Breaking News

6, June 2016

Camair-Co Palaver: MPs call for a speed up in the recovery process ⁰

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Yéguié Cavaye Djibril has voiced concerns about the goings-on in the Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair-Co). Some reports have suggested that MPs from both the ruling CPDM party and the SDF opposition have decided to speak with one voice on the poor bill of health of Camair-Co. Speaker Cavaye Djibril fired the first salvo on June the 2^nd during his opening speech to the House when he observed that the company was indeed “sick”.

Honorable Joshua Osih, Vice President of the SDF parliamentary group noted that something should done and done in a hurry to remedy the situation. Joshua Osih reminded the House that Camair-Co belongs to the Cameroonian taxpayer. Our National Assembly correspondent who contributed to this report revealed the MPs are worried about the airlines company. The MPs want an immediate speed up in the recovery process of Camair-Co. An audit of the company has already been ordered.

CIR

6, June 2016

Former President of the Cameroon Football Federation back in prison ⁰

Disgraced former president of the Cameroon Football Federation FECAFOOT and former General Manager of the Cameroon Cotton Development Company SODECOTTON, Iya Mohammed has returned to his prison cell at Kondengui after spending eleven days at the National Social Insurance Hospital in the nation’s capital Yaounde. Cameroon Intelligence Report learnt Iya was admitted there since May the 24th.

Sources close to the detainee’s family reported that the situation was not serious. Iya Mohammed was arrested in 2013 on charges of embezzlement in SODECOTON. He was tried by the Special Criminal Court in September 2015 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Iya was found guilty of diversion and coercion of over 10 billion CFA francs in the period 2005 – 2010. He secretly funded Coton Sport of Garoua with money from SODECOTON.

6, June 2016

SOPECAM Affair: Board Chairman 1, GM 0 ⁰

The General Manager of the Cameroon News and Publishing Corporation (SOPECAM) Marie-Claire Nnana was recently taken aback when the board chairman, Joseph Le, Deputy Director of President Biya’s civil cabinet put his foot down at the ongoing crisis meeting between the two parties to insist that he can still appoint persons within the corporation without holding any board meeting.

Explaining his position of authority, Joseph LE has signed decisions in four areas of SOPECAM. The decisions that were read over state radio and television, promoted Ignatius Ozela Claude to technical director, Koume Honore, parachuted to the Sales and Marketing department, Ngane Gustave now heads Administration and Finance while Olinga Biyo’o Georges leads Management Control service.

Cameroon Tribune, the newspaper edited by SOPECAM published just a part of the Joseph Le decision bearing the appointments of Ozela Claude Ignatius and Koume Honore leaving out the names of Ngane Gustav and Olinga Biyo’o. An aide to the GM was quoted as saying the Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic was staging a coup at SOPECAM. Marie-Claire Nnana was heard murmuring privately that what Joseph Le has done is in her view totally irresponsible. Cameroon Intelligence Report understands Marie-Claire Nnana is out of the country on a CPDM mission. Our source at SOPECAM hinted that it will need the intervention of the head of state for things to normalize at SOPECAM.

6, June 2016

Sanders attacks Trump, Clinton ⁰

US Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has attacked both his Democratic and Republican rivals, following the latest primary victory by fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton. Sanders on Sunday called on Americans to refrain from voting for either Republican presidential contender Donald Trump or Clinton in November’s election. Addressing supporters in San Diego, California, Sanders blasted Trump for “insulting” women, minorities and veterans in the US while taking a swipe at Clinton for using “Wall Street” money for campaign.

The comments come after Clinton won the Democratic primary in Puerto Rico. The Democratic frontrunner grabbed more than 64 percent of the vote against her rival Sanders. The former secretary of state has now bagged all 60 delegates at stake in the island territory. The victory gives Clinton a significant boost in the long-fought battle for the party’s presidential nomination. It comes ahead of Tuesday’s culminating round in the states of California, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Montana. Meanwhile, Clinton once again slammed her leading Republican challenger over some of his comments, saying she would lead a contentious campaign against Trump.

Clinton added that she would use every opportunity to point out why she believes Trump should never get near the White House. She made the remarks in an event in Sacramento. Since Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in early May, Clinton has directly challenged his ability to handle foreign policy issues and has taken to labeling him a “loose cannon” who will make it more difficult for Washington to operate on the global stage. Recently, Trump slammed Clinton for her foreign policy ‘debacles,’ calling for her to be put behind bars over her “bad judgments.” This year’s US presidential race has been specially marred by countless instances of scandals, mudslinging and onstage vulgarity, where rivals have time and again seized opportunities to blacken their opponents and push them down the gutter.

Presstv

6, June 2016

Gabon 2017: The big names have their tickets ⁰

Egypt, Senegal, Algeria, Morocco and Cameroon have so far clinched their qualification spots for the final phase of the tournament in Gabon. Six of the sixteen teams to take part in the final phase of the African Cup of Nations to take place early next year in Gabon are already known. They are namely, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon and host country Gabon. While Gabon got her qualification from the office by winning the bid to host the 2017 edition of the tournament, the others had to slot it out from the green turf of the pitch after taking an unassailable lead in their respective groups.

Egypt and Morocco were the first countries to qualify and will be making a return to the continental scene after having missed out on the 2015 edition of the tournament in Equatorial Guinea. Egypt simply didn’t qualify after having been stunned by little known Republic of Congo in the last and crucial qualification match. Meanwhile Morocco was banned from taking part in the competition after refusing to host the competition because of Ebola scare.

The sentence was higher but Morocco appealed the decision and the ban was lifted. After winning the legal battle Morocco also won on the pitch of play dominating Group F earning 12 points in four outings. Egypt equally sailed through Group G virtually unperturbed with 10 points in four outing with Nigeria coming distant second in the group with barely two points.

Algeria and Senegal also picked up their qualification tickets before the last day of play of the qualifiers top come up during the weekend running from September second to third. Algeria sailed through Group G with flying colours obtaining 13 points in five outings and can no longer be caught up by the runners up of the group, Ethiopia with barely five points.

Meanwhile Senegal witnessed an unbeaten run in Group K winning all fifteen points up for grab in the group so far and will also be making a return to the continental scene in Gabon. Cameroon as already known picked up the lone qualification ticket in Group M after butting out the last surviving contender, Mauritania in the fifth qualification match on Friday June 3^rd.

The rest of the qualified nations will be known after the last day of play of the qualifiers on September second and third. Besides the respective group leaders, the overall best runners-up of all the 13 groups join the host for the final phase of the competition in Gabon.

Cameroon Tribune

6, June 2016

Cameroon’s war on terror: US marines drill Gendarmerie, police ⁰

Twenty four investigators from the National Gendarmerie and National Police Corps on June 3, 2016 in Yaounde completed a 12-day training in terrorist crime scene investigation. The training, carried out by several instructors deployed by the government of the United States of America (USA), was the second out of five modules related to the fight against terrorism.

After handing over end-of-course attestations to the trainees at the Judicial Police Training Centre of the National Gendarmerie, Yeyap Barracks last Friday, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam, expressed gratitude for the increasing multifarious assistance given by Cameroon’s strategic partner, the USA.

He expressed hope that the training, which started on May 23, 2016, will help alleviate several shortcomings observed in the handling of terrorist-related crime scenes since the country started receiving Boko Haram attacks. In this vein, US Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E. Michael Stephen Hoza, reassured that the training will enhance Cameroonian security services’ ability to investigate terrorist attacks and help the military and other branches of the government stop Boko Haram bomb makers and other threats. The US diplomat also handed over 24 sets of kits to the centre for training in counter-terrorism crime scene investigations.

Cameroon Tribune

6, June 2016

Special Criminal Court frees former Delegate to the Limbe Urban Council ⁰

Samuel Lifanda and co-accused paid the amounts they were accused of embezzling before the matter came to court. The former Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, Samuel Ebiama Lifanda, reportedly a Pentecostal church pastor, is once more enjoying the air of freedom following his release on May 27, 2016, from detention in the Kondengui-Yaounde Maximum Security Prison by a decision of the Special Criminal Court, SCC. Lifanda was set free alongside Casimir Nyime Lyonga, the then Technical Head for Urban Affairs and Priso Simon Mokosa, ex-Service Head for Urban Affairs – all with the Limbe City Council.

Attempts on June 4, 2016, to reach Samuel Lifanda on phone were cut short by the wife who said he was not ready to talk to the media. Entreated to say when she thought her husband could be available, she retorted that she did not know and quickly hung up. Another family member would not say if Lifanda was now back with the family in Limbe or was still in Yaounde as rumoured. According to a source at the Yaounde-based Special Criminal Court, Lifanda and the two others were jointly accused of embezzling about 67 million FCFA, being funds from undue waivers he granted for building permits.

The former Government Delegate was responsible for most of the sum, with Nyime and Mokosa accused of embezzling relatively smaller amounts. The SCC judicial source said the three suspects were released in accordance with the presidential decree setting up the SCC, with the approval of the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals before the matter got to court. The advantage at this level, our source pointed out, is that the offence will not be entered into Lifanda’s criminal records; unlike those who are charged to court and later released after reimbursing the amounts they embezzled.

Samuel Ebiama Lifanda, Casimir Nyime Lyonga and Priso Simon Mokosa, were on June 10, 2015, remanded in prison custody after appearing before an SCC Examining Magistrate on charges of embezzlement and mismanagement. The former Government Delegate was on February 6, 2009 replaced by Andrew Motanga Monjimba. He was appointed to the position in 1998, replacing the late Henry Njalla Quan, the pioneer Government Delegate to the then Limbe Urban Council.

Cameroon Tribune

6, June 2016

Peter Agbor Tabi gets befitting state burial ⁰

The former Deputy Secretary-General at the Presidency was decorated posthumously with the medal of National Order of Valour before being interred in his native Ndekwai village on June 4, 2016. All roads led to Mamfe, Manyu Division of the South West Region over the weekend as the nation paid last tribute to one of its illustrious sons, Prof. Peter Agbor Tabi who died on 26 April, 2016 in Paris, France. Not even the scorching sun could deter thousands of mourners from all the corners of the country to converge on the ceremonial ground in Mamfe for the official burial of the late Minister, Deputy Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic.

Present and former cabinet ministers, members of the Senate and National Assembly, South West Administration, ministers of God, traditional rulers, CERAC women, CPDM party supporters and the general public witnessed the official burial ordered by the Head of State in honour of his former close aide. The official ceremony began with the arrival of the representative of the President of the Republic, Minister, Secretary-General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh at the Mamfe ceremonial ground. The casket bearing the mortal remains of Prof. Agbor Tabi was thus brought in by Police officers draped in the national colours amidst solemn music from the military band. A college of clergymen officiated the ecumenical service during which they prayed for the repose of the soul of late Prof.

Agbor Tabi and implored God to comfort the bereaved family. The four eulogies that marked the funeral ceremony delivered by the family head, the South West Chiefs’ Conference, the deceased son and the representative of the Secretary General of the CPDM Central Committee, all attested to the sterling qualities of devotedness, humility, loyalty, hardworking and love for his community.

In a highly emotional speech, the representative of the Head of State described Prof. Agbor Tabi (his former teacher at IRIC) as a man of conviction, values and responsibility who served his nation with diligence and commitment. “In him, we have lost a prominent figure in Cameroon administration, a senior statesman and a patriot,” Ngoh Ngoh stated while adding that the Head of State held Prof. Agbor Tabi in a very high esteem and was deeply touched by his demise. He recounted efforts by the President of the Republic to save his life.

On behalf of the President of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh posthumously decorated the late former Director of IRIC, Rector of University of Yaounde I, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency with the medal of National Order of Valour. Meanwhile the Head of State’s condolence message was read and handed to the family by the Senior Divisional Officer of Manyu, Peter Tieh Ndeh.

Cameroon Tribune

5, June 2016

Pressure mounts on British Prime Minister to step down ⁰

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is likely to step down the day after the upcoming referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union (EU), a member of the British Parliament says, noting that more MPs are considering to join the Leave campaign.

Even if the Brexit campaign fails to prevail in the June 23 vote, Cameron’s government is not likely to clinch a victory by a margin bigger than 10 percent, the Daily Mirror reported Sunday. “That would let him leave in a sensible fashion rather than the bloody mess that it could be,” a backbench MP was quoted as saying by the daily.

According to the report, at least 25 Tory MPs are totally committed to the Leave campaign and can give Cameron a hard time in the build-up to the vote. The number is expected to rise as the voting nears. Last week Tory MPs Andrew Bridgen and Nadine Dorries said that the premier had effectively lost his parliamentary support after resorting to “lies” and “outrageous” claims in his bid to persuade British voters to back the Remain campaign.

Bridgen revealed that at least 50 MPs – the number needed to call a confidence vote – were on the ready to challenge Cameron’s leadership, adding that a vote on the prime minister’s future was “probably highly likely” after the referendum. Plotters of Cameron’s ouster inside his own party name leading Tory MP David Davis, his rival in the last general election, as their leader.

Presstv

5, June 2016