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22, May 2024

Football: Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one season ⁰

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has left the club by mutual consent after one season at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino, 52, took charge of Chelsea on 1 July, signing a two-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.

The Argentine was under pressure after an underwhelming first half of the season but a run of five successive wins to end the season ensured they finished sixth in the Premier League.

Chelsea were also runners-up in the Carabao Cup and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

“Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity,” Pochettino said.

“The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”

Chelsea will now search for a successor and have expressed recent interest in Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, Sporting’s Ruben Amorim and Burnley’s Vincent Kompany.

BBC Sport understands Chelsea are unlikely to go for Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca, a former assistant coach with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. A return for former managers Jose Mourinho or Thomas Tuchel is not on the cards as the club targets a young head coach.

Pochettino was Chelsea’s sixth permanent manager in five years, following the sacking of Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, which led to Frank Lampard taking charge on a temporary basis at the end of the 2022-23 season.

“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season,” sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said.

“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”

Coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and Sebastiano Pochettino have also left.

Source: BBC

22, May 2024

Russia begins tactical nuclear weapons drills near Ukraine ⁰

Russia on Tuesday announced the start of tactical nuclear weapons drills close to Ukraine, in what it said was a response to Western “threats”.

Throughout its two-year offensive on Ukraine, Moscow has repeatedly talked-up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and its readiness to deploy them if it senses an existential threat.

The West has accused President Vladimir Putin of irresponsible nuclear sabre-rattling.

Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday the drills were taking place in its Southern Military District, which borders and includes parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed. It did not specify exactly where.

The drills are designed to test “the readiness of personnel and equipment of non-strategic nuclear weapons combat units to respond and to unconditionally ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

It added they were a “response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials.”

Putin ordered the drills earlier this month after a series of Western statements on the Ukraine conflict drew scorn in Moscow.

Russian officials pointed to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron about NATO countries needing to not rule out deploying troops to Ukraine and British Foreign Minister David Cameron saying Kyiv had the right to fire Western missiles at Russian territory.

Russia’s Southern Military District is the command centre for its offensive on Ukraine. It is headquartered in Rostov-on-Don, 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the border with Ukraine and also includes parts of the country Russia says it has annexed—the Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The defence ministry published footage showing trucks carrying missiles to a field where launch systems were prepared and troops at an airfield readying a bomber to carry a nuclear warhead.

It said this was the “first stage” of the drills, which involved practicing the loading of launch vehicles, driving to designated launch sites and loading planes with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.

It did not indicate whether any test firings had taken place.

Tactical nuclear weapons, also known as non-strategic nuclear weapons, are designed for use on the battlefield and can be delivered via missiles.

Source: AFP

15, May 2024

FECAFOOT and lucrative appointments: it’s not over till it’s over ⁰

The President of the Cameroon Football Federation has maintained only the Belgian coach Marc Brys as head coach of the Indomitable Lions.

FECAFOOT boss Samuel Eto’o reached the decision at the end of a meeting with members of the Emergency Committee of the Cameroon Football Federation that held on May 8 2024.

Apart from the most important position on the staff where FECAFOOT retained the Belgian technician Marc Brys, appointed on April 2, 2024 by the Minister of Sport, President Eto’o swept aside all the other officials appointed by the member of the CPDM government.

Former Indomitable Lions legends Omam Biyick and Alioum Boukar were all replaced as deputies by Coach Martin Ndtoungou Mpile and Idris Carlos Kameni, the 2000 Olympic champion.

The most powerful position which is that of national team coordinator was given to Benoît Angbwa, while the Minister for Sport had appointed Didier Benjamin Banlock, a former associate of President Samuel Eto’o to the post. The two men have been at daggers-drawn positions ever since the Qatar FIFA World Cup.

Cameroon Concord News understands FIFA played a role in bringing together the factions by invoking the collaboration agreement between FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sport for the management of the Indomitable Lions that has been in place for over 9 years.

FIFA reportedly insisted that articles 9 and 13 of the agreement must be respected. Article 9 stipulates that members of the Indomitable Lions’ staff are recruited either by FECAFOOT or on secondment from the State. Article 13 says that FECAFOOT and the Ministry of Sport are committed to the serene and concerted management of football in a spirit of dialogue, solidarity and patriotism.

On the basis of these two articles, FIFA invited the two parties to sit down around a table and engage in dialogue to resolve their differences, pending the revision of this disputed agreement as soon as possible.

But without any consultation, FECAFOOT appointed the Indomitable Lions staff on May 8. The nation is now curious to know the reaction of the Minister of Sport, who declared on April 2 that he had acted on the instructions of the President of the Republic.

By Rita Akana

15, May 2024

Moja Moja: The Chief of Bwassa village and BIR serviceman trying to escape Biya’s bullets ⁰

John Ewume Eko is the pro Biya traditional ruler known as Chief Moja Moja who reportedly became a prominent member of Cameroon’s elite force the Rapid Intervention Battalion-BIR in Buea.

On May 7, 2024, Chief Moja Moja made public a video on social media and claimed that some top military barons in the nation’s capital Yaoundé had contacted him to be part of a coup against Biya.

Moja Moja was never a military tactician. He was never respected by any Cameroonian in and out of power. So, when his power deep within the Fako constituency crumbled like a pack of cards recently over a fake coup revelation on social media, the man who had killed dozens of innocent English speaking Cameroonians and was seen as a star officer and star traditional ruler of the finest Biya Francophone tradition, was arrested as he attempted to escape to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Moja Moja has now been moved from Buea to the Secretariat for Defense in Yaoundé and he will eventually face a public trial over the alleged coup plot.

Moja Moja is only 41 and described by many as a young man with a criminal mindset who never had a great career in the military but took advantage of the war in Southern Cameroons and made himself relevant to the ruling CPDM crime syndicate in Yaoundé whose policies are driven purely on incompetence.

His Royal Highness Chief Moja Moja announced a phantom coup which led to his arrest and the matter promises to be hot.

We of the Concord Group gathered that five other acolytes of Moja Moja have also been arrested.

Moja Moja has now come to understand that he was dealing with a regime headed by a man drunk on autocracy. He is now in Biya’s drag-net.

Moja Moja with the support of BIR elements reportedly carried out several raids on the Buea University Campus and in Molyko stressing that his action was in support of a one and indivisible Cameroon.

Today, the regime in Yaoundé is accusing him of being the initiator, coordinator and executor of the so-called coup.

By Rita Akana

15, May 2024

Football: Aston Villa reach Champions League for first time ⁰

Aston Villa have qualified for the Champions League for the first time after top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur lost to Manchester City on Tuesday.

Tottenham had been the only team who could have overtaken Villa into fourth before Tuesday, but are now five points behind Unai Emery’s side with one game remaining.

Villa have not reached Uefa’s premier club competition since it rebranded from the European Cup to the Champions League in 1991-92.

They last played in the European Cup 41 years ago in 1982-83 having won the competition the season before.

Villa did finish second and fourth in the Premier League in 1992-93 and 1995-96 respectively, but in both those seasons only first was good enough to reach the Champions League.

Source: BBC

15, May 2024

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 2 teachers kidnapped in Ndu ⁰

Suspected Ambazonia Restoration Forces have reportedly arrested two teachers on Tuesday in Ndu in the Northwest region, according to local and security sources.

The Amba fighters raided a school in Ndu town where primary school pupils were sitting for a public exam, a security source said.

“They started shooting indiscriminately in the air and dispelled the school children and kidnapped two teachers. One of the teachers was shot in the leg. The pupils had started the exams when the Restoration Forces arrived at about 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday,” the source said. Soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons by the regime in Yaounde were in pursuit of the Amba fighters.

Separatist fighters in Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest are known for regularly kidnapping teachers and students.

In 2019, they abducted 170 students and their teacher in Kumbo in the Northwest region. Since 2017, government forces and separatist fighters have clashed in the two regions, where separatists seek to create an independent nation.

By Fon Lawrence with additional reporting from Xinhunet

14, May 2024

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Customs Targets 75% of Revenue from Douala and Kribi Ports ⁰

The Directorate General of Customs (DGD) within the Ministry of Finance (Minfi) aims to collect over CFA92 billion in revenue for the Treasury in May 2024. The largest contributions are anticipated from the customs sectors of Littoral I and South II, covering the ports of Douala and Kribi, respectively.

Specifically, the customs services in the Littoral I sector have been tasked with collecting CFA58.9 billion, representing over 50% of the total expected revenue. Meanwhile, the South II sector has a collection target of CFA23.3 billion, less than half of what is expected from Littoral I, amounting to a 73.3% collection goal.

Following these major contributors, the third highest revenue, amounting to CFA4.7 billion, is anticipated from the Southwest region. The smallest contribution (CFA18.7 million) is assigned to the Northwest region, which, like the Southwest, has been grappling with a socio-political crisis since late 2016.

Despite the increasing tariff dismantlement in line with the implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), Cameroon’s customs revenues surpassed 1 trillion CFA francs for the first time in 2023, reaching CFA1,019.8 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

In 2024, Cameroon aims for revenues of CFA1,079.9 billion, marking a 10% increase from the previous year’s projections.

Source: Business in Cameroon

14, May 2024

Biya regime hands 15-year biometric ID card contract to Augentic ⁰

Augentic has agreed a deal with the government of Cameroon to produce a new generation biometric national ID card for the country under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement that will last a decade and a half.

A ceremony to put pen to paper on the deal took place in Yaounde May 13. Augentic CEO, Labinot Carreti, signed on behalf of the company, while the Delegate General for National Security, Martin Mbarga Nguele, singed for the ID-issuing authority (DGSN).

In a chat with Biometric Update after the ceremony, Carreti said the official signing of the deal is the apotheosis and happy ending of a tender process which lasted over two years.

The German company was selected by an inter-ministerial committee set up for that purpose following a restricted international call to tender launched in December 2021.

The Augentic CEO said the project seeks to overhaul Cameroon’s ID card system, and ensure that ID cards are produced in 48 hours after the submission of an application. The first cards will be produced before the year runs out, he assures.

As part of the contract, a total of 68 new multi-functional structures will be built to facilitate the issuance of ID cards, including three ultra-modern ID production centers in the cities of Yaounde, Douala and Garoua, as well as enrollment centers in the regional and divisional headquarters.

About 219 existing ID card registration centers are also expected to be renovated by the firm, and new equipment and machines will be deployed in all the centers. The company says it is also discussing with the DGSN on a transition plan from the current generation of cards to the new ones.

The project will unfold in two phases for total funding of over €70 million (US$75 million), he says. The sum of €40 million (US$43 million) will be invested in the first phase to get the system running, while over €30 million (US$ 32 million) will be put in during the second phase which will basically be to renew the equipment and infrastructure and hand them over to the government of Cameroon once the ‘Operate’ component of the deal ends.

About security, the Augentic CEO said the ID card will have the highest security features in line with ICAO standards, and a special design that will be a first for Africa and the second in the world.

The deal, he adds, heralds an end to Cameroon’s national ID card woes. In the past years, obtaining an ID card in Cameroon has been a hellish experience with recurrent complaints of issuance delays and extortion.

Apart from national ID cards, Augentic is also required to produce biometric short stay permits, refugee cards, ID cards for DGSN personnel as well as disability cards.

This is the second identity document contract Augentic is securing from the Cameroon government. The company won a biometric passport contract in 2020 and has been producing the travel credential for the country since 2021 – a project that was successfully implemented in the heart of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now that security identification system contract has been signed, Carreti says various streams of work will go on simultaneously including the development and testing of the solution, producing the card specimen, construction of physical infrastructure, as well as putting in place other technical details to ensure the system goes live in the next few months.

Source: biometricupdate

13, May 2024

2025 Presidential Election: The pressure is on! ⁰

As 2025 approaches, Cameroonians are worried about their future. Cameroonians are going through tough times, especially as cost of living is rising at the speed of lightning while salaries have remained the same for decades.

Cameroonians would have loved to see a change in their lives but there is no such thing in the offing. Life will continue to be challenging for a long time except the government employs different policy options to trigger meaningful economic change.

But this does not seem to be possible as the ruling party (CPDM) and the government is more focused on winning the next presidential election than engineering new economic strategies which might trigger prosperity across the country.

As the government keeps maneuvering to stay in power, Cameroonians are also scheming on how to push the country’s long-serving president, Paul Biya, out of power through democratic means and this has resulted in calls for young Cameroonians to go get registered for the next presidential election.

Young Cameroonians have been heading to the various registration centers and it is clear that they want their voices to be heard. The Senegalese example where a 44-year-old man was voted into office has given young Cameroonians renewed hope.

Cameroonians are peace-loving people and they hold that genuine democratic change will help them consolidate the peace in their country. They really want change but not violent change as violent change might only make things worse.

Speaking to Yannich, a 25-year-old unemployed Douala resident, it could be seen that he was full of hope and Yannich’s feelings seem to tie in well with those of other young men, most of whom are unemployed, that Cameroon needs change, especially at the top of the government.

“We need change in our country. As you can see, our country has been ruled for over 40 years by the same people and I think after such a long period in power, it is hard to be innovative,” he said.

He added that “though we are hungry for change, I would like to urge Cameroonians to seek peaceful change through the ballot boxes. We must act responsibly in order not to destroy our country.”

“Our current president is over 90 and it is obvious that he will not be standing for reelection. We need a much younger president to take the country in an entirely new direction. The current crop of politicians has done its best. The next leaders will have to build on the foundation Mr. Biya and his collaborators have built,” he added.

“Allow me to use this medium to urge Cameroonians to go get registered for the 2025 Presidential Election. Next year’s election may change the country’s fortune as a new leader might bring in a different perspective and he might take the country down a new path. I am looking forward to 2025. I am hopeful and I think we should vote to change the destiny of our country,” he concluded.

By Alain A. Ebot

13, May 2024

Football: Mbappe’s final PSG home game ends in defeat as he bids farewell to fans ⁰

Kylian Mbappe scored on his final home appearance as a Paris Saint-Germain player on Sunday but the French champions suffered a surprise 3-1 defeat against Toulouse on the night they picked up the Ligue 1 championship trophy.

Mbappe confirmed in a video posted on social media on Friday that he would be leaving PSG when his contract expires at the end of the season, ending a seven-year association with the club.

Real Madrid is expected to be the next destination for a player whose departure from Paris had been an open secret since February, when he privately informed the club of his intention to move on.

Mbappe wore the captain’s armband and opened the scoring early on against Toulouse to take his tally for the season to 44 goals goals in all competitions.

However, Thijs Dallinga quickly equalised for the visitors against a PSG side which showed 10 changes to the team knocked out of the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals in midweek, with Mbappe the only player to keep his place.

Yann Gboho put Toulouse ahead with a brilliant strike in the second half, and Frank Magri wrapped up the win in stoppage time as PSG suffered just their second Ligue 1 loss this season, and their first in 27 games since September.

Mbappe has now scored 256 times for PSG, a club-record tally, since signing from Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth 180 million euros ($194 million).

His tally of 191 goals in France’s top flight — including 16 with Monaco at the beginning of his career — puts him in seventh place in the all-time list. Coach Luis Enrique described the 25-year-old as “a club legend” when he spoke to media on the eve of the game.

Jeers

PSG had indicated that celebrations after Sunday’s match would be dedicated to their title triumph, rather than any specific tribute to Mbappe himself.

There were even some jeers from the crowd for the striker when the teams were read out before the game, although a huge display was unfurled before kick-off at one end of the stadium depicting Mbappe in a trademark pose with his arms folded.

The Qatar-owned club had already wrapped up a record-extending 12th French title, and 10th in the last 12 years, before hosting a Toulouse side who were themselves safe from any lingering threat of relegation.

PSG’s Champions League disappointment means Mbappe will leave the club without ever having got his hands on European football’s greatest prize.

With Mbappe, PSG were runners-up in 2020 and have since reached the last four on two further occasions, but the France captain will now hope to finally get his hands on the trophy at his next club.

PSG can still finish the season by completing a clean sweep of domestic honours, as they face Lyon in the French Cup final in Lyon on May 25.

As well as Ligue 1, they have also already won the Champions Trophy, France’s equivalent of a Super Cup.

Luis Enrique’s team will complete their league campaign with a visit to Nice on Wednesday before going to Metz on the final day of the season next Sunday.

Source: AFP