Breaking News

Reasons why the North West/South West Divide tactics is outdated

6, December 2016

Reasons why the North West/South West Divide tactics is outdated 0

Two Higher Teachers Training Colleges existed in the then United Republic of Cameroon. Bamenda for Southern Cameroonians and Yaoundé for French speaking Cameroonians.  The Francophone spiritual and political leaders said let us pray for national integration, peace, work and fatherland and we closed our eyes and Yaoundé became Higher Ecole Normale and Bamenda, the Annex!!! Today out of 100 student teachers admitted in Bamenda 80 are from French Cameroon. This begs the question: How can this be North West domination over the South West people?

Buea had a School of Posts and Telecommunications for Anglophone Cameroon and Yaoundé for French Cameroonians. As Francis Nkwain, E.T.Egbe, Joseph Awunti and Muna were concluding the last stanza of the peace, work and fatherland prayer, Buea became annex and Yaoundé was renamed Higher School of Post and Telecom. Today, 162 students are presently studying in Buea and all of them are French speaking Cameroonians. The language of study is French and all lecturers too are Francophones. How can this be North West domination of the South West region?

The situation at the Public Works School in Buea is shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. Of the 200 students currently studying there, only 27 are from the North West and South West regions. This cannot be a North West or Fru Ndi SDF plot against the South West people.

In the University of Buea, lectures are given predominantly in French. In the School of Translators and Interpreters, only 7 Anglophones are presently there. In Police Academy in Mutengene, out of 400 young officers including administrators only 22 are Anglophones. This cannot be a Bafurchou mafia arrangement against the South West people.

At the Regional Delegation for Health apart from the Regional Delegate and the NTCP coordinator any other person sitting in a Program with huge budget is Francophone. All District Medical Officers in Limbe are Francophone. All districts medical Administrators from ENAM in the South West are Francophones.

Those who championed the North West/South West divide policy as teleguided by the regime in Yaoundé have all been given a thank you package. Chief Inoni in Kodengui, Forjindam at New Bell, Peter Agbor Tabi eliminated. Your turn will come sooner or later

France: Prime Minister Valls resigns, declares himself a candidate for the presidency

6, December 2016

France: Prime Minister Valls resigns, declares himself a candidate for the presidency 0

France’s Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, has resigned to declare himself a candidate for the presidency in an attempt to save the Socialist Party from a humiliating exit from elections next spring.

Mr Valls, 54, a reformist, launched his bid to win party primaries just four days after François Hollande announced he would not seek re-election next May.

Speaking in Evry, the gritty Paris suburb where he was long mayor, he said: “Yes, I’m candidate for the presidency.”

Culled from the Telegraph

1,300 refugees rescued in Mediterranean, 16 found dead

6, December 2016

1,300 refugees rescued in Mediterranean, 16 found dead 0

More than 1,300 refugees have been rescued and 16 bodies recovered from the Mediterranean Sea over the past three days, the Italian coastguard says. Italy’s coastal service said 285 of the refugees were rescued on Saturday, 791 on Sunday and 231 on Monday, making up 1,307 the total number of refugees saved from the sea. Reports said all the refugees were packed on board nine different vessels, small wooden boats and inflatable dinghies.

Coastguard officials said efforts to resuscitate two women found on a dinghy had failed. “Two women died of hypothermia in spite of the colossal efforts of the team. We are heartbroken, again,” they said. Among those pulled to safety were a number of Syrian families traveling with young children from Libya. Thousands of people have died over the past months crossing the perilous sea route from the Libyan coast to Europe in search of a better life.

The coasts of Libya have become a launch pad for asylum seekers heading for Europe. A large number of them are Sub-Saharan Africans attempting to reach Italy. In response to the widening crisis, the European Union launched Operation Sophia in 2015. The naval mission was meant to reduce the flow of people smuggled across the Mediterranean, and to train the Libyan coastguard to fight smugglers’ boats. Yet, the operation is largely viewed as a failure. At least 4,700 people have been killed this year trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The figure has already exceeded the toll in the entire 2015, which was more than 3,600.

The International Organization for Migration has recorded a high number of refugee arrivals in Italy from North Africa in 2016. It says 173,000 have reached the Italian shores since the start of this year, nearly 14,000 more than the figure in 2015 and breaking a 170,000 record registered in 2014. The surge in Mediterranean journeys from the south into Italy came after the European Union reached a deal with Turkey in March to curb the arrivals in Greece from the east.

The European Union has been dealing with an excessive influx of refugees in recent years, driven by war, famine, poverty and persecution. The crisis has largely divided the continent over how to deal with the situation. A number of European countries have adopted harsh measures, including toughening border controls, shutting refugees out, and even erecting razor-wire fences. But the problem remains far from resolved.

Presstv

Southern Cameroons on fire, several arrests in Bamenda, Fru Ndi in Buea, Kumba joins the dance

5, December 2016

Southern Cameroons on fire, several arrests in Bamenda, Fru Ndi in Buea, Kumba joins the dance 1

British Southern Cameroonians have staged massive demonstrations in the South West and North West of the regions of the country today Monday the 5th of December 2016.  In Buea, capital of the South West region, the elected representatives of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) led by its leader Ni John Fru Ndi mobilized and held a pro Anglophone rally.

A huge crowd accompanied the SDF leaders at the Molyko stadium where thousands of people gathered and were addressed by John Fru Ndi. The SDF chairman expressed solidarity with the demands of the Anglophone population, who are advocating for federalism or secession from Cameroon. On this claim, the regime in Yaoundé has vowed not to yield and hardliners in the Biya Francophone Beti-Ewondo government have openly stated that Anglophone claims are not on the national agenda.

The city of Kumba in the South West has also entered the federalism and secession dance. The Kumba population have responded to the calls made by the lawyers and the teachers for Anglophone demands to be met immediately. In Bamenda, the starting point of the Anglophone protest, the situation was also very tense throughout the day with clashes reported between the police and the population. Shops remained closed, the men in uniform squared the city and shots were even heard in some places.

The graduation ceremony at the Bamenda University scheduled for the 9th of December has been postponed to a later date. Several arrests were made today in British Southern Cameroons.

By Rita Akana and Sama Ernest

 

Cameroon government gives priority to prevention in the fight against HIV/Aids

5, December 2016

Cameroon government gives priority to prevention in the fight against HIV/Aids 0

The Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda has stated Government’s determination to have two hundred thousand HIV patients get access to free treatment by the end of 2016.Public Health boss made this declaration this Thursday 1st December 2016 in Yaoundé during the commemoration of the 29th edition of the World AIDS Day organized under the theme “Hands up for HIV prevention”. Minister Andre Mama Fouda used the occasion to encourage AIDS patients to strictly follow-up treatment so as to avoid the propagation of the virus.

Commemorative activities in Yaoundé like in other towns of the country were marked by sensitization campaigns, free screening, health talks and distribution of condoms among other activities. Noteworthy is the fact that the disease with still no cure has accounted for the death of many Cameroonians. A number of campaigns spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders are being carried out to create awareness of the disease. Also, government now provides free anti-retroviral drugs for patients living with the virus.

Cameroon’s First Lady, Chantal Biya has also been very instrumental in the fight against the disease. According to statistics, about 90% of new infection is as a result of unprotected sexual relations. About 6 % is attributed to mother-to-child transmission, and approximately 4 % as a result of blood transfusion. In Cameroon, the prevalence rate has dropped from is an estimated 4.3% to 3.9.

CRTV

Revealed: 232 agents of ELECAM were recruited with fake university certificates

5, December 2016

Revealed: 232 agents of ELECAM were recruited with fake university certificates 0

Two hundred and thirty-two (232), agents holding false diplomas, have just been uncovered at ELECAM (Elections Cameroon), the body in charge of the electoral process in the country.

The 232 election officers, 36 from the Far North, 8 in the North, 57 in the Center region and several from other regions were recruited in ELECAM with False diplomas by the commission evaluating training provided abroad.

The situation hinted Cameroon Concord News Yaoundé city reporter has cast doubt on the level of ethics of agents of ELECAM and the institution in charge of the electoral process in Cameroon.

This is not the first time that false diplomas are detected in a Cameroon administration. In Cameroon, the utilization false diploma is now a way of life practiced by young people.

Many have been recruited within the Cameroon administration and in countries around the world which do not have a mechanism to enable them to verify the diplomas awarded in Cameroon.

By Rita Akana

John Kerry says State Department’s recommendations have no “value” in the eyes of Donald Trump

5, December 2016

John Kerry says State Department’s recommendations have no “value” in the eyes of Donald Trump 0

US Secretary of State John Kerry says his department’s recommendations have no “value” in the eyes of President-elect Donald Trump, who has been making phone calls to world leaders since his election on November 8, a policy which the State Department considers as controversial. Speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington on Sunday, Kerry said neither Trump nor his transition team had contacted the State Department before speaking to leaders of other countries. “We have not been contacted before any of these conversations. We have not been requested to provide talking points,” Kerry said, in an attempt to distance President Barack Obama’s administration from some of Trump’s phone calls that may anger longtime allies. Trump risked China’s wrath on Friday, when he talked to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a move that made him the first US president or president-elect to hold a conversation with Taiwan’s leader since severing ties with the territory in 1979.

The Republican president-elect also called Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif an “amazing” leader during a phone conversation on Wednesday, a praise that was looked unfavorably by India, Pakistan’s arch-rival. “I do think there’s a value, obviously, on having at least the recommendations, whether you choose to follow them or not is a different issue, but I think it’s valuable to ask people, who’ve worked the desk and have worked it for a long period of time, their input on what’s the current state, is there some particular issue at the moment,” Kerry said. “I think that’s valuable and I would certainly recommend it, but obviously that hasn’t happened in a few cases.” Unlike Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence has been using the State Department’s recommendations regularly, Kerry said.

The outgoing secretary of state noted that he was trying to stay “a thousand miles away from the Trump transition process” and hoped that communications with the team would improve once Trump picked his secretary of state. “I think it’s important for me to be able to brief whoever the final nominee is going to be for secretary of state and I don’t want to come at it with any engagements, with any of the choices they are making publicly,” he added. According to Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway, the New York billionaire was considering at least four candidates for the job. Kerry’s comments underscore Trump’s reluctance to receive advice from the Obama administration.

Presstv

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italian PM Renzi resigns

5, December 2016

Italian PM Renzi resigns 0

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has announced his resignation after exit polls showed he had lost the constitutional reform referendum. “My experience of government finishes here,” said Renzi during a press conference held after the No campaign won what he referred to as an “extraordinarily clear” victory in the referendum.

An exit poll by Italian state broadcaster RAI showed that the 42-46 percent of participants in the referendum had voted to back the reforms, while 54-58 percent voted against them. “Good luck to us all,” added Renzi, noting that he would officially present his resignation to the country’s President Sergio Mattarella on Monday, after a final meeting of his cabinet.

After that, Mattarella will be charged with negotiating the appointment of a new government or with ordering early elections. If Renzi’s proposed changes to the constitution had won, they would have reduced the role of the Senate and limited the powers of regional governments.

Analysts say the victorious No vote will further boost the country’s opposition parties — among them the eurosceptic Five Star Movement — all of which favor exiting the eurozone. Italy is the eurozone’s third-largest economy, but its stock market has been performing the worst in Europe this year due to problems in its banking system and concerns over political instability.

Presstv

Fake US embassy in Ghana shut down after a decade

4, December 2016

Fake US embassy in Ghana shut down after a decade 0

Washington says a fake US embassy run by organized crime gangs has been shut down in Ghana’s capital, Accra, following almost 10 years of issuing counterfeit visas and counterfeit identification documents. According to a statement released by the US Department of State late on Friday, the sham embassy was operated by “figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings” along with a Ghanaian lawyer specializing in immigration and criminal law.

The statement added that the fake diplomatic mission, with a run-down, pink two-storey building, was raided by Ghana’s security forces in summer after the real embassy in the capital received a tip-off from an informant about the matter. Several suspects were arrested, including “Turkish citizens,” who played the role of “consular officers” at the building and who spoke English and Dutch. Authorities also seized legitimate and counterfeit US, Indian, South African and Schengen Zone visas and 150 passports from 10 different countries, a laptop, a number of smart phones and counterfeit identity documents.

The criminals, according to the statement, managed to run the fake embassy unhindered during the past decade by bribing corrupt officials as well as obtaining blank bank documents to be doctored. The crime ring provided prearranged customers with authentic, but illegally obtained, US visas and fabricated identification documents, including birth certificates, at a cost of $6,000 each, the statement added. In an attempt to make the sham embassy look real, the criminals had also raised an American flag outside the building and inside they had hung a photo of US President Barack Obama. They had also placed signs indicating that applicants were in the US embassy in Ghana.

The statement also revealed that further investigations led to uncovering a fake Dutch embassy in Ghana’s capital. Visa market is a tempting target for organized crime in Africa as visas for Western countries are in high demand in the continent.

Presstv

 

 

 

 

 

Iran vows firm response to US

4, December 2016

Iran vows firm response to US 0

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has denounced a recent US Senate vote on a piece of anti-Iran legislation as a blatant infringement of last year’s nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, saying the Islamic Republic will give a firm response to the move.

President Rouhani made the remarks in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) on Sunday as he submitted the government’s proposed budget bill for the next Iranian fiscal year, which begins on March 21, to the legislative body.

The Iranian chief executive further said the Islamic Republic would never violate last July’s nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which he described as “a signed and sealed international document.”

Iran “will not tolerate the JCPOA’s violation by any of the P5+1 group of countries,” adding that the US Senate’s vote to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for a decade is “in blatant contravention of the JCPOA, and will be followed by Iran’s decisive response.”

The US Senate approved the ISA renewal 99-0 on Thursday after it easily cleared the House of Representatives last month. The sanctions law, which would authorize the US president to impose sanctions on Iran, was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

The ISA now needs President Barack Obama’s signature to be turned into law. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia – plus Germany started to implement the JCPOA on January 16.

Under the deal, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related bans imposed against Tehran. Since January, when the JCPOA took effect, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors the deal’s implementation process, has in numerous reports confirmed Iran’s commitment.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in April that Iran had even gone beyond its obligations under the JCPOA. Reacting to the Senate vote on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the ISA’s extension would have no “executive effect” and would merely be a sign of the US government’s unreliability.

Last month, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warned that Iran would consider the extension of the ISA a breach of the JCPOA and would respond accordingly.

Presstv

 

 

 

 

«< 35 36 37 38 39 >»