out of race 0

US President Joe Biden said Sunday he was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election after announcing he was dropping of the race. Biden ended his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

 The octogenarian president spent more than three weeks resisting calls to step down following a disastrous debate against Trump on June 27.

Biden said Sunday he was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, saying he was offering Harris his “full support”.

Biden said he would “speak to the nation later this week in more detail” about his decision.

There are reasons why SNH Board Meetings are now holding at the Presidential Palace

21, July 2024

There are reasons why SNH Board Meetings are now holding at the Presidential Palace 0

An extraordinary meeting of the board of Cameroon’s oil and gas corporation (SNH) is scheduled for next July 24 at the Presidential Palace, not at the company’s headquarters. The info is detailed in a letter from the board’s chairman, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, who also serves as the Secretary General of the Presidency.

“Dear Board Member, I am pleased to inform you that the extraordinary board meeting of SNH, originally planned for Wednesday, July 17, 2024, has been rescheduled to Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at 2:00 PM, in Room 8324 of the Secretary General’s Office at the Presidential Palace, maintaining the same agenda,” reads the letter from Ngoh Ngoh to board member Jules Mana Nschwangele. This notice confirms various rumors circulating since July 17, 2024.

The rescheduling confirms that the board meeting initially set for July 17 did not take place. Reports from various digital platforms, later corroborated by board members, indicate that the meeting was blocked due to the closure of the company’s doors, a decision reportedly made by SNH’s current General Administrator, Adolphe Moudiki.

Handover of power

Internal sources suggest that on July 17, 2024, board members were turned away from SNH’s headquarters despite arriving to attend the meeting. The shift of the meeting to the presidential palace highlights the challenges in organizing such events at the company’s main office.

Furthermore, the board’s notification hints at a significant decision expected from this extraordinary session, which has only one item on the agenda, according to the Secretary General’s letter. Various sources indicate that the meeting will likely lead to the replacement of the General Administrator. After 31 years in charge, Adolphe Moudiki is expected to be succeeded by Joseph Dipepa, a prominent RDPC party member from the Littoral region.

It appears that Moudiki’s frustration is not solely with the prospect of being replaced but also with not being informed about his impending departure from the company. Additionally, there seems to be dissatisfaction about not being consulted on a replacement, as Dipepa’s appointment has reportedly stirred discontent among SNH’s old guard. Notably, on March 6, 2024, Moudiki signed a memo hinting at a power transition, though it still left him central to the management structure while delegating significant responsibilities to Igor Emmanuel Soya Bissaya, his second advisor.

Glencore Case

Beyond the anticipated leadership change at SNH, recent developments reflect ongoing tensions between the General Administrator and the Chairman. Disputes have arisen in connection with the Savannah Energy case. This British junior oil company had signed an agreement with SNH on April 19, 2023, to purchase 10% of assets claimed by Savannah in the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (Cotco), which manages over 90% of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in Cameroon. This agreement led to a diplomatic crisis between Cameroon and Chad, with Chad contesting Savannah’s claims in Cotco and in Chad Oil Transportation Company (Totco), as well as in Chadian oil fields.

In response, SNH Chairman Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh was dispatched to N’Djamena by President Biya, following Chad’s recall of its ambassador from Cameroon. Ngoh Ngoh announced the resolution of the crisis after meeting with the Chadian President on April 26, 2023. He then chaired an SNH board meeting on June 13, 2023, where the transaction with Savannah Energy was “frozen.” Unusually, the official statement on this decision bore the Presidential Palace’s letterhead instead of SNH’s. Sources suggest this statement bypassed another version being prepared by SNH before being sent to the Chairman for approval.

Additionally, there is the Glencore case, involving the Anglo-Swiss trader sentenced in November 2022 for bribing public officials in Africa, including Cameroon. After SNH publicly denounced such practices, Moudiki reportedly sought a state investigation into SNH’s involvement in the Glencore scandal. This request, though approved by the President, is seen by some as a move to settle scores with close aides of the President.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 4 Amba fighters killed in Alabukam

20, July 2024

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 4 Amba fighters killed in Alabukam 0

At least four Ambazonia fighters have been killed in a Yaoundé-backed military offensive in the Northwest region, the army said on Saturday.

The raid took place Friday in Alabukam, a neighborhood in Bamenda, the regional capital.

Among those killed was deputy commander of the Ambazonia Restoration Force in the locality the Francophone dominated military said in a statement.

Bamenda has witnessed renewed violence since early July, after Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces ordered that all taxis in the city be painted in blue and white, the colors of the flag of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Armed English speaking fighters began clashing with the Francophone dominated government forces in the South West and North West in 2017.

By Fon Lawrence with files

Ekpe and Manyu Traditional Rulers Association: Time to Stop the Madness!!

19, July 2024

Ekpe and Manyu Traditional Rulers Association: Time to Stop the Madness!! 0

Cultural institutions define people by encompassing their language, shared habits, music and arts. In Manyu, Cameroon, over the last centuries, the institution of Ekpe has remained resolute despite uncountable challenges. With solid norms and practises, this institution has become the envy of many worldwide. Mgbe as it is commonly referred to have heavily influenced community peace and justice within Manyu. However, on the 16th of April 2024, the foundation of Mgbe the most important pillar of the Manyu nation was tested. Since that day, tension has existed between the Manyu Traditional Rulers Association (MATRA) and the Manyu Mgbe Supreme Council, the body that runs Ekpe activities in Manyu.

Frustrated by the lack of success against Mgbe in this public row, MATRA, currently led by Chief Orock John Mbi of Okoyong has reportedly done the unthinkable by asking the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Manyu to intervene. Understanding the traditional institutions of the Manyu State, the cultural bodies existing within Manyu including their modus operandi is of grave importance. Mgbe is a powerful Manyu institution, a private members club, a spiritual brotherhood and also the judiciary arm of the Manyu nation.

The idea that members of MATRA intend to take this paramount Manyu institution to an “outsider” for guidance or retribution is sacrilegious and unpardonable. This sort of tactless and reckless adventure will never be tolerated in the grass field kingdoms. Therefore, the silent members of MATRA are guilty by association and shall inevitably face titanic consequences in their respective communities and villages.

Our ancestors embarked on resistance in the nineteenth and twentieth century to rid themselves of foreign state power so we can be the commanders of our cultural establishments. Successive political leaders in the then German Kamerun and later on United Republic of Cameroon understood their limits, and demonstrated enormous veneration, and even awe when dealing with Mgbe and other Manyu traditional institutions.

The SDO and other state actors play key roles in governing and the enormity of the daily challenges they face cannot be underestimated. However, passing judgment or advising on Manyu traditional matters is NOT for them. MATRA and the leaders of the Mgbe Manyu Supreme Council should demonstrate wisdom and thoughtfulness by convening an extraordinary meeting without delay. The SDO must be informed thereafter that both parties have resolved their differences as demanded by the customs and traditions of the Manyu people.

Mgbe and Manyu Chiefs represent critical pieces of our Manyu identity and nation. However, the foundations of that nation are trembling. Many at home and in the diaspora are watching this current misfortune closely and regrettably, and we Ekpe members in the diaspora, will not relent in our efforts to let the main actors in this acrimony see sense.

A lethal cocktail of arrogance and pride is destroying the reputation of the Manyu traditional rulers and their authority is weakening day-by-day. This negative trend must be discontinued immediately.

On the 7th of May 2024, these writers and custodians of Manyu culture sounded a note of caution to MATRA asking them to exercise restraint and not overstep their assigned authority. They did not listen! Today, Manyu is telling MATRA and the leaders of the Manyu Mgbe Supreme Council loudly and clearly that their impending public washing of dirty linens is unwise and tantamount to cultural vandalism. A volcano will visit them if 550 years of cultural red lines are crossed.

By Sessekou Isong Asu, and Nfor Mgbe Barrister John Ntuiabane, Mgbe UK

Yaoundé gets $4.8M South Korea grant to advance civil registration modernization project

17, July 2024

Yaoundé gets $4.8M South Korea grant to advance civil registration modernization project 0

The Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, recently signed an agreement with the government of South Korea totalling XAF 23.21 billion (US$38 million) for the execution of five development projects in the country.

Part of the funds will be channeled to the next phase of an ongoing project to upgrade and digitize the country’s civil status registration system.

Ousmane Mey signed the agreement on behalf of Cameroon, while the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Cameroon, Nam Ki-wook, appended his signature for his country.

Cameroon is fully on a journey to digitize its civil status registration system and several actions have been taken in this regard. Already, a pilot using the OpenCRVS platform for birth registration in 20 municipal councils of the country has been completed, and a new course of action is awaited. In May, the country held a national forum of mayors to discuss hindrances to civil status registration.

Ousmane Mey said $4.8 million out of the $38 million grant will be deployed to subsequent activities of the project which seeks to set up a robust, efficient and secure foundational identity system for the country.

A project in Cameroon dubbed the “Support Program for the Modernization of the Civil Registration System” (PAMEC) is supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and it is within that framework that this latest grant funding from Korea has been made available, said the Ambassador. The project also has the financial support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

While underlining that the funding agreement underpins the good state of relations between the two countries, the diplomat urged the government of Cameroon to implement the project in a transparent and accountable manner.

Another digital project to benefit from the financing, according to the partners, is the second phase of a program to digitize Cameroon’s public contracts procurement system, known as “e-Procurement System Development Project.” This project, to get $5.6 million from the package, is a continuation of efforts by the country to simplify procurement procedures of public contracts by enhancing transparency and efficiency.

A “Smart Campus” project is also part of the lot, according to Ousmane Mey, and will get $8 million from the grant. He says the project seeks to promote digital government efforts in the public administration and modernize service delivery in the public service.

Apart from these three projects related to digital, the two others to benefit from the Korean financing have to do with the provision of potable water schemes in four council areas, and the strengthening of the country’s emergency medicines management system.

Source: Biometricupdate

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Inflation Still Above 3% in June 2024 Despite Decline Since March 2023

17, July 2024

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Inflation Still Above 3% in June 2024 Despite Decline Since March 2023 0

In June 2024, consumer prices in Cameroon rose by 4.3% year-on-year, according to a report on household consumption prices published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). This increase is attributed to a 5.2% rise in food prices and an 11.2% increase in transportation costs.

Despite a gradual decline from a peak of 8.5% in March 2023, the inflation rate remains above the 3% tolerance threshold set by the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).

“On a regional level, inflation rates vary between 5.1% and 7.4%. However, the rate is 3.6% in Bamenda (…) Depending on the origin of the products, inflation is mainly due to internal factors. Prices of local products rose by 6.1%, while those of imported products only increased by 4.5% over the same period”, states the INS report.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Kumbo: Nso people warn Bishop George Nkuo against adulterating their culture

17, July 2024

Kumbo: Nso people warn Bishop George Nkuo against adulterating their culture 0

In a strongly-worded letter addressed to the Bishop of Kumbo in Cameroon’s North West region, the Nso Cultural and Development Association, NSODA, have warned the Catholic Church against adulterating their culture “in the guise of inculturation.”

Social media has in recent days been inundated with videos of some of the most dreaded and sacred masquerades of the Nso people displaying in churches and church premises in Kumbo Diocese, all in the name of inculturation.

The displays have angered the people of Nso – one of the largest clans in Cameroon’s North West region.

NSODA – an association dedicated to the socio-cultural development of the Nso people – has expressed dismay at what they consider is an erosion of their culture.

“We have not been oblivious to the efforts your Diocese has been making to the development of the Nso Kingdom, and the evangelization works that have been shaping our society,” writes NSODA President, Tadze Adamu Mbiydzela, in a June 4 letter addressed to the Bishop George Nkuo of the Kumbo Diocese.

“We remain indebted and sincerely grateful to your Lordship,” the letter states, before expressing anger at the displays of their sacred masquerades in Church premises.

Mbiydzela complained that the very idea of inculturation has been “wantonly and severely abused” by Catholics.

“The avalanche of those abuses inundated social media with shocking desecration of our culture and tradition,” he writes.

“A few instances which have caught our attention are moot shows in the Church or Catholic premises of our highly cherished sacred masquerades,” the letter states.

“We are totally dismayed that if care is not taken to protect our cultural heritage, which is our identity, then, with the passage of time, our culture will be completely eroded in the guise of inculturation,” he complains.

He explained that the Nso body polity “is built from her cultural heritage which, if not seriously protected, shall be lost, and Nso as a kingdom be eroded into an irretrievable abyss.”

“It therefore behooves us to strongly denounce to your Lordship these provocative moot displays of our culture on Catholic premises and elsewhere under the guise of inculturation,” the statement continues.

NSODA thus urged the bishop to “caution and counsel Catholic Christians or whoever is under your diocese to consequently refrain from those moot displays of our cultures in the name of inculturation.”

They threatened court action should those moot displays continue.

The Bishop of Kumbo did not reply to Crux’s request for comment, but Father Humphrey Tatah Mbuy, the spokesperson for the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference told Crux that Cameroon “has not even started inculturation.”

“We are at the stage of accommodation and adaptation,” he said.

He said adaptation means adapting to what exists, and noted that bringing masquerades to Church should have been predicated on a number of critical questions: What do those masquerades mean in the Nso culture and how would they help Christians become better Christians.

He said inculturation doesn’t mean bringing anything to Church, or singing any songs. Yet, some of the songs which unfortunately are being sung in Church have nothing to do with praising God. He said successful inculturation will require the expertise of anthropologists to ensure that whatever cultural approaches are used align to the fundamental principles of the Gospel.

Nathan Chase, an assistant professor of theology at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, explains that inculturation, and liturgical inculturation, was a key part of the early Church but one that always provoked disagreements.

“Paul, for instance, argued about whether the Gentiles could be Christians. Justin Martyr argued that Greek philosophy could be used to describe the Christian faith. In every case, those in favor of inculturation, rather than those against it, won the argument,” he told Crux in an earlier interview.

“The Gentiles became Christians; Greek philosophy not only was used to describe the Christian faith, but would become central to the formation of the creeds in the fourth century. The early Church always accommodated itself to the cultures in which it was celebrated. Particular liturgies were developed in North African, where there was a strong Berber presence, Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia. Many of these were Hellenized African cultures, but still ones that were native to Africa. I would say the early Church actually was very responsive to other cultures. This broke down in the medieval period,” Chase said.

He said religion and culture are inherently connected, noting that Jesus was a Jew, while many of the early Christians were Greek.

“The fingerprints of Jewish and Greek culture are all over the Church. The issue is not whether they are connected, but how they should relate to one another. They must always be mutually informing one another, learning from one another, and at times critiquing one another. This is what is key: that they be in critical dialogue with one another,” he said.

Source: Crux

Southern Cameroons ghost towns: Businesses shuttered without Biya regime’s compensation

17, July 2024

Southern Cameroons ghost towns: Businesses shuttered without Biya regime’s compensation 0

Anglophone businessmen and women have told the Cameroon Concord News Group that they have suffered huge losses since President Biya declared war against the English speaking people of Southern Cameroons and many have attacked the regime in Yaoundé for refusing to bail them out.

Now known as the Southern Cameroons Crisis, the leader of the English speaking peoples of West Cameroon Sisiku Ayuk Tabe declared the independence of Southern Cameroons from the majority French speaking East Cameroun.

The regime in Yaoundé responded with a genocidal war that has claimed the lives of thousands of Southern Cameroonians.

Reacting to the Southern Cameroons plight, Ambazonia fighters from both the South West and North West have staged hundreds of anti French Cameroun operations killing more than five thousand Cameroon government army soldiers.

Our chief correspondent Rita Akana approached several businessmen and women in Bamenda, Buea, Kumba and Mamfe who described how they had been piling up losses as a result of the war in Southern Cameroons and Biya regime’s rejection of their pleas for compensation.

Hotel owners said the Anglophone diaspora came home every December in their thousands and visited their hotels and entertainment halls and restaurants. But everything is now frozen and the loss so far is estimated in millions of US dollars.

“Not one person from Europe or the US will come to Limbe or Buea this December,” a businessman who spoke to our cream of reporters but sued for anonymity said.

“We are not asking Biya and his government for 100% compensation. Bring even 20%, that will be okay. But since the war started and kontry Sunday took over, we haven’t received a penny from Yaoundé,” a Bamenda based business lady added.

Five hotel managers in Bamenda echoed her remarks.

A businessman in Kumba the chief city in Meme Division noted how his business used to provide for 24 employees and attract hundreds on a daily basis.

Now, “we spend most of our time rolling over debts,” he stated.

Three hotel owners in Fako Division hinted that their hundreds of millions of FCFA investments have evaporated following the war and they are sure to end 2024 in debt for the loans and interest,” they said.

Reporting last month, our Bamenda City reporter Fon Lawrence revealed that many businesses had shut down throughout the North West region since the beginning of the war and the fire that destroyed the Bamenda Main Market.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Biya at death’s door: administrative officials trying to stave off any protests

17, July 2024

Biya at death’s door: administrative officials trying to stave off any protests 0

Cameroon continues its inevitable free fall into chaos as the Biya regime skips from one mistake to the other.

The country’s economy has bottomed out, with more than 70% of the country’s graduates being unemployed or underemployed, while their parents struggle to make ends meet.

Cameroon has the lowest salaries in the CFA Franc region and with escalating living cost, Cameroonians are going through hell.

Many parents have to help sustain their adult children, most of who are graduates but cannot find jobs due to bad governance and corruption.

While the poor economic situation is stressing up Cameroonians, the country’s administrative officials are doing their best to stifle any dissenting voices.

The country’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, an ex-convict, is noted for using the law abusively to sow fear in Cameroonians.

Over the last few years, intimidation is being used as a dissuasive tool to nip any anti-government actions or plans in the bud.

Recently, it is the Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi, a division in the Centre Region, who issued a press release intimidating anybody who might think of planning or supporting a people power revolution in Yaoundé.

With the country’s president, Paul Biya, at death’s door, administrative officials, who know how bad things are in Cameroon, are now trying to stave off any protests in the country through unconstitutional and undemocratic means.

However, their efforts will surely not last for a long time as Cameroonians are sick and tired of the chaos the Biya regime has thrown at them.

Cameroon is ripe for a revolution and only genuine reforms and sincere dialogue can help the country avoid the political chaos which has been playing out in other African countries where dictators have lasted in power for decades.

By Alain Agbor Ebot

UK resolves Rwanda asylum seeker cases after Labour govt scraps deportation policy

9, July 2024

UK resolves Rwanda asylum seeker cases after Labour govt scraps deportation policy 0

The High Court cases of three asylum seekers who had brought legal action to block their potential removal to Rwanda were resolved on Tuesday after the UK’s incoming Labour government vowed to scrap the controversial deportation policy.

Three asylum seekers who brought court action to block the UK’s attempt to send them to Rwanda had their cases resolved on Tuesday, after the incoming Labour government ditched the policy.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Saturday that the migrant deportation plan forged by the ousted Conservative government was “dead and buried”.

There had already been a spate of legal challenges to the scheme, with the UK Supreme Court in November last year ruling that it was illegal under international law as Rwanda could not be considered a safe country for asylum seekers.

Government lawyer James Eadie told the High Court in London on Tuesday: “In relation to the three named claimants, these claimants’ cases will be fully disposed of and withdrawn subject to the (interior ministry) paying their costs.”

The Labour Party said before last Thursday’s general election that it would ditch the scheme, which the Tories said would deter huge numbers of migrants trying to get across the Channel to the UK on small boats from northern France.

Sixty-five people were brought ashore Monday – the first under the new government – taking the total number of arrivals so far this year to 13,639, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

‘No obligation’ to return the money

Rwanda, home to 13 million people in Africa’s Great Lakes region, claims to be one of the most stable countries on the continent and has drawn praise for its modern infrastructure.

But rights groups accuse veteran President Paul Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and free speech.

A spokesman for his government said Monday that “Rwanda takes note of the intention of the UK government to terminate the Migration and Economic Development Partnership Agreement”.

As part of the deal, the UK has already paid some £240 million ($307 million) to Rwanda, with a further £50 million scheduled to be sent at a later date.

In January, Kagame said the money was “only going to be used if those people will come. If they don’t come, we can return the money”.

However, he later specified there was “no obligation” to do so.

Source: AFP

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