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20, October 2016

Mfoundi Memorandum: Patriarch Onambele says Minister Mbarga Mboa and Co. are not from Mfoundi constituency ⁰

The patriarch of Mfoundi, Emile Onambele Zibi has reacted to the crisis meeting held on Tuesday, October the 18^th, 2016 by four members of government from his native constituency over the alleged Memorandum against President Paul Biya. Emile Onambele Zibi openly attacked the main initiator of the crisis forum, Philippe Mbarga Mboa stating that their one year ban on him was inconsequential.

To Emile Onambele, Minister Philippe Mbarga Mboa who chaired the meeting is neither patriarch nor elite, or traditional leader, or anything in the Mfoundi Division. Onambele wondered aloud that, “In what capacity was Mbarga Mboa speaking? Emile Onambele added that among the four minister of the ruling CPDM party who endorsed the decision against him, there were some that hail from Soa in the Department of Méfou-et-Afamba and have no right to rant on Mfoundi affairs.

The Mfoundi patriarch even made fun of the venue chosen to host the crisis talks. He observed that the four ministers were no longer sure of being in government pending a cabinet reshuffle to be announced soon. Emile Onambele Zibi plans to organize a press conference to unpack everything about this Memorandum affair. He revealed that the Mfoundi community have never written a memorandum to the Head of State and that what is now being discussed never came from him or the Mfoundi elites.

On Tuesday, October 18 2016, some elites of Mfoundi including four members of government, gathered and took a stand against a Memorandum from Mfoundi Division addressed to President Biya. The document carried vitriolic charges against President Paul Biya and had the signature of Emile Onambele Zibi in his capacity as president of the indigenous people of Mfoundi.

After the meeting on Tuesday, the indigenous people of Mfoundi signed in return what they called “The Declaration of Mfoundi” and distanced themselves from their leader. They also decided to quarantine its presumed author, Emile Onambele Zibi for a period of one year. The four Ministers from Mfoundi who took part in the meeting were: Philippe Mbarga Mboa, Louis Mama Fouda, Laurent Serge Etoundi and Ngoa Seraphin.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

20, October 2016

Prof. Fidelis Cho-Ngwa tells Cameroon Tribune University of Buea is the first to install a DNA laboratory in Cameroon ⁰

Prof. Fidelis Cho-Ngwa, Head of DNA Laboratory, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Buea, has been speaking about the current process of certifying the Buea University DNA laboratory. In this interview with the nation’s national daily, Cameroon Tribune, Prof. Fidelis Cho-Ngwa hinted that UB DNA test will be cheaper

Cameroon Tribune: The University of Buea operates a DNA laboratory, a rare facility in Central Africa. How did it begin?

Fidelis Cho-Ngwa: We started research in 2014 and since then, we have been training Master’s degree students in Molecular Diagnostics. We have so far carried out 15 “peace of mind tests” on Cameroonians since 2015. The tests are so called because they were not ordered by any court. However, they enabled the clients to know whether they were biological parents or children of some people. I head the laboratory and have a number of people working with me, especially those who obtained the Master’s degree in Molecular Diagnostic Science the university runs. We have now changed the appellation of the degree to Molecular Epidemiology and Diagnostic Science, to broaden the scope.

Cameroon Tribune: Is the laboratory open to the public?

Fidelis Cho-Ngwa: We have not yet gone on a business scale. It’s still a research platform, but we provide some services to the public. For us to go business, we will need to first get the laboratory certified. For now, the DNA laboratory is certified for drug discovery for Onchocerciasis, a Pan-African ANDI Centre of Excellence, but not for Human Molecular Diagnostics. This is why we have not yet extended to the legal platform. In the months ahead, we hope to engage government and the university to get to the level whereby we can seek certification. If this is achieved, courts, social and immigration cases, and even identification of remains of accident and fire victims, etc, can be referred to us.

Cameroon Tribune: Are there other DNA laboratories in Cameroon?

Fidelis Cho-Ngwa: I am not aware of any other DNA testing laboratory in the country. We know that people collect samples and send abroad and wait for results to give to their clients. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to install a DNA laboratory in Cameroon. Some other laboratories may have some of the machines, but not the technological know-how or trained personnel we boast. We collect samples and finish everything in the same laboratory. For now, we don’t use sophisticated machines since we don’t have them yet. We use robust, time-consuming manual methods to arrive at exactly the same results. We have been all over the world and have been teaching the science in the University of Buea. We have mastered the technology and now carry out research in Molecular Epidemiology and Diagnostic Science.

Cameroon Tribune: What is the cost of your services?

Fidelis Cho-Ngwa: We will not charge less than 200,000 FCFA for simple tests. Abroad, people pay between 300,000 FCFA and 500,000 FCFA for such tests; plus the cost of collecting, preparing and sending samples and money. Overall, our tests will be about 50 per cent cheaper. The other advantage is that you can do the test in person. The distance that samples have to be transported is eliminated and the trouble of handling them is avoided.

19, October 2016

New York Police kills 66-year-old schizophrenic black woman ⁰

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has come under fire for the officer-involved death of a 66-year-old African American woman, who was suffering from schizophrenia. NYPD officers shot dead Deborah Danner in the bedroom of her Bronx apartment on Tuesday, after she reportedly confronted them with scissors and a baseball bat.

According to police, Sergeant Hugh Barry had convinced the elderly woman to drop the scissors. However, when she charged to hit the officer with the bat, Barry fired two shots at her chest. She was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The NYPD admitted the excessive use of force in a statement, saying that the incident would undergo a full investigation since the officer could have subdued Danner by simply using his Taser.

“The sergeant was armed with a Taser. It was not deployed, and the reason it was not deployed will be part of the investigation and review,” said NYPD Assistant Chief Larry Nikunen. The NYPD immediately put Barry on modified duty until the investigation was completed.

Danner’s shooting death was condemned by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “This elderly woman was known to the police department, yet the officer involved in this shooting failed to use discretion to either talk her down from her episode or, barring that, to use his stun gun,” he said in a statement.

According to Danner’s Twitter account, she was a keen supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, which seeks justice for unarmed African Americans killed by white cops. “The wound, RACISM, continues to fester. PRAY for healing,” she wrote in one tweet.

“Point of the Conversation: How’d U like to move about w/a TARGET on you because of the color of your skin? BLACK LIVES MATTER!” she wrote in another. The shooting occurred at a time when anti-police sentiment is already high across the US due to a surge of unjustified killings of unarmed African Americans over the past few months.

On Monday, Terrence Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), one of the largest police organizations in the US, issued a formal apology to minorities for the historical injustice and mistreatment by law enforcement agencies.

Presstv

19, October 2016

2016 Women Africa Cup of Nations: All is calm in Enow Ngatchu’s camp ⁰

The players and officials of the Cameroon’s national female football team are back to camp at the Centre Olympia Africa at Akono, in the Centre Region. The indomitable lionesses are in camp for the fifth time as part of preparations against the upcoming 2016 Women AFCON to kick-off in Cameroon from November 19.

The girls of Enow Ngatchu have just returned from Bamako, Mali where they played a friendly with the Malian female national team. During their stay in Mali, the Indomitable Lionesses staged two test matches recording one win and a draw.

The girls will leave for Niarobi, Kenya on the 21^st of October 2016 ahead of another friendly against Kenyan side on October 22. The Secretary General of the Cameroon Football Federation, Tombi a Roko Sidiki is in Europe to negotiate for the release of most of the country’s professional players from their clubs.

CRTV

19, October 2016

German language regional pedagogic inspectors meeting in Yaounde ⁰

Regional Pedagogic Inspectors for the German Language in Cameroon are meeting to learn improved methods of teaching the language in Secondary Schools. The three-day seminar opened at the Goethe Institute of Learning in Yaounde on the 18th of October 2016 prompted by poor teachings as revealed by the writings on the photo attached to this report by state-owned radio and television, CRTV.

The forum is holding under the theme, “the Teaching, Learning and Assessment of German Learners using Competent-based Approaches.” Organised by the Ministry of Secondary Education and the Goethe Institute, the seminar aims at providing teachers with new and better teaching techniques.

While chairing the opening ceremony, the Inspector Coordinator General in charge of Letters, Arts and Languages at the Ministry of Secondary Education, Charles Etoundi expressed the Ministry’s commitment to improve on the capacity of its teachers in order that goodbye will not be translated as goodbye in German but Auf Wiedersehen.

The Pedagogic Inspectors will also be introduced to a new international school exchange programme for teachers involved in the teaching of the German language. The programme is intended to create learning partnerships in a bid to improve pedagogic skills and create better working conditions for teachers. The session ends on 20th October 2016.

CRTV

19, October 2016

Buhari’s row with wife Aisha signals frustration over Nigerian inertia ⁰

A row between Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife has brought cracks in the ruling party into the open as frustration grows over government inertia in trying to drag the country out of its first recession in 25 years. Aisha Buhari publicly criticised her husband’s record in office, saying she might not support him if he seeks re-election in 2019 unless he shakes up his administration, which she said had been hijacked by a “few people”.

The president tried to laugh off the rebuke from his wife of 27 years, saying “she belongs in the kitchen” – but without addressing the substance of her remarks, made last week in an interview with the BBC. The 73-year-old won last year’s election promising a new era in the West African nation, where graft has enriched elite while most of 180 million Nigerians live in poverty despite the OPEC member’s oil wealth.

Buhari came to power backed by his All Progressives Congress (APC) party, a broad coalition of politicians who united to remove his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, without having a joint plan on how to run the country. Now, 17 months into office, there are few signs of Buhari’s promised reforms to diversify the economy away from exporting crude, prices of which have halved since 2014.

Already the naira is down 35% this year, making it one of the worst performing currencies in the world, and the National Bureau of Statistics forecasts the economy will shrink by 1.3% in 2016. But criticism of the government goes beyond an apparent lack of urgency in tackling the economic crisis. A belief is growing that power is concentrated among Buhari’s chief of staff and an inner circle at the presidential villa, making it difficult for ministers to get the attention of the president.

The First Lady is not alone in her views. Senate President Bukola Saraki, the third most senior politician in Nigeria, took to Twitter to express his concerns. “It has become clear there is government within government of @MBuhari who’ve seized apparatus of executive powers to pursue their nefarious agenda,” he tweeted in June.

Buhari’s spokesmen declined to comment while the president himself has defended his economic record in general terms. “I believe this recession will not last,” he said this month. “We have identified the country’s salient problems and we are working hard at lasting solutions.”

Annual inflation accelerated in September to 17.9%, a more than 11-year high, and last week about 100 young people demonstrated near the central bank over the naira’s fall.

But, generally, discontent has yet to turn into mass protest. “Let me commend Nigerians for your patience, steadfastness and perseverance. You know I am trying to do the right things for our country,” said Buhari.

“SMALL CLIQUE”

Nevertheless, Buhari has not answered questions about how Nigeria is governed under his presidency. “People feel the country is being run by a small clique of people who have taken over and are acting in the name of the president,” said Clement Nwankwo, director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, a think-tank in Abuja.

Buhari has put Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a commercial lawyer, in charge of economic politics. But Osinbajo, who favours a more flexible currency policy to attract badly-needed foreign investment, has struggled to get his ideas heard.

“There is great worry that the input of the vice president does not seem to be taken into account in implementing policies, especially on the economic front,” Nwankwo said. Buhari has said as an ex-general he is no expert in economics, and yet he long rejected a devaluation of the naira – just as he did as military ruler in the 1980s when Nigeria was also in recession.

When the central bank finally dropped the naira’s peg to the dollar in June, the currency slumped 30% and many equity and bond investors had in any case long since gone. Even now, Nigeria is operating a “managed float” which is keeping the official naira rate at around 305 to the dollar, far stronger than Monday’s black market rate of 455.

As ever in Nigerian politics, the division of powers between the mainly Muslim north, where Buhari is from, and the Christian south is playing a role. Diplomats say members of northern circles known to Buhari for decades have resisted some ministers such as Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun, a southerner in her 40s who was not his first choice. A source close to the presidency described the accusations of inertia as grumbling by some in the APC who had hoped for jobs or contracts under a system of patronage which Buhari stopped under his anti-graft drive.

DIFFICULT CHOICES

Buhari needed to pick a cabinet from the APC but this was complicated because he was constitutionally bound to pick a minister from each of Nigeria’s 36 states.

To insert his influence he then brought in people he has known for decades. Members of his “kitchen cabinet” include his chief of staff Abba Kyari, whom Buhari has also put on the board of state oil firm NNPC, his uncle Mamman Daura and Babachir Lawal, secretary to the government of the federation.

“Buhari is deeply suspicious of politicians because of Nigeria’s history of graft,” said one Western diplomat. “There are few people he trusts or regularly talks to to seek their advice.” The pre-eminence of the inner circle has, say political insiders, created a rift between the president and Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos state governor who rallied southern Christian elites to help win power. Tinubu has issued statements attacking APC chairman John Oyegun and oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, deepening divisions in the party.

LITTLE ACTIVITY

Buhari has won plaudits from ordinary Nigerians by saying he will target a hyper-rich elite accused of massive corruption. He has also managed to retake most territory lost to the Islamist militants of Boko Haram and negotiated the release of 21 of more than 200 girls kidnapped in 2014, although suicide bombings remain part of life in north-eastern Nigeria.

But much of his first year in office was beset by slow progress. A five month wait for his cabinet to be formed was followed by wrangling with parliament over the 2016 budget, which was only signed off by Buhari in May. Efforts to make Nigeria more business-friendly have stalled. Trade Minister Okechukwu Enelamah wants to ease visa rules, acknowledging complaints from foreign executives about obstructive embassy officials, but has given no timeframe.

Nigeria could have earned as much as $8 billion in travel receipts this year, instead of the $500 million booked in 2014, had it adopted visitor-friendly visa rules like Ghana, Renaissance Capital said in a report. Some investors have expressed frustration over hard currency curbs. “You can’t even discuss a rational foreign exchange policy,” David Lapido, director at Amaya Capital invested in Nigeria’s power industry, told a panel debate.

Leading economists recently met Buhari, stressing it was high time for action as there were just 18 months left before the next election would paralyse politics. “We were very frank,” said Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives consultancy who attended the meeting. “The president is paying serious attention to the economy. I am now more optimistic.”

Culled from DefenseWeb

19, October 2016

President Putin to discuss Syria with Merkel and Hollande in Berlin ⁰

The French, German and Russian leaders are set to meet in the German capital to discuss the Syrian crisis, as a brief truce has been introduced by Russia and Syria for the embattled city of Aleppo. French and Russian presidents Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet in Berlin on Wednesday, according to Hollande’s office.

An aide to Hollande said the meeting is aimed at “giving the message” to the Russian president that “a durable ceasefire” and humanitarian access is needed for Aleppo. Russia, which has been conducting an aerial military campaign against extremist militants in Syria, has repeatedly voiced its readiness for a ceasefire. Russia has been insisting, however, that any such lull in fighting should be accompanied with a meticulous separation of terrorists from other, less extremist militants fighting against the Syrian government.

Western countries, including the US, have been reluctant to do any such separation. Al-Nusra Front, which has recently renamed itself and claimed to have broken up with al-Qaeda, is one of the handful of terrorist groups that have mingled with almost all the other militant outfits fighting in Syria, including inside Aleppo.

The Syrian and Russian militaries have also set up humanitarian corridors around Aleppo to allow the safe exit of civilians trapped in the city ever since a major offensive began to retake it. Damascus and Moscow say, however, that the militants are preventing the civilians from leaving the city.

Presstv

19, October 2016

What went wrong between Pogba and Cameroonian super model? ⁰

Neighbours have protested against the torrid sexual antics of French football star Paul Pogba and his Cameroonian girlfriend popularly known as Dencia. The sexual activities of the French international and Dencia whose real name is Reprudencia Sonkey, dubbed the African Lady Gaga, as reported by Yahoo ignited so much under-the-table talk around their neighbourhood.

According to Yahoo, the neighbours of the lovers have recently spent sleepless nights because of the erotic noise produced by Lady Dencia during love making. “Between 3am and 4am, there were groans and grunts that could be confused with something else. They do not seem to worry about who could hear. It lasted for eternity. It looked like a porn movie. Repeatedly we heard groans such as “Paul, Baby”, it was very embarrassing. It was impossible not to hear it because it was very loud” revealed a neighbour quoted in the Yahoo report.

By Chi Prudence Asong

19, October 2016

70 Nobel Prize winners have thrown their support behind Hillary Clinton ⁰

A group of 70 Nobel Prize winners have thrown their support behind the US Democratic presidential nominee, endorsing Hillary Clinton for presidency in the run-up to the 2016 elections.

In an open letter on Tuesday, the world’s leading experts in science, medicine and economics “strongly and fully” backed the former secretary of state, arguing that her election is crucial for preserving freedom, safeguarding national security and protecting a constitutional government. “It is imperative that Hillary Clinton be elected as the next president of the United States,” they wrote.

“We need a president who will support and advance policies that will enable science and technology to flourish in our country and to provide the basis of important policy decisions,” the laureates added.

The letter made no mention of Clinton’s Republican rival, Donald Trump, but it suggested that policies that show a lack of appreciation for scientific knowledge could harm America’s national security.

The signatories of the letter, among whom were prominent names such as chemist Peter Agre, economist Robert J. Shiller and physicist Robert Woodrow Wilson, also pointed to global issues, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and climate change as problems that require innovation and investment.

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado on October 18, 2016.

Along with other GOPers, Trump believes that the climate change issue is just a “hoax.” According to The New York Times, “The fact that the Nobel laureates are backing Mrs. Clinton does not come as a big surprise, as academics overwhelmingly tend to lean Democratic.”

The race between Trump and Clinton represents a battle between two of the least liked major party candidates in US history. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released in August found Clinton and Trump were the most unpopular presidential candidates in decades.

Presstv

19, October 2016

Eto’o to pay 100,000 euros to a fan if Antalyaspor fails to end league in top 10 position ⁰

Samuel Eto’o Fils, star-player of Turkish club Antalyaspor has reportedly promised a fan of the club the sum of 100,000 euros (65 million FCFA) if the club fails to be among the top 10 in the Turkish league table this season.

The angry fan had descended to the dressing room after a home game on Monday, October 17, 2016 in which Antalyaspor was held to a draw (1-1) by Rizespor in a championship game. The supporter expressed his worried about the current performance of the club (ranked last of the Turkish Superlig).

Samuel Eto’o responded by calling on the fan to remain confident and appealed to the fan to continue to believe in Antalyaspor. The Cameroonian football legend added that he would write a cheque of 100,000 euros (65 million FCFA) to his interlocutor if Antalyaspor did not finish in the top 10 of the Turkish championship. Eto’o and his teammates are having a difficult season and have recorded a total of 3 points in 7 matches played.

By Eyong Johnson with cables from CIN