Headline News

20, August 2023

Pope Francis calls for peace in coup-hit Niger ⁰

Pope Francis on Sunday urged a diplomatic solution to a political crisis in Niger, sparked by a coup that threatens stability in the region.

“I am following with concern what is happening in Niger, and join the bishops’ call in favour of peace in the country and stability in the Sahel,” said Pope Francis, addressing the faithful in St Peter’s Square after his Angelus prayer.

“I join with prayer the efforts of the international community to find a peaceful solution as soon as possible for the good of everyone,” said the 86-year-old.

Source: France 24

20, August 2023

Football: Eto’o appoints head coach of women’s team ⁰

Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) president Samuel Eto’o Fils appointed Jean Baptiste Bisseck as the new head coach of the women’s national football team on Friday.

Bisseck replaces Gabriel Zabo, who had served since 2021.

Bisseck, who previously coached men’s top division sides Canon Sportif and Coton Sport, is expected to take the women’s team to new heights, FECAFOOT officials said.

The new coach will have his first test next month when Cameroon faces Kenya in a double header of second-round qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Source: Xinhuanet

18, August 2023

FECAFOOT Poverty Culture: 25 clubs go to war against Eto’o, threatens to boycott 2023-2024 season ⁰

A storm is currently shaking the foundations of Cameroon Football Federation. With the ship taking on water everywhere, almost 25 of the 35 professional clubs are threatening to boycott the next season unless major changes are made within the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot).

The source of this controversy lies in the presidency of Fécafoot, a position that is called into question on a daily basis and is proving to be a major point of contention. For these clubs, Samuel Eto’o is definitely no longer the right man for the job. The concerns raised by the former Indomitable Lion’s opponents are amplified by tumultuous events. Notably: “match-fixing, the suspension of some twenty referees for manipulating match results, and the lack of transparency regarding the exact amount of sponsorship money”, they list.

Moreover, the situation has become even more complex with the recent ruling of the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport), which annulled all resolutions passed by the Fécafoot General Assembly on August 27, 2022. This reinstates Guibaï Gatama on the body’s Executive Committee, as well as François Kouedem as head of the Western Regional League. It also cancels the dissolution of the Professional Football League of Cameroon (LFPC), among others.

Clubs want Eto’o’s head

Faced with this situation, the 25 aforementioned clubs, meeting in Douala, formulated a series of conditions, the most important of which are three in number. Firstly, they are calling for an extraordinary session of the Fécafoot General Assembly to officially declare the vacancy in the presidency of the Federation. For them, this is a crucial step in bringing about significant change.

Secondly, they have made a firm resolution to take part in the professional championships of the 2023/2024 season only if leadership and administration are entrusted to the LFPC, considered a guarantor of fairness and sporting integrity. Thirdly, they call for the urgent convening of a General Assembly of the LFPC to prepare for the launch of the professional leagues for the coming season.

An empty gesture (?)

In Samuel Eto’o’s entourage, the position of these clubs does not move many.”It’s the umpteenth blackmail by club presidents. Their only problem is that they can no longer line their pockets with the Federation’s subsidies, as Mr Eto’o ensures that they are used for the benefit of the players”, argues a pro-Eto’o.

Before the 25 professional clubs, the Association des Clubs de Football Amateurs du Cameroun (Acfac) met on July 21 to demand the resignation of Samuel Eto’o and his entire Fécafoot Executive Committee. In the meantime, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has opened an investigation against the head of Cameroonian soccer.

Source: Sportsnewsafrica

18, August 2023

Far North Region: Francophone dominated army kills 4 Boko Haram militants ⁰

At least four militants of Boko Haram were killed when they launched a coordinated attack on a military outpost in Cameroon’s Far North region, military sources said on Friday.

Some of the weapons used by the terror group were also seized during the attack that took place overnight into Friday in Hile Alifa, a locality in Logone and Chari division of the region.

“There were more than 50 of the terrorists. They ambushed and attacked the outpost. Our brave soldiers repelled the attack killing four on the spot and several others escaped with bullet wounds,” a senior military officer who asked not to be named said.

There have been no reports on casualties on the side of government forces.

More than 2,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched attacks in the Far North since 2014, according to security reports.

Source: Xinhuanet

18, August 2023

Cash-strapped Biya regime suspends work contracts, says foreign workers must leave ⁰

Officials in Cameroon suspended the work contracts of several thousand foreign workers, including Africans, Chinese and Europeans, and ordered them to obtain work permits and pay taxes within a month or leave the country.

The Cameroon government said that only about 100 of more than 2,000 foreign workers from China, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Chad are authorized to work in gold mines and export timber near Cameroon’s eastern border with the Central African Republic.

More than 10,500 of an estimated 11,000 foreign workers in the central African nation do not have work permits, government officials said.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon’s employment minister, said a majority of foreign workers are acting in bad faith. By not paying taxes, foreign workers have deprived Cameroon of more than $25 million since January, he said.

Bakary said that this week government officials in Cameroon’s 360 districts were ordered to make sure foreign workers obtain work permits and pay taxes or leave within 30 days.

Cameroon’s employment ministry said that a relaunch of construction, mining and exploration for gas and oil has caused an influx of Chinese and European engineers.

The government said several thousand foreign workers in northern and eastern gold mines and forests deceived Cameroon consular officers to receive tourist visas.

The government said it cannot afford to allow more than 10,000 illegal foreign workers in Cameroon when more than 70% of its 27 million citizens either lack jobs or are underemployed.

Florent Djounou, who owns a wood company that employs 30 Chinese and eight Europeans, spoke on behalf of foreign workers at a meeting with Cameroon’s employment minister in Batouri, near Cameroon’s border with the Central African Republic.

He said that foreign workers understand they should respect Cameroon’s laws before carrying out economic activity, but that they were surprised when at least 1,000 contracts were suspended even before the Cameroon government publicly asked foreign workers to obtain permits.

European and Chinese workers often are able to obtain work permits, Djounou said, but Africans, especially those displaced by conflicts in their own countries, may not have the financial means to pay for their permits.

Prices of timber and wood have risen 15% because huge quantities of wood cannot leave eastern forests where the government has put a stop to activities of foreign workers, he said.

Bakary said foreign laborers will be allowed to work freely when they obtain their permits.

The employment of foreign workers is subject to special procedures in Cameroon. Potential workers are obliged to declare their wages and allowances, including transportation and accommodation, which are used to determine how much is paid to obtain a visa.

A 2022 law institutes a fee equivalent of two months’ wages for non-African workers and one month’s wages for African workers before work permits are issued. The law went into effect this year.

Source: VOA

17, August 2023

Frozen accounts forced MTN Cameroon to borrow funds for continuity of operations ⁰

MTN Cameroon borrowed CFAF91.5 billion (at the current South African Rand value) in the first half of 2023, according to data collected by Business in Cameroon. The funds, which represented almost 98% of the company’s operating expenses during the period, were raised in the form of syndicated loans from undisclosed banks.

In 2022, it took no new loan and even settled almost CFAF18 billion of debt. What’s more, as of January 1, 2023, its net cash position was positive, at CFAF29.15 billion. However, at the end of June this year, its cash position showed a net debt of CFAF13 billion.

One plausible hypothesis to explain this situation is the impact of its accounts being frozen following the legal action initiated by Cameroonian business mogul Baba Danpullo to dispute what he considers the illegitimate expropriation of his assets in South Africa. According to internal MTN sources, the telecom operator had to indebt itself to ensure the continuation of its operations.

Uncertainties

MTN Cameroon’s solid performance –with a CFAF156 billion turnover, a 36% operating margin, and 51.4% market share– as of the end of the first half of 2023 strengthens its credibility with Cameroonian banks. However, this confidence could be challenged.

Financial data for the first half of 2023 show that its interest-bearing liabilities (CFAF95.8 billion) exceed its liquidity (CFAF83 billion). What’s more, some of this cash has been seized by the courts, making it impossible to use it for day-to-day operations. It is also uncertain if the telecom operator’s holding company (based in South Africa) will easily intervene in the event of challenges since its debt has also grown to 1.5 times its equity.

If the Cameroonian courts do not quickly rule on the case, MTN Cameroon could have to face short-term liquidity issues. Developments in the telecommunications sector will also be decisive for the operator. A slowdown in activity could exacerbate its difficulties in meeting its financial commitments. This should be of concern to creditors and suppliers because, in an unfavorable economic climate, they may have to wait longer for payment.

Source: Business in Cameroon

17, August 2023

French Cameroun: 11-month-old baby dies of hunger with mum in custody ⁰

Caroline Ngum ‘s 11 -month-old baby has been buried in their family residence in Penja-Moungo division in the Littoral region of Cameroon under the watch of his heart broken mother.

Caroline Ngum, who reportedly lost her baby while on detention at the Penja police district disclosed she was denied the opportunity to breastfeed her baby by Police officers:

“I received a convocation for the police district which I responded to. I was heard but told I will stay longer…I told them I am a nursing mother as my family brought the baby to feed. After that, they sent away my family. I was detained for two days and my baby did not feed within these two days. Now the baby is gone.”

Off Camera, the commissioner of the police unit said they were not informed Caroline had a baby. The aggrieved mother was called up detained following accusations of theft and breach of trust “I know I am owing my in-law F CFA 270,000 that is why they called me at the police station. I know”

Caroline has returned home to mourn her baby with no details on how the case with her in-law ended.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

17, August 2023

Former French president Sarkozy calls for ‘compromise’ with Russia ⁰

France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy has stirred outrage in Kyiv and Paris by suggesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be ended with new referendums in occupied territories.

“The Ukrainians… will want to reconquer what has been unjustly taken from them. But if they can’t manage it completely, the choice will be between a frozen conflict… or taking the high road out with referendums strictly overseen by the international community,” Sarkozy told conservative newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday.

Speaking particularly about the Crimean peninsula, which Russia claimed to have annexed in 2014, the former French leader said that “any return to the way things were before is an illusion”.

“An incontestable referendum… will be needed to solidify the current state of affairs,” he added.

The ex-president insisted that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was “not irrational” and could be reached with the right kind of diplomacy from Europe, harking back to Moscow’s 2008 invasion of Georgia when Sarkozy said he “convinced (Putin) to withdraw his tanks”.

“Russia is Europe’s neighbour and will remain so,” he said. “Diplomacy, discussion and talks remain the only way to find an acceptable solution. Nothing is possible without compromise.”

Sarkozy added that Ukraine should remain “neutral” and had no place in the EU or NATO.

The remarks drew an immediate response from Kyiv, with Mykhailo Podolyak — a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky — saying they were based on “criminal logic”.

“You cannot trade other people’s territories because you are afraid of someone or because you are friends with criminals,” Podolyak added.

While in office, Sarkozy had “deliberately participated in a criminal conspiracy for Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territories,” he charged.

The ex-president — who has spent much of his time since leaving office battling a slew of legal cases — was also attacked at home in France.

Sarkozy “should be considered a Russian influencer,” said Julien Bayou, a senior Green Party MP, telling broadcaster LCI the interview was “lunatic” and “shocking”.

Bayou recalled an ongoing investigation into Sarkozy’s lucrative ties to a Russian insurance company on suspicion of influence peddling and concealing crimes.

Sarkozy’s former intelligence advisor Jerome Poirot told LCI that the ex-president’s words were “shameful”.

“He has no perspective on what’s happened or on what he did” during his 2007-2012 term, Poirot said, recalling that Sarkozy was one of the key voices against Georgia and Ukraine joining NATO in 2008 — which did not prevent Russia’s later invasions of both countries.

“What were President Sarkozy’s red lines? What was his vision for France’s security? Just giving in to whatever Vladimir Putin wanted?” he asked.

Source: AFP

17, August 2023

Fr Tatah Humphrey’s Christological Problem ⁰

Fr. Tatah Humphrey should most certainly be commended for his assiduous commitment to African scholarship. It is no small feat to have 25 books and counting under one’s belt. That is a number most scholars would envy. Though I am yet to get a copy of Studying the Faith of Our Ancestors: A New Approach to African Traditional Religion (it is not yet available on AMAZON), there are many statements that Fr. Tatah made in his August 12 Crux interview with Ngala Killian that faithful Catholic theologians would agree with. For example: Fr. Tatah asserts the historicity of the Incarnation of Jesus as the God-Man; he asserts the unicity and salvific universality of the Christ; he likewise asserts the mediatory place of the Church in the economy of the Christ-event. I very much appreciate the fact that Fr. Tatah highlights the necessity for inculturation rightly understood and implemented, which is mightily different from adaptation. Another strength of his interview is the case that he makes about Christianity not being a European religious expression. That Fr. Tatah decries what Engelbert Mveng famously characterized as Africa’s anthropological deficiency is also worth commending, for the African has much to offer global Catholicism, especially given the waning of Christian faith in large sectors of the Western world today.

In fact, I think the strongest part of Fr.Tatah’s interview could very well be these lines: “That God, historically, came into human history in the person of Jesus the Christ. We cannot deny that. That’s a historical fact. That Christ, at Caesarea Philippi, established the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church. That you can’t deny. That’s historical (…).” And in another paragraph, Fr.Tatah says, “Christ is God and that is the only direction we lead people to. There can be nothing else, no salvation except through God and Christ is God made man.” These lines capture the center of Christology, Ecclesiology, and Missiology, and one could build a profound reflection on Christian discipleship and evangelization on these positions for today’s African Church.

The above being said, it is equally the case that a close reading of Fr.Tatah’sCrux interview leaves one with a serious Christological problem, especially in terms of the logicality and inner coherence of his religious claims of the enduring value of (African Traditional Religion) ATR, vis-à-vis the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as the God-Man. It is one thing to say that Godentered history in the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth, as Chalcedon taught. However, it is entirely another to, for all intents and purposes, to relativize the wholly otherness of the Christ-event so much so that it becomes a part of the evolutionary process of the history of religion, perhaps in the sense of Comte or Hegel.

To me, the central nexus of the difficulty a dogmatic theologian must have with Fr. Tatah appears to be this: what is the salvific significance of natural revelation as opposed to, or different from, supernatural revelation? In effect, there appears a blurring or obscuring of lines in terms of the good, the beautiful, and the true that we find in ATR, on the one hand, and the wholly otherness of the Christ-event, on the other hand. Fr. Tatah himself appears to indicate this dialectic when he says in his interview: “So, if you are looking for religion as it has evolved, it has evolved from our own reasoning of how God is to God himself coming into our midst and from there everything goes on.” Now, is there a distinction between religion evolving from our own reasoning and religion as God himself coming into our midst? I believe Fr. Tatah would say, certainly, there is a distinction between the former and the latter. But is this distinction just an evolutionary process as Fr.Tatah appears to characterize it, or is this distinction really the beef of the matter? Along this line of reasoning, one can readily see other problems that the claims in Fr. Tatah’s interview leaves unresolved:

Is Biblical Christian monotheism African, or (or even European)?

Is there an ontological and an existential difference between the first article of the Nicene Creed, I Believe in One God, and the concept of the Supreme Deity or Being that we find in ATR?

How does Fr.Tatah understand the Trinitarian character of Christian monotheism if, as he claims, ATR already had the understanding of Christian monotheism?

Is the Supreme Being of ATR identifiable with the God, the Father of Jesus Christ, or is this reality of the Supreme Being in ATR an opening that should lead us to a deeper understanding of this God whom Jesus of Nazareth alone called Father?

How does Fr.Tatah understand the metaphor of the seed and tree that he employs to explain that Christianity is the tree that has blossomed from the seed of ATR, – a position any serious dogmatic theologian would find utterly problematic, – in the light of say, St. John Henry Newman’s teaching on the organic development of doctrine? If the Immanent Trinity was not present in the monotheism of ATR, would the Economic Trinity be present?

In the TatahianWeltanschauung of ATR, is Christianity a qualitative or quantitative leap?

Do the cultic rites/rituals of the stones, rivers, and mountains that Fr.Tatah alludes to in his interview have a salvific value from the Christian perspective? If they don’t, how does Fr.Tatah square these with this position that ATR is the seed for tree that is Christianity? And if they do, why burden Africans with Christianity?

In addition, is there a difference between “seeds of the Gospel,” as used in inculturation theology in the understanding of the Second Vatican Council, and ATR as the “seed of Christianity” as espoused by Fr.Tatah?

What are the limits to appropriating Rahner’s problematic concept of “anonymous Christianity” and applying that to ATR as Fr.Tatah does in his work? In effect, does this appropriation of Rahner serve the urgent task of evangelization in the vast continent of Africa today?

In all, Fr.Tatah leaves us with an inner tension between fidelity to the liberating truths of Christianity, on the one hand, and a somewhat nostalgic attachment to ATR, on the other hand. While such an attachment is understandable, particularly when viewed from the perspective of a world that in many ways has lost its religious roots, an embellished proclamation of ATR does not only leave us in an anachronistic no-man’s land, but even more, it could unintentionally impede the urgency and necessity of living out the Great Commission of Mathew 28, which is more urgent today than when Jesus first gave it, especially as we prepare for the second millennium of the Great Commission of Mathew coming up in 2033. I happened to have taught a course Christianity in Africa at Boston College for some years now. Often times students would ask me to account for the reasons for the growth of Christianity in Africa. Amongst others, I would point to the liberating experience that the Christian message brings to many an African. Achebe seems to think likewise in the figure of Nwoye in Things Fall Apart. I do not see this liberating impact of Christianity in Fr.Tatah’s presentation of the relationship between ATR and Christianity.

In the final analysis, faith begins, as Ratzinger taught, when we move, like Abraham, from the clan to the unknown territory directed by God (Genesis 12). Faith begins when we go out of the city to the hill of Calvary with the Crucified One. For the Christian, Christ called himself truth, not culture (Tertullian). This is not to downplay our culture, but a gentle reminder that anthropology is not theology, and faith is not sociology, important as these are to the human reality. Christianity has a name and a face, Jesus of Nazareth. Everything else is secondary, even ATR.

By Maurice Agbaw-Ebai

17, August 2023

Inspector of Basic Education in Manyu Calls for help for IDP ⁰

The inspector of Basic Education for Manyu Division, Arreyngang Harman Taku, has called on Manyu sons and daughters at home and abroad to come to the assistance of young IDPs who will soon be returning to school, unfortunately without the necessary school supplies due to the prevailing economic hardship.

Mr. Arreyngang made the call in a touching letter on Tuesday, August 16, 2023, urging those who have the means to reach out to some 10,000 pupils who will be struggling in the coming academic year due to economic hardship.

The pupils, most of whom are from rural areas of Manyu Division where schools have been shut down due to the Southern Cameroons crisis which has been going on for over 6 years, will be facing tough challenges as the economic and financial situation gets more complicated by the day.

Below is the letter from the Manyu Basic Education Inspector.

Greetings to all the internal and external elites of Manyu Division, all your ranks and titles duly acknowledged.

The 2023/2024 school year will start in under two weeks. Mamfe boasts of above 10,000 children going to school, most of them IDPs from all over manyu Division.

It is not easy for a large number of these children to meet their school needs in terms of didactic materials such as exercise books, pens, pencils, school bags etc.

Your generous donation of some of these materials to these unfortunate children will put a smile on their faces as well as make teaching and learning less cumbersome for their teachers.

I therefore make this fervent appeal to all of you of good heart to do something for these children.

As the Inspector of Basic Education for Mamfe, my office is open to receive from you, whatever you offer and I would acknowledge it.

Thanks for your usual support.

Harman taku Arreyngang,

lBE mamfe

Reported for Cameroon Concord News Group by Ewang Miriam Metchane