Headline News

19, December 2016

Warum????????? Truck plows into German Xmas market ⁰

At least nine people have been killed and over 50 others injured after a truck drove into a Christmas market in the German capital Berlin.

Berlin police have arrested the driver of the lorry that rammed into people shopping near the scene but say they are yet to confirm whether or not the attack was deliberate.

According to police reports, a second suspect, the co-driver of the truck, was killed during the crash. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack in twitter. The attack took place in Breitscheidplatz, a major public square in the inner city of Berlin.

Presstv

19, December 2016

Russian ambassador to Turkey killed in what has been described as “inside job” ⁰

The Russian ambassador to Turkey has reportedly died of his injuries sustained in a gun attack in the Turkish capital, Ankara. Andrey Karlov was attacked while visiting an art exhibition opening in the Turkish capital on Monday, television reports said. RIA Novosti cited sources as saying that he had died of his injuries.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, had earlier said that he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound. Moscow said after the assault in Ankara that it was a “terrorist act.” Several other people were also wounded, NTV and CNN-Turk televisions said. Police fatally shot the assailant. Turkish security sources said he was a police officer working in the Turkish capital. The ambassador was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored photo exhibition when a man wearing a suit and tie fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience.

The attacker also said some words in Russian and smashed several of the photos hung for the exhibition. Turkish authorities stepped security in the area of the fatal shooting. Melih Gokcek, the mayor of Ankara, said the fatal attack was an attempt to tarnish relations between Turkey and Russia. He made the remarks outside the hospital where the envoy had been taken.

On November 24, 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber over Syria, killing one of the pilots. The incident marred the bilateral ties, with Moscow insisting on Ankara’s apology. Russia had been conducting combat sorties against Takfiri terrorists since late September 2015 upon a request by the Damascus government. On June 30, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Turkey had apologized to Moscow for the shooting down of the jet. Ankara insisted that it had only expressed regret over the incident. Presstv

19, December 2016

Bamenda: Tassang Wilfred and his men to meet Ghogomu Paul and his gang ⁰

While waiting for the effective work by the Inter-ministerial Ad hoc Committee to review and propose solutions to the concerns raised by Cameroon Anglophone Teachers Trade Unions, the North West Region has been strategizing to get their points through.

Ever since members of the committee were made public, the different stakeholders have been holding planning meetings to see into it that the committee comes up with lasting solutions. In Bamenda, the meetings have multiplied as members hold different reflections. The executive secretary of the of the Cameroon Teachers Trade union- CATTU, Tassang Wilfred said on Thursday 15 December that ever since the strike started, hardly does a day go by without them having to meet.

With the setting up of the committee by the Director of the Prime Minter’s Cabinet, Prof Ghogomu Paul Mingo he said they have intensified reflections. He added that; “the meetings are to ensure that we go through our papers so as to fine-tune our presentations. We want solutions to our problems. The committee is a good one and we hope that it will bring lasting solutions to the English sub system of education. We are ready to work and prepared to bring sensible proposals,” he explained.

On the sidelines, inhabitants in Bamenda are reacting positively towards the creation of the committee, they hold that including PTA presidents as well as denominational representatives is a clear indication that the government has listened to the peoples. From the look of things the people in Bamenda though moody have not forgotten the end of year feast as well as the feast of nativity. The various markets are full to capacity with queues in almost every shop in town. Bamenda is busy again but not without the presence of the forces of law and order ready to intervene whenever need arises.

Culled from Cameroon Tribune

19, December 2016

Philemon Yang visits Southern Cameroons, inaugurates Advanced Vocational Centre ⁰

Philemon Yang, who has now been reduced to a South West Prime Minister, has underscored CPDM government reforms aiming to make professional training a real driving force for economic growth. He was addressing attendees as he inaugurated the Advanced Vocational Training Centre based at Bonadikombo-Limbe last Saturday (17 December, 2016) before proceeding to cut the symbolic ribbon in the presence of the titular Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Zacharie Perevet. It was his first appearance in Southern Cameroons ever since the so-called head of government was chased out of Bamenda.

Also present was a high-level delegation of South Koreans led by their Ambassador to Cameroon, Lim Jae Hoon, and a host of Cameroonian Ministers from resource departments like Basic, Secondary, Youth and Civic Education. The PM echoed the Centre’s vocation to offer initial and continuing training as well as be a resource centre for companies and a centre for validation of acquired professional experience. In so doing the Limbe Vocational facility will train young Cameroonians in woodwork, plumbing, welding, electricity, mechanics, office automation; refrigeration and air condition; and hotel management and tourism.

Limbe was, however, the PM’s third lap of a commissioning expedition that had earlier taken him in successive days to Sagmelima and Douala where he commissioned similar structures constructed and equipped thanks to the hailed cooperation between Cameroon and South Korea. While calling for proper use and functioning of the Centre, Philemon Yang reiterated President Paul Biya’s commitment to foster the employment and vocational training sector. The PM singled out in praise the Republic of South Korea for remarkable cooperation in the sector to realise the Vocational Centres in Cameroon by constructing and equipping them, training trainers, as well as developing training programmes for trainees.

For his part, the South Korean Ambassador to Cameroon, Lim Jae Hoon, took the pulpit in Limbe to explain that vocational training was the core of industrialisation. He said the Centre was appropriately located in Limbe with the capacity to serve Countries of the Gulf of Guinea and especially the local giant companies and industries among which SONARA, CDC, Shipyard or (Chantier Naval) and the awaited Limbe Deep Sea Port. Ambassador Hoon expressed confidence that the Vocational Centres would boost technical training in Cameroon as trainees from there would envy no better from anywhere else.

Mrs. Ngu Fomede nee Nibameh Comfort, Technical Adviser Number One at the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, gave a technical presentation of the Limbe Centre describing it as an architectural jewel on a land space of 59.491 square metres allocated to the project.

The Centre has 12 buildings including one Administrative Block hosting a Library and an Infirmary, two air-conditioned computer rooms, five buildings for workshops, each workshop having 30 individual spaces for trainees, two separate dormitories of 49 beds each for men and women, two residential equipped houses of three rooms each, and one restaurant of 150 seats. Worthy of note is that the Limbe project was one in a trio jointly executed with those of Sangmelima and Douala at CFA 24 billion and meant to develop 14 vocational trades.

Culled from Cameroon Tribune with partial editing from CAMCORD news desk

19, December 2016

Israel’s Mossad spy chief secretly meets Donald Trump’s transition team ⁰

The director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, Yossi Cohen, has secretly met with US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team, according to reports. The meeting took place during Yossi’s clandestine visit to the US, where he was accompanied by a delegation of the Tel Aviv regime’s security officials, Israeli media reported Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly put together the delegation, which was headed by Yaakov Nagel, head of the Israeli National Security Council.

Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the US, was also present at the meetings, where the two sides discussed a range of issues including the Iran nuclear deal, the ongoing conflict in Syria, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Trump’s team was also briefed by the Israeli side on an upcoming regional conference in Egypt as well as a UN initiative put forth by Palestine and New Zealand.

Officials from the Israeli regime have also asked the Republican president-elect to oppose a Palestinian initiative submitted to the UN Security Council, which would be critical of Israel’s illegal settlement activity. Trump has already spoken in favor of the Israeli settlements since his election on November 8. It was revealed on Sunday that he has even donated $10,000 to one of the illegal projects in 2003.

Presstv

19, December 2016

Biya’s Laptop computers: Another broken promise by the CPDM government ⁰

Some few months ago students all over the national territory took to the streets thanking President Paul Biya for offering them made in China laptops. All attempts at getting the student community to wait until the CPDM laptops were delivered met with a stone wall. The presidency of the republic announced that the students were going to get the computers before Christmas.

With Christmas just seven days to go and with the presidency unable to pay salaries for its temporal workers, some student leaders used by the regime to stage the support rallies for President Biya have been heard murmuring privately that the President Biya laptop gift was just another CPDM hoax.

Nothing is being mentioned both in government circles and in the universities about the laptops. Cameroon Concord News understands any student caught talking about the laptops is now branded a secessionist. The so-called Minister of Higher Education, Fame Ndongo has shied away from questions concerning the project. It is expected that the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime will include the laptop scheme in the Emergence 2035 program.

By Sama Ernest

18, December 2016

Rwanda’s sole government-recognized opposition party leader to challenge President Kagame ⁰

The leader of Rwanda’s sole government-recognized opposition party has announced plans for standing as a candidate in next year’s presidential election. Frank Habineza, with the Democratic Green party, announced the decision on Saturday after a meeting with party leaders in the capital, Kigali. “I have accepted your request to represent you as the presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election, which will take place on 4th August 2017,” he said.

Habineza will challenge President Paul Kagame. The incumbent leader, who took power in 1994 at the head of a rebel army, had previously come forward as a candidate. Rwanda’s parliament passed amendments to the constitution this year to allow Kagame to stand for re-election for another seven-year term.

Over the past years, Kagame has faced criticism for the lack of political freedoms in Rwanda, although the country is regularly praised for its stability and economic performance. Kagame’s government has refused to recognize several opposition parties, barring them from contesting elections. The United Democratic Forces (FDU) is the most prominent of all those parties. Its leader, Victoire Ingabire, was arrested in 2010 while campaigning against Kagame.

Habineza vowed at the end of the Saturday party congress that his main goal would be to establish democracy in Rwanda. “Democracy does not come from the sky, it won’t come from America or Europe, we are the ones who have to fight for it,” Habineza said, adding, “We want to bring democracy to this country.”

Presstv

18, December 2016

Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF endorses President Robert Mugabe for 2018 ⁰

Zimbabwe’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, has endorsed President Robert Mugabe as its candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Mugabe was endorsed at a party conference held on Saturday in Masvingo, located about 300 kilometers southeast of the capital Harare.

Deputy Secretary Eunice Sandi Moyo said the party’s congress had voiced “its support to the president and first secretary comrade Robert Mugabe as the sole candidate for the forthcoming 2018 elections.” The endorsement of the incumbent president was met with resounding applause from supporters attending the annual conference.

Thousands of cheering supporters chanted slogans in Shona language meaning, “Rule, Rule Father.” Mugabe, 92, has ruled the African country for more than 36 years and won the most recent election in 2013. He has been in power since the country’s independence from the British colonial rule in 1980. In April, thousands of supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, attended a demonstration in Harare, calling for the resignation of the president.

Zimbabwe has seen a surge in public discontent with an economic crisis that has left banks short of cash and the government struggling to pay its workers. Many have taken to the streets over the past weeks, protesting against the failure of the Mugabe administration in addressing economic woes. ZANU-PF is also in turmoil over a successor for the ailing president, which has triggered more concerns that the country, known for its rich resources, would slide deeper into chaos.

Presstv

18, December 2016

Bamenda: Calm returns to markets after “hectic” week ⁰

Life is gradually returning to normalcy in Bamenda, North West Region after last week’s violent strike action. Taxis are busy transporting passengers while bike riders who were at the center of the strike have resumed work. Shops have been reopened and markets are all noisy once again.

Areas worst hit by the strike such as City Chemist, Hospital Round About and Mobile Nkwen, are all booming with activities. Bus conductors could be heard scrambling for customers who ply different destinations such as Bali, Nkwen, Mbengwi among others. In most joints in Bamenda, Security forces are stationed to preempt any uprising again. Policemen from the mobile intervention unit are perceived putting on their war shield, armed right at the level of their teeth.

At the Food market, traders are present but buyers are few, most are still scared to go out of their homes, talk less of going to a gathering like the market. The traders hold that most people bought their food and stored in homes while others are still to recover from the shock and damages.

But as the town of Bamenda is back to life, Babila John, a roadside trader at City Chemist says it is just temporal, he suspects the strike might be more intensive by January. Traders had said the fact that they are back in markets does not mean they have called off the strike, according to Unionists, the strike shall continue after the festive period.

Culled from Cameroun info.net

17, December 2016

Cameroon named among world’s top nations exporting minor footballers ⁰

The International Center for Sport Studies (CIES) in its monthly report of December 2016 has revealed that 17% of Cameroonian footballers currently playing in 31 European championships migrated before they actually turned 18.

The report stated that Cameroon is the second African country after Nigeria and the 9th in the world where the migratory flow of young footballers under 18 is most intense. To be sure, the European continent remains the main destination for the export of minor footballers and many of them were transferred to their clubs before their 18th birthday.

Nigeria occupies the 7th position in the world and is the main exporter in Africa with a rate of 19% of international transfer before the players become mature. Brazil is the largest non-European country with 20%.

However, football’s world governing body (FIFA) prohibits the transfer of minors abroad. Nevertheless, there are three exceptions. “If the player’s parents move to the country of the new club for reasons other than football; Whether the transfer takes place within the European Union or within the European Economic Area for players aged 16 to 18; If the maximum border between the domicile of the player and the club does not exceed 100 km .”

By Chi Prudence Asong