Breaking News

21, September 2016

Sudan hosting 400,000 refugees who fled the war in South Sudan ⁰

Sudan says it is hosting about 400,000 refugees, who fled the civil war in South Sudan that erupted in late 2013. Sudan’s Interior Minister Babiker Digna told reporters in the capital Khartoum on Wednesday that more refugees continued to pour into the country.

“The number of South Sudanese refugees registered by Sudanese authorities is 400,000,” Digna said, adding, “The influx of South Sudanese continues until now… and the process of registering them is also ongoing.” The United Nations earlier said that as of August 31, the total number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan had exceeded 247,000.

Responding to a discrepancy between the two figures, Digna said “many times” there was disagreement with the UN on the numbers. On September 16, the United Nations refugee agency said in a statement that fighting in South Sudan had forced more than one million people to flee the war-stricken country. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said another 1.61 million people had been displaced inside the country.

On the same day, Noriko Yoshida, the UN refugee agency’s representative for Sudan, appealed for more global aid to help address South Sudan’s refugee crisis, adding, “If we don’t have sufficient resources, it is also difficult to protect and assist these refugees.”

An internally displaced person is seen among civilians and UN peacekeepers on September 3, 2016, at a UN camp in Juba, South Sudan. (Photo by AFP)

The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda are also hosting thousands of refugees from South Sudan.

The country gained independence in July 2011, but descended into war in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir accused the former vice president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup to usurp power.

Numerous international attempts to reach a truce between the warring sides have failed. South Sudan has experienced a new wave of conflict since July 8, when gunfire erupted near the state house in Juba as President Kiir and Machar were holding a meeting.

Presstv

21, September 2016

Two UN summits on refugee crisis successful failures ⁰

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) says two recent summits on the global refugee crisis held at the United Nations (UN) were dismal failures. “This week’s summits on the global refugee crisis failed to meet the challenge of this critical moment in history,” read a statement released by the rights group on Tuesday, referring to two high-level summits attended by world leaders and held at the UN headquarters in New York.

The first meeting, held on Monday, was hosted by the outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. During that summit, countries reconfirmed their commitment to receiving and assisting refugees. But the HRW said it was “filled with dismal speeches that veered from vapid platitudes disconnected from real world challenges to get-tough pronouncements about securing borders and stopping irregular migration.”

The second summit, which was held on Tuesday and hosted by the outgoing US President Barak Obama, called on the participating countries to accept higher refugee relocation quotas, and to donate more money for refugees.

The Tuesday summit was also viewed by the rights group as a disappointment since it was expected to hear speeches from “world leaders about how they would support the countries where most refugees live,” but almost no such speech was delivered.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters, in New York City, September 20, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

According to the statement, the crisis has reached a “critical moment” since many countries, which host the huge majority of the world’s refugees, have clearly said that they have reached the limit of their capacity.

It added that some of those countries, which have generously hosted refugees for years — or even decades — are now pressuring asylum seekers to leave, have shut down their doors to new arrivals, or have announced that they would be doing so soon.

In the second summit, however, some more concrete goals were put on the table, including getting one million refugee children into school, granting work permissions to one million of their parents, and resettling a significant number of more refugees.

“As laudable as these goals are, however, they are not an end in themselves,” since they in fact “will help to keep front-line host countries from becoming destabilized,” the HRW said.

“That is the best strategy for ensuring that their doors can remain open so that people fleeing threats to their lives in the months and years to come will still have a place of refuge,” it added.

Europe has been facing an unprecedented influx of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict zones in North Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria. Last year alone, well over a million refugees made their way into the continent.

Many blame major European powers for the exodus of the refugees from their home countries as the conflicts and violence that force them out are usually a result of Western policies.

Presstv

21, September 2016

First Lady Chantal Biya meets wife of UN Secretary General ⁰

Cameroon’s First Lady, Mrs Chantal Biya yesterday, September 20, had a busy day in New York during the 71^st United Nations General Assembly. Mrs Biya did not just join some 170 First spouses in a “Tea Reception” offered by the wife of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Soon-Taek, but fully participated in other State duties as well as joining President Paul Biya at the opening of general debates at the UN Headquarters.

At about 3:00 p.m. New York time, all roads where leading to the Sutton Place Residence of the United Nations Secretary-General. It was a kind of parade for all First Spouses accompanying their husbands for the current UN session. All security measures were placed at the 3 Sutton Place, North-East, Street 57, at Manhattan, New York City. Over 170 First Ladies were at that residential quarter, honouring an invitation from Ban Soon-taek. Amongst them was the ever beaming Cameroon’s First Lady, Chantal Biya. She was accompanied by the wife of the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, Celine Ngoh Ngoh. For over an hour, Chantal Biya and Ban Soon-taek, together with other First Ladies from around the world had a fulfilling time not only exchanging niceties but sharing their experiences as First Spouses in different social domains.

It was a unique moment between Chantal Biya and Ban Soon-taek after their last meeting at the Oriental Pavilion at East Wing of the Unity Palace in 2010, when the UN Secretary General and Wife, paid an official visit to Cameroon. Chantal Biya and Ban Soon-taek certainly had much to talk about; especially as Mrs Ban Soon-taek has an in-depth knowledge of the humanitarian activities of Cameroon’s First Lady. This accounts for why, Cameroon’s First Lady stayed longer within the residence of Mrs Ban Soon-taek unlike other First Spouses attending the tea reception. Although no information filtered out of the “Tea Party”, from the appearance of the First Ladies as they stepped out of the residence of Ban Soon-taek, there were all indications that it was a cherished time spent together.

Chantal Biya and her counterparts certainly continued conversation on the education of the girl-child and how they can reinforce their various activities to improve the situation in their various countries. The issue of empowering women and upholding the rights of children was certainly a topic of interest among the Ladies.

Cameroon Tribune

21, September 2016

Former US Republican President George H.W.Bush to vote for Hillary Clinton ⁰

Former US Republican President George H.W. Bush has allegedly expressed his support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the November election, sources say. Sources close to the former president made the revelation on Tuesday, saying this was not the first time Bush had disclosed his intention to vote for Clinton.

“The President told me he’s voting for Hillary, that’s what he said,” Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the niece of President John F. Kennedy, wrote in a Facebook post. The 92-year-old former president had already said in May that he would not endorse the party’s nominee Donald Trump.

The surprising move comes as the entire Bush family, including ex-president George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor and ex-2016 presidential hopeful, skipped last month’s Republican National Convention, where Trump was officially nominated.

US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on September 17, 2016 in Washington, DC.

Jeb had also made it clear before the convention that he would not vote for Trump or Clinton in November. “I will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but I will support principled conservatives at the state and federal levels, just as I have done my entire life,” he wrote on his Facebook page in May.

Trump said during a Tampa, Florida, campaign event in June that he was waiting for his endorsement. “I don’t think he’s going to endorse me, do you folks?” Trump asked his supporters before dismissively adding, “Who the hell cares?” Jeb Bush predicted in July that the real estate mogul’s supporters will feel “betrayed” when his campaign promises fail to materialize. “There isn’t going to be a wall built,” Bush told MSNBC in an interview. “And Mexico’s not going to pay for it. And there’s not going to be a ban on Muslims.”

The New York businessman’s campaign has been marred by his disparaging remarks against minorities in the US. His comments include a call to ban all Muslims from coming to America as well as forced deportation of Mexican migrants by building a long wall along the US-Mexico border.

Trump has also sought for a database to track Muslims across the United States and said that the US would have “absolutely no choice” but to close down mosques. Trump’s proposal has been condemned by Muslim and human rights groups as well as his Democratic rival and many of his Republican proponents who describe the proposal as divisive, counterproductive and contrary to American values.

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Germain Arena on September 19, 2016 in Estero, Florida.

Over the past few days, nearly all polls have indicated a tightening race between Clinton and Trump at national and state levels as nearly 50 days are left to the presidential vote.

Presstv

21, September 2016

Cameroon hosting forum on how best to teach the French language ⁰

Basic education officials from eight French African countries are meeting in Cameroon to come out with strategies on how best to teach the French and other national languages.

The Secretary of State at the Ministry of Basic Education Beniot Ndong Soumet who opened the five day atelier called for the continuous training of primary school teachers.

The Secretary of State observed that national languages were included in school curricula because they are considered a strong force of unity and development in Africa.

The forum which is expected to end on Friday September the 25th 2016 will make available a road map for the teaching of French and the national languages in the sub region.

CRTV

21, September 2016

Cameroon: CPDM government and electricity company sign protocol agreement ⁰

A protocol agreement has been signed between the Cameroon government and the electricity company ENEO for the transfer of surplus capacity from their optical fiber. The energy to be transferred to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications is intended to allow the Ministry upgrade its national broad band.

According to the MINPOSTEL boss, who signed for the government of Cameroon, the protocol will help the ministry meet its electronic communication needs and modernize information and control systems in the country.

The Director General of ENEO, Nana Kontchou who signed for the electricity company said the agreement will ensure the quality at a digital age. Experts estimated the surplus from ENEO worth 986 strands of optic fibre cables, of this, 812 kms is due to be transferred to other companies.

The agreement signed therefore stipulates that ENEO will transfer 78 strands of the optical fibre to MINPOSTEL to improve power transmission grid. If this is effective the digital economy will be boosted.

CRTV

21, September 2016

Biya’s Cameroon: Going, Going, Gone ⁰

Some Cameroonian political analysts have recently opined that President Biya 83 will be unable to attract foreign investors to Cameroon as he approaches the end of his mandate as President of the Republic. Many have argued that with age telling on him and with no clear succession plan, everything in Cameroon now creates a doubt and deters potential investors.

The uncertainty on the political transition currently prevailing in Cameroon is not likely to encourage foreign businessmen, and even Cameroonian nationals who which wish to invest in the country. Emmanuel Mpouma, a senior economist hinted that there is no provision for a peaceful transfer of power if Biya were to disappear from the political stage.

The President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji, who appears to be the next-of-kin to lead the country in case of vacancy at the presidency of the republic as provided by the Constitution, will be 82 years old on October 26, 2016. Another Cameroonian political observer, Dr. Louis-Marie Kakdeu was quoted as saying that “this kind of second personality of the republic is not likely to encourage foreign businesses to rush to the gates of Cameroon.”

The issue of the separation of power involving the executive, the judiciary and the legislature including a free press is another pebble in the business environment in Cameroon. Several court decisions, some of which emanate from the highest Cameroonian judicial body, the Supreme Court, so far remain unimplemented. The nation is at the mercy of Mr Biya, his Francophone Beti-Ewondo clan and his appointees.

Dr. Ariel Ngnitedem believes that the age of the President of the Republic is not a factor that can encourage development. The Head of State is much older and his health issues has given the nation a rather vague electoral calendar which is problematic especially that nobody is able today to say whether there will be early presidential election in Cameroon, much less whether Paul Biya will run again for president in 2018. The nation is going, going, gone!!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Cameroon-info.net

20, September 2016

Protecting the Homeland: General Elokobi Daniel satisfied with French cooperation ⁰

A training in emergency intervention techniques which covered strategies used in conceiving, preparing and carrying out operations in crowded environments to track terrorist and free hostages has ended in Yaounde.According to officials, equipping Cameroon’s defence and security with skills to effectively anticipate and counter any terrorist operations ahead of major events in the country including the Women’s Africa Cup Nations is indispensable. Non-commissioned officers of the Gendarmerie and National Security personnel have taken part in two separate training courses in planning and execution of anti-terrorist operations.

The first continent composed on 15 police and 15 gendarmes including 9 female officers from the respective corp where trained at the Judicial Police Training Centre of the National Gendarmerie in Yaoundé. They were educated on the mode of operation of terrorist movements, their potential targets and how to anticipate and stop their atrocities. Techniques of investigating crime scenes and elaborating reports for the judiciary were also learnt. The officers refreshed their minds on the working of the international police organisation, Interpol.

The Central Director of Coordination of the National Gendarmerie, Brigadier General Elokobi Daniel Njock saluted the French cooperation for the training that was facilitated by French experts. He called on the laureates to share the newly acquired skilled with colleagues in their respectively units.

Another refresher course took place in Mbankomo for 26 non-commissioned officers of the Multi-Purpose Intervention Group of the National Gendarmerie. They were trained on techniques of liberating hostages and tracking terrorist in confined areas like hotels, stadia, sports complex, planes, and trains.

The Inspector No 1, of the National Gendarmerie, Colonel Ekongwese Divine Nnoko who closed the session called on the soldiers of the intervention force to be on the alert and ready at all times. He said evidence has showed that terrorists turn to attack civilian, strategic and military installations and it’s incumbent on them to anticipant, prevent and where necessary free hostages.

CRTV

20, September 2016

Hillary Clinton falls behind Trump in new poll ⁰

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has opened up a narrow lead over his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, a new poll shows, signaling the end of the former secretary of state’s months-long dominance in terms national support

The survey, released by right-leaning Red Oak Strategic on Monday, revealed that the New York businessman had managed to close the gap with Clinton and lead her by 2 points, 35 percent to 33 percent.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson was third with 8 percent support while Green Party nominee Jill Stein was not featured in the poll. Around 24 percent of the participants said they either had another candidate in mind or were yet to select any.

In the poll’s previous version from early September, Trump was behind the former first lady 31 percent to 34 percent. Clinton did not stand a chance in a head-to-head matchup either, according to the poll, as Trump was leading her 51 percent to 48 percent. Clinton held a similar lead in the poll’s previous iteration.

Hillary Clinton speaks at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Interestingly, about 41 percent of the participants said they had voted for President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, while only 34 percent opted for the Republican ticket Mitt Romney.

This was the first time that Trump was leading Clinton in a Red Oak Strategic survey, since the company began tracking the race in August. Over the past few days, nearly all polls have indicated a tightening race between Clinton and Trump at national and state levels. This is while we are nearly 50 days from the vote.

According to the latest CBS News Battleground Tracker poll issued Sunday, for example, the pair was tied at 42 percent in 13 battleground states. Clinton’s lead shrunk to less than one point in the latest RealClearPolitics average of national polls.

The Democratic nominee’s recent health issues are likely to have affected her polling performance. Unanswered questions about the true nature of the Clinton Foundation along with Clinton’s email fiasco are some of the other issues that might have led to the decline in support.

Presstv

20, September 2016

Revealed: There are reasons why the British people hate British Southern Cameroonians ⁰

Just what ARE they moaning about? Revealed, the humble origins of Cameroon migrants on £44k benefits (44 million FCFA) who’ve rejected three offers of larger homes

Arnold and Jeanne Mballe Sube have eight children
Pair used to live in cramped bungalows in Buea, with no running water
Mrs Sube’s childhood home is near active volcano at end of a mud track
Mr Sube grew up a five-minute drive away in a wooden bungalow

They have branded their three-bedroom council house the ‘worst place’ they have ever lived. But Arnold and Jeanne Mballe Sube, who have rejected three offers of a bigger taxpayer-funded property, grew up in conditions that make their home look like a palace, the Mail can reveal.

The Cameroon-born couple, who have eight children, spent much of their youth in cramped bungalows with no running water, and only the share of an outside kitchen and toilet with other families.

Cramped: Jeanne Mballe Sube’s family of seven lived in this two-bedroom building, with outdoor shower and toilet in Buea, Cameroon

Basic: The outside cooking area Jeanne Sube’s parents shared with six families

The Cameroon-born couple, who have eight children, spent much of their youth in cramped bungalows with no running water. Mrs Sube’s family of seven squeezed into a two-bedroom home rented for £35 a month – a fraction of the £1,278 monthly bill to taxpayers for the house in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, where she now resides.

Despite not working, she and her husband, who receive an estimated £44,000 a year in state handouts, are sending money back to relatives in Cameroon. Tory MPs have branded the Subes’ demands ‘shameless’ after they insisted their house was too small and spurned three offers of a more spacious home.

Before migrating to Europe in the early 2000s, the couple lived in Buea, South-West Cameroon. Mrs Sube’s childhood home is in the shadow of an active volcano at the end of a mud track, where several families live in a compound of six two-bedroom buildings. Tangled wires are strung across the yard, attached to a broken fascia board on Mrs Sube’s former home – which is built from breeze blocks and corrugated iron.

Tory MPs have branded the Subes’ demands ‘shameless’ after they insisted their house was too small and spurned three offers of a more spacious home

In 2012, Mr and Mrs Sube moved from Paris to Luton after he got a place on a Bedfordshire University nursing course, funded by the NHS. The couple are also believed to receive housing and child benefits, as well as child tax credits. They have branded their three-bedroom council house the ‘worst place’ they have ever lived

The two small bedrooms inside have only a narrow living room between them, with stained stone walls. The outside toilet, shower and kitchen are shared by six families. Water for the kitchen must be carried from an outdoor tap, with waste water washing into an open drain through the compound. The only utensils are a handful of pots, pans and buckets, and women scrub clothes on a stone block.

The authority said it will offer one more five-bedroom house. If the family reject this, they will be classed as ‘intentionally homeless’ and could face eviction. The wooden door to the shared kitchen has a gaping hole at the bottom. The outside shower has an open entrance without even a curtain for modesty.

Mrs Sube’s father, Zachary Nkwo, was one of Cameroon’s best-known broadcasters, after reporting for the equivalent of the BBC during the country’s first football World Cup in 1982. But despite his fame, Mr Nkwo said he struggled to support his family. ‘It was tough financially … I got a housing subsidy equivalent to my position in the station, but it often wasn’t enough,’ he said.

The 62-year-old, who lives near the former family home, said his daughter sends about £250 around every three months. He added: ‘They went to Europe to seek greener pastures … My daughter is a hard worker and I know she wants to contribute to society.’ Sylvia Ndahne, who knew Mrs Sube as a child, said: ‘They moved here when Jeanne was about ten and stayed for a very long time. Jeanne had to leave secondary school after falling pregnant.’

She added that ‘all the cooking and washing has to be done in the outhouses because there is no running water in the main property’.

Mr Sube grew up a five-minute drive away in a wooden bungalow at the end of a muddy track. It had no running water in the main home and only an outside toilet, shower and kitchen. Friends said the family lived in two parallel homes, with Mr Sube and his siblings in one and his parents in the other.

They have a laptop, a 60in flatscreen TV and Sky HD box, plus a 52in TV in their bedroom. The children, aged three months to 16 years, also have a TV and an Xbox. But last week Mr Sube, who uses one bedroom as a gym and office, insisted he had been ‘neglected’ by Luton council, which is trying to rehouse them.

The authority said it will offer one more five-bedroom house. If the family reject this, they will be classed as ‘intentionally homeless’ and could face eviction. Mr Sube said: ‘My lawyers have told me not to say anything.’

Culled from the Daily Mail