Singer Stevie Wonder will undergo a kidney transplant in September.

The Grammy award-winning singer broke the news while performing on stage at London’s British Summer Time Hyde Park concert on Saturday, July 6.

Stevie Wonder told the crowd that he already has a donor in place and will take some time off to recuperate.

The 69-year old singer has won 25 Grammys, including Album of the year three times in four years, in 1973, 1974 and 1976.

His last Grammy award for the Album of the year was for his most famous work, ‘’ Songs in the key of Life’‘.

Reuters

The annual Manyu convention (MECA-USA) has opened in the American capital of Washington DC.

The annual event which brings together all Manyu sons and daughters in the United States is marked by traditional dances and a display of Manyu culture.

The two-day event is designed to raise funds for the financing of development projects in Manyu Division in the South West region of Cameroon.

The event will end on Saturday, July 5, 2019 with a fund-raising gala that is expected to bring in thousands of dollars to the coffers of MECA-USA which the umbrella organization of all Manyu organizations.

By Kingsley Betek in Washington DC.

They say he who finds a wife finds a good thing. But what about he who finds two wives? A happy African man is living the dream after bagging himself not one but two wives. In a few photos making rounds on social media, the lucky groom could not help but wear a smile as he proudly stood by his pair of blushing brides.

Of course this chap walked with a pep in his step because his wedding night was going to be something he would never forget. It was a wedding attended by a few guests who did not want to miss the once in a lifetime opportunity.

The brides were draped in nearly identical white gowns paired with gloves and over the top headgears. The must attend event appeared to have taken place in Cameroon as a photo of the country’s president Paul Biya hang in the venue’s background. Completely overjoyed, the groom took his pen and with one stroke signed his wedding certificate like a true boss. His wives watched closely as they contemplated how the throuple would have a beautiful union. It was a wedding attended by a few guests who did not want to miss the once in a lifetime opportunity.

Tuko news

Tani, an eight-year-old Nigerian chess champion in New York, may be living in the United States as an immigrant but he could be meeting a former American president soon.

When the story of his witty exploits was shared on Twitter, the 42nd US president Bill Clinton reacted to the fact Tani had defied all odds to win his category at the New York State chess championship.

Here is a youngster who was introduced to the game a little over a year ago. “Refugees enrich our nation and talent is universal, even if opportunity is not,” the president wrote.

“This story made me smile. Tanitoluwa, you exemplify a winning spirit – in chess and in life. And kudos to your hardworking parents. You all should stop by my office in Harlem; I’d love to meet you,” he added.

Incidentally, Tani’s three-hour weekly chess practice is in Harlem whiles he practices more often on his father’s laptop.

Full name, Tanitoluwa Adewumi, the chess whiz kid, has been widely covered by international media and local portals back home. His story was first broken by a New York Times, NYT, columnist, Nicolas Kristof.

Tani, his brother and mother currently live in a New York City homeless shelter as immigrants awaiting refugee status. Their next hearing is slated for later this year.

The Adewumis – whose name denote they hail from Nigeria’s southwest according to reports arrived in the United States in 2017 having escaped Boko Haram insurgency – meaning, they must have been living in the northeast, be it Borno, Adamawa or Yobe states.

Mr Adewumi, works as a licensed real estate salesman and doubles as an Uber driver as his wife and sons await asylum request hearing scheduled for August.

The NYT piece that set Tani’s story on a media blitz was achieved after an interview with the family at their shelter in Manhattan. “I want to be the young grandmaster,” Tani told Kristof.

Whiles his biggest achievement yet is as New York State Primary Chess Champion (Top Players K – 3rd Grade), he has won a handful of trophies playing the game.

His mother Oluwatoyin Adewumi was a pillar in his love for chess having backed him in the early stages when he expressed interest in a game that was entirely new to him. Her appeal to Tani’s programme patron had his fees waived.

His patron and tutor spoke highly about Tani’s abilities and grasp of the game. Shawn Martinez his tutor said, “He is so driven. He does 10 times more chess puzzles than the average kid. He just wants to be better.”

A GoFundMetext page set up by NYT readers has far exceeded the target set. As at midday March 20 (GMT), 3,588 contributors had raised $188,253 despite the initial goal being $50,000.

Africa News

The Manyu Women Association in London is preparing to celebrate its 30^th anniversary on Saturday the 8^th of June 2019 and hopes that with it will come a new beginning for the entire Manyu community in the United Kingdom. The event promises to be an amazing cultural experience with performances by the renowned V12 De London, a live band,  Monikem masquerade and dancing.

Manyu Women London UK, a cultural organization that promotes the core values of the Manyu people is a none profit organization run by volunteers who deliver its objectives. Through its monthly meetings and events, it connects a community of Manyu ladies in the Diaspora, educating them on the importance of tradition, language, food, history and Manyu tribe culture.

Speaking to Cameroon Concord News Group ahead of this year’s celebrations, Olivia Nyamsi, Executive chair observed that: “We want to ensure that Internally Displaced Persons who are victims of the ongoing crisis in Cameroon are at the forefront of our activities.”

Part of the strategy to reignite an interest in the Manyu culture will be the presentation of the Monikem Dance-the first of its kind in London. The 30^th anniversary celebration will also be graced by other Manyu Women’s organizations all over the world including the famous Manyu Daughters Heritage in the Irish Republic.

The celebration that will be hosted at the Petchey Academy Shacklewell Lane, London E8 2EY will be a very culturally based event, linking several Cameroonian communities together. Cameroonian delicacies including delicious foo foo and eru, ndole, roast meat and fish dishes will be served throughout the evening.

All attendees are encouraged to wear African native and traditional attire for what is expected to be a fantastic opportunity to experience a celebration of the rich Manyu culture in London.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Popular Congolese musician Koffi Olomide was on Monday handed a two-year suspended prison sentence for the statutory rape of one of his former dancers when she was 15.

Olomide went on trial after four former dancers claimed he sexually assaulted them several times between 2002 and 2006. The assaults allegedly happened in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as in France, including at a villa outside Paris where the women said they were held against their will.

The dancers said they managed to make a night-time escape from the villa in June 2006, and have not returned to their country since for fear of reprisals.

Prosecutors at his trial in Nanterre, outside Paris, had sought a seven-year prison sentence but the court dismissed the assault and kidnapping charges.

Olomide, 62, was also ordered to pay 5,000 euros ($5,700) in damages to the former dancer, as well as a 5,000-euro fine for helping three of the women enter France illegally.

Olomide’s history of violence

The singer, whose real name is Antoine Agbepa Mumba, was first charged in 2012 with aggravated rape but the charges were subsequently reduced.

Facing a French arrest warrant, he fled to DR Congo in 2009 but had initially said he would appear at the trial to defend himself.

However, he failed to show for the trial last month, which was held behind closed doors at the women’s request.

“This is a complete victory. The prosecution’s entire case fell apart,” his lawyer Emmanuel Marsigny said after the ruling.

The court also dismissed the charges against two men accused of being complicit in the assaults.

It was not the first time Olomide had been charged with violence.

He was briefly jailed in DR Congo in 2016 for kicking one of his dancers, and had already been given a suspended three-month prison sentence in 2012 for striking his producer.

He is also currently sought by Zambian police for striking a Rwandan photojournalist in Lusaka in 2012.

Olomide already had a brush with the law in France, with a court finding him guilty of tax fraud in 2006.

AFP

In Cameroon, 82 couples have taken part in a mass wedding ceremony as part of efforts to better protect the legal rights of women. Only 10 percent of marriages in Cameroon are legalized, leaving wives with few rights. The mass wedding ceremony is part of activities to mark Friday’s International Women’s Day.

For the event, traditional Cameroonian dancers performed in the courtyard of the Maroua Town Council. There, they celebrated the official marriage of 82 couples, most of them Muslims.

Among the couples were 16-year-old Asta Ismaila and her 47-year-old husband.

Ismaila said she was forced to be the man’s third wife when she was barely 14 years old. After giving birth, she said, her husband did not take care of her or her baby.

Although the couple split last year, they agreed to legalize their marriage so Ismaila and their child would not be shunned by the community.

It also provides mother and child with important and rare legal protection.

Cameroon’s Institute of Statistics says only 10 percent of couples have legalized their marriages – relying instead on simple, traditional ceremonies.

If the husband dies, his family members often take the couple’s property and send the woman away with nothing.

The Cameroon Association of Lawyers’ Hamadou Hamajarou says with a legal marriage, the state protects the wife’s property rights.

He said Cameroon’s penal code punishes anyone who forces a widow out of her marital home with a prison term of three months to one year and a fine of $100 to $1,000. If the woman is pregnant or violence is used, the sentence can be from two to five years in prison.

In northern Cameroon’s polygamous Muslim communities, men often bring home an additional wife without consulting their current ones. Without a registered marriage, the wives have few legal options to challenge the man’s decisions.

Aissa Dumara, coordinator of the Association for the Fight Against Violence on Women and Girls, said women who defy their husband – legally or not — are often abused or kicked out of the house.

She said only 35 of the 351 abused women who sought the group’s help in 2018 were legally married. Dumara said they were forced at very young ages into the homes of men who promised to marry them but instead they were battered, forced to do difficult domestic work, or simply dismissed.

The group arranged the mass wedding to educate women of the importance of legalizing their marriages.

It’s no small challenge in Cameroon’s remote villages.

Ismaila tried to convince her husband’s two other wives to legalize their marriages as well. But they said their families were against it because the husband and his family had yet to pay them money or property for the marriage – known as a bride price.

The cost for the wives having no legal protection could prove to be much higher.

VOA

When many Southern Cameroonians were fleeing the military’s violent operations in the two English-speaking regions of the country, not many thought they could be useful on the other side of the Mungo.

Many had left their villages and cities for places they did not even know. Douala, Bafoussam, Dschang, Yaounde and Edea are some of the cities in which some of these young energetic, but idle internally displaced boys have settled.

Many were helpless when they got to these places. They knew nobody. They have been living rough and accepting whatever nature throws at them. The frustration of abandoning home has been huge and the fear of never returning to their native Ambazonia has be stalking them like a stubborn shadow.

Hunger and the stigma of being considered by their own government as terrorists have been robbing them of their smiles.

But this is gradually changing. The smiles are slowly returning, and hunger, considered to be their companion, is gradually migrating to other places.

The Ambazonian has finally found work in La Republique. Like Manyu people will say, if you don’t want to lose your kingdom, don’t have a daughter. The idle boys, whose biceps and triceps are hanging loosely as if meant for destructive purposes are now fully employed as women in East Cameroon who were undersexed and sex-starved have now found a huge pool of studs who are impregnating them at an unbelievable rate.

In Douala where a huge segment of the male population is suffering from erectile dysfunction and low libido, the women are now looking in the direction of young Ambazonians who are prepared to do whatever comes their way.

Sources in Douala say, the old men do not know what to do with the young Anvazonians whose muscles spell danger to them. The old expiring men whose sex lives are in chaos are scared of these young Ambazonians, especially as the news from the warfront speaks of the bravery and determination of Ambazonians.

While the men are scared of the boys, the women, for their part, are licking their lips and smiling . The women, who have been suffering in silence, are having a never-ending party and this can be seen from the number of women who are carrying distended stomachs.

Our sources say pregnancy rates in cities like Bafoussam, Yaounde and Douala have gone up by 10% and this number is expected to rise as women open up and Ambazonians grow in confidence.

Speaking to a lady in Douala who is happily spotting a pregnancy, she said hers was the kingdom of happiness. She could not hide her glee as her cry for many years has been to be pregnant. An Ambazonian has made her dream to come true and she is now on cloud nine. She now only swears to Ambazonians.

Also, a married woman in Douala told the Cameroon Intelligence Report reporter that her husband had been neglecting his duties and this has been a bone of contention in their home. Before Ambazonians showed up in Douala, there was a lot of fighting in their home.

She added that ever since she met a young helpless Ambazonian, the fighting in their home had reduced.

“I hate the war in the two regions of our country because so many people are being killed. But the fighting out there has brought more peace than war to my family. My husband has been wondering about the sudden change in my life. He does not know he is being helped by an internally displaced person. We are all happy. I get the sex I need and the Ambazonian gets his food and a little money. My husband now sleeps in peace,” she said.

For more on this interesting story, check the Cameroon Intelligence Report as the Group Chairman, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, has promised to bring a smile to your faces through a detailed report on this.