Headline News

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

20, September 2016

Developing: Boko Haram jihadists seen and among them men with white skin ⁰

It has been revealed that dozens of heavily armed Boko Haram jihadists were seen and among them men with white skin “mestizo, Tuareg, Arab and Western. This new intelligence information released by both the Cameroonian and the Nigerian military comes out at a time when Boko Haram has recently committed umpteenth abuses.

Yaounde and Abuja have ordered their armies to be on high alert since last Friday around Dabanga. The Nigerian military under operation Lafiya Dolle and their Cameroonian counterparts in the Joint Multinational Force including the 41^st Mechanised Infantry Battalion code named Alpha have all been strengthened.

The presence of men with white skin in the ranks of the Boko Haram sect is being treated seriously by both the Buhari and the Biya administrations. Troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been battling the terrorists in recent months. The group has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists operating mainly in Syria and Iraq.

By Rita Akana

20, September 2016

US: Another black man fatally shot by police ¹

A US black man that was fatally shot by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma last Friday was unarmed, police officials say. A video, taken from a police dashcam, was released on Monday which shows that 40-year-old Terence Crutcher had his hands up when he was tasered and then shot by police.

The incident began after an officer responded to a report of a stalled SUV in the middle of the road in Tulsa, where there was another police car stopped behind the disabled SUV. In the video, it can be seen that Crutcher walked away from the police cars and toward his own car with his hands over his head.

Then, one female officer followed him with her gun pointed at the victim’s back and then three other officers joined her, which obscured the camera’s view of the black man. He then collapsed with one officer saying on the police radio, “I think he may have just been Tasered” and then another one, saying, “shots fired.” He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Presstv

19, September 2016

Cameroon: Prime Minister Philemon Yang pays tribute to CAF President Issa Hayatou ⁰

Prime Minister Philemon Yang, has praised the work of the President of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou. The CAF chief executive was one of the attractions during the official draw and presentation ceremony of the logo, mascot and anthem for the African Cup of Nations Women’s Football Cameroon 2016.

The Premier took the opportunity to pay tribute to this great son of the country that has headed CAF since 1988 and moonlighted as Acting President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and above all, is now an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Said Philemon Yang, “I would particularly like to acknowledge the presence of Mr. Issa Hayatou, worthy and valiant son of Cameroon, President of the African Football Confederation, Vice-President of FIFA and former interim president of FIFA. Mr. President Hayatou, the Head of State asked me to convey his warm greetings to your work in the service of international sport. At its 129^th session held in Rio, Brazil, the International Olympic Committee raised you to the honorary member of dignity. The other distinction spends your merit, your talent, and your commitment to the global sports movement. “

For his part, the CAF President, visibly marked by the praise he had received in the ceremony, was keen to stress his unwavering commitment to his homeland, Cameroon and joy of being with his family.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

19, September 2016

Boko Haram kills 8 in Nigeria ⁰

Boko Haram Takfiri militants have killed at least eight people outside a church in northeast Nigeria. According to local residents, the fatalities occurred shortly after morning service on Sunday in the village of Kwamjilari, located about 30 kilometers east of the town of Chibok, in Borno state.

“Some of the worshipers remained around the church and the gunmen opened fire and eight men died,” said Luka Damina, a resident from a nearby village. He noted that the gunmen had stationed some of their comrades on the road leading out of the village and they shot anyone who tried to flee.

“Many people ran into the bush with gunshot wounds,” Damina added. A local chief from nearby Kautikeri village, where some locals fled, confirmed the death toll, adding that the assailants had set fire to homes and fields of maize that were almost ready for harvest.

In a similar attack in the area last month, at least 10 people lost their lives and some 13 others were abducted after the assailants looted and torched houses. Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria.

The violence sparked by the group’s militancy has so far killed more than 20,000 people and forced over 2.7 million others from their homes. The militant group has expanded its terror activities to Nigeria’s neighboring countries. Troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been battling the terrorists in recent months. The group has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists operating mainly in Syria and Iraq.

Presstv

19, September 2016

France commemorates all victims of recent terror attacks ⁰

France has commemorated all victims of the recent terror attacks that shook the country to its core. A memorial service has been held in the capital Paris to honor the memory of all those people who unjustly lost their lives to vicious acts of terror and violence.

Hundreds of victims’ families and people who sustained injuries in the attacks attended Monday’s ceremony. President Francois Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy also took part in the event during which the names of all victims of attacks carried out by Takfiri terrorists in Paris last year and in Nice in July this year were read out. “Our country had never been attacked to this extent, with such destructive rage, with such barbarian cruelty. That’s why it was so important for names, all names to be evoked,” Hollande said.

The ceremony also commemorated those killed in terror attacks in Brussels, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali. Hollande also hailed the courage of the survivors present at the event, stressing the need for helping and supporting them and their families. “You’ve been through a tragedy, yet you want to live, you’re fighting for it, and you will stand up again. Your energy is an example,” Hollande said.

France terror attacks: A timeline

March 22, 2012: French police move in to kill Mohammed Merah, a self-styled al-Qaeda-inspired gunman, after he takes the lives of seven people in the city of Toulouse in a 12-day killing spree. Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, killed three soldiers, three Jewish children and a rabbi before he was shot dead following a 30-hour standoff with security forces.

A woman speaks with a police officer near a building where the chief suspect in an al-Qaeda-linked killing spree is holed up in an apartment in Toulouse, southern France, on March 22, 2012. (Photo by AP)

January 7, 2015: Two Takfiri militants attack Charlie Hebdo magazine, killing 12 people, including top editorial staff. The attack is largely believed to have been launched over the weekly’s insulting cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). A day after the magazine attack, another militant kills a policewoman. On January 9, he also takes people hostage at the HyperCacher supermarket and kills four of them before being shot dead by police. On the same day, the escaped Charlie Hebdo gunmen are killed in a printing plant in Dammartin-en-Goele north of Paris.

A man walks past flowers laid near the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris on Feb. 6, 2015. (Photo by AP)

November 13, 2015: Daesh launches a series of violent attacks, targeting cafes and a concert hall in Paris, and massacring a total of 130 people. On the same day, three bombers explode themselves and kill a bystander in a stadium in Saint-Denis.

Police and rescuers gather in front of a fast-food drive-thru restaurant outside the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on November 13, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

July 14, 2016: A truck driver deliberately plows through a Bastille Day crowd in Nice, killing 84 people and wounding 200 others. An 85th victim of the attack, claimed by Daesh, dies later in hospital.

Local authorities and people observe a minute of silence in front of the high commission in Papeete, the capital of the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, on July 18, 2016, in tribute to the victims of the deadly Nice attack on Bastille Day. (Photo by AFP)

July 26, 2016: Two knife-wielding men loyal to Daesh take a number of people hostage at a church in Normandy. The attackers kill a 85-year-old Roman Catholic priest. Police later shoots dead the two assailants.

A man stands in front of French flags and messages displayed at the place de la Republique’s monument in Paris, on July 26, 2016 after a priest was killed in the Normandy city of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. (Photo by AFP)

France is still under a state of emergency.

Presstv

19, September 2016

Paris: Massive rally in support of Gabonese President Ali Bongo ⁰

Gabonese citizens resident in France have held a massive demo in support of the president elect, Ali Bongo. The rally that took place at the Place du Trocadero Square of Human Rights, Paris on Sunday, September 18, 2016, called on foreign powers to respect the decision of the Gabonese people including their sovereignty.

The demonstrators started the event with a minute of silence in tribute to victims of post-election violence that rocked the Gabonese nation. All speakers at the rally upheld that Ali Bongo Ondimba was rightfully declared the winner on August 31, 2016, by the CENAP (Autonomous National Electoral Commission) with 49.80% of votes against 48.23% for Jean Ping.

The organizers sounded a note of caution to the French media and some French politicians not to meddle in Gabon’s internal affairs. They noted that the strategy of Jean Ping, throughout the campaign was based on denigration, insults, violence and falsehood. The demonstrators also revealed that they were calm and confident that the Constitutional Court will validate Ali Bongo as winner.

By Chi Prudence Asong