Life

18, July 2016

Buea: UB lecturers suspend strike action ¹

Students in the University of Buea (UB) have continued writing their Second Semester examinations scheduled from June 28-July 18, 2016. On Monday, 11 July, lecturers went on strike, with examinations reportedly overseen mainly by support staff. According to the Registrar, Prof. Roland Ndip, the examinations have been going on hitch-free. He added that the University Senate meets on 3 August during which results will be discussed and approved before being published online. This is so that students in any part of the country and abroad can easily access their results.

Asked about the strike action by lecturers of the university, the Registrar concerted with another school official and then refused to make any statement. However, Cameroon Tribune was able to speak to the First Vice President of the National Syndicate of Teachers of Higher Education (SYNES), Buea chapter, Dr. Ndeh Martin Sango. He confirmed that they actually declared a strike, but it had just been suspended.

“We decided to strike during exams because of unpaid bonuses. These are bonuses for the supervision of long essays, leave claims, re-sit exams, supervision of Master’s theses, and bonuses related to extra working hours. These bonuses date back to 2013 and all attempts to get the university to pay them have failed,” Dr. Ndeh Martin Sango explained. He continued; “We suspended the strike after pleas by students and parents as some of the students will be writing public competitive exams. We decided to suspend the strike so that these students should not suffer innocently. However, we will continue with the strike by withdrawing our services from re-sit exams. We will not start lectures in October if the bonuses are not paid,” he warned.

The union leader alleged that the University of Buea is going through serious administrative crisis, reason why the authorities were not open to dialogue. “We gave the administration a one-month notification before the strike. If the administration was proactive, they would have called the executive of SYNES for dialogue and probably, we would not have declared a strike. In the absence of dialogue, there is always an alternative and we saw strike action as an alternative,” Dr. Ndeh Martin Sango said. Meanwhile, the UB authorities have on several occasions declared their openness to constructive dialogue.

Cameroon Tribune

14, July 2016

Chantal Biya says she will return to Cameroon if General Ivo Yenwo, Martin Belinga Eboutou and Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh are sacked ¹³

First Lady, Chantal Biya has reportedly set certain conditions for her return to Cameroon. She has been absent from the country for three months now and all attempts by her husband, President Biya who has been incessantly flashing out signals for her to come to him, Cameroon Concord News has now gathered that the youthful first lady has tabled a number of requirements to her illustrious husband so she can return to Cameroon.

A source at the presidency of the republic hinted that Chantal Biya fervently believes it is urgent and beneficial to infuse new energy around the elderly statesman. We learnt she has even gone further by suggesting a list of those who have to be giving matching orders among them Martin Belinga Eboutou, Minister Director of the Civil Cabinet of the President of the Republic. The first lady also asked her husband to sack General Ivo Desancio, Director of presidential security and the current Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

Sama Ernest (Cameroon Concord News Group)

13, July 2016

Did President Museveni stop his motorcade to chat with a mistress? ⁰

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni voluntarily stopped his convoy for a phone call while returning from a trip to a remote village in western Uganda. His press secretary Don Wanyama, who published the photo on Facebook explained that his boss had stopped the procession to hold a 30 minutes conversation.

Many around the world are still wondering with whom the president had that conversation. Ugandan media suggested that the dictator spoke to the opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who has been charged for treason after criticizing Museveni’s re-election in February. However, Cameroon Concord News entertainment editor hinted Museveni was receiving a call from one of his many mistresses in Kampala.

Chi Prudence Asong (Cameroon Concord News Group)

6, July 2016

Sexually transmitted diseases notably on the rise in the UK ⁰

British Health officials are warning of a dramatic rise in the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) of syphilis and gonorrhea in the United Kingdom since 2012. New figures published in a report by Public Health England (PHE) on Tuesday revealed that between 2012 and 2015, cases of syphilis rose by 76 percent, from 3,001 to 5,288, while gonorrhea infections had a 53-percent jump from 26,880 to 41,193 cases.

The report said that the diseases are believed to be notably on the rise among homosexual men, with gonorrhea particularly undergoing a 21-percent increase among “gay and bisexual men.” “We need to do more to raise awareness about STIs and how they can be prevented,” said Gwenda Hughes, head of STI surveillance at PHE, adding that, “It is also vital to ensure there is easy access to STI testing and treatment services that meet the needs of local populations.”

Hughes recommended regular tests and screening for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and STIs, and the use of protective condoms in sex acts. “These statistics should set alarm bells ringing about the availability of sexual health services for young people and men who have sex with men,” she added.

Natika Halil, the chief executive of the Family Planning Association in Britain, also voiced concern over the alarming situation, saying, “We are concerned by the increased diagnoses rates of gonorrhea and syphilis, particularly among men who have sex with men, and also with the considerable variation between different areas.”

She pointed out to a strong link that exists between poor sexual health, one sign of which is the high rates of STI diagnoses, and higher levels of deprivation. “Local authorities need to pay close attention to what is happening in their area and invest in prevention services to help bring down this still very high number of STIs,” Halil added.

Syphilis and gonorrhea are bacterial infections that can cause heart problems, blindness, paralysis or even death, if left untreated.

Presstv

5, July 2016

University of Bamenda raised 150 million FCFA for infrastructural development ⁰

Efforts by the University of Bamenda to step up its infrastructural development were boosted on July 2, 2016, with the launch of the University of Bamenda Development Fund, UBaDEF. The ceremony in the university campus at Bambili saw the collection of 150 million FCFA from North West elite and friends of the university. The University of Bamenda thus becomes the second State-owned higher educational institution in Cameroon to run a development fund after the University of Buea some years ago.

It was indeed a great moment during which guests demonstrated generosity towards the university that is in dire need of classrooms, an ICT Centre, Main Library, student hostels, multi-purpose sports complex, health centre, etc. The Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Dominique Mvogo, brought a message from the Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo, commending what he described as “a brilliant initiative to supplement State subventions.”

It was all cheers for the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Therese Nkuo Akenji, who conceived the idea to create UBaDEF. The Vice Chancellor revisited the birth of the University in 2010, stressing its mission of teaching, research and service to the community. Prof. Therese Nkuo Akenji urged guests to stand by the institution whose 16,000 student and staff population requires huge investments to function properly.

She saluted the government, North West elite, friends of the institution and traditional rulers for offering land to the nation’s youngest State university. The chief launcher, Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Danpullo and co-launchers set the tone, giving cheerfully. Meanwhile, an independent Management Committee for UBaDEF was commissioned with Tumban Manfred at the helm. It has as mission to source private and public funds to meet the infrastructural and academic needs of the university.

Cameroon Tribune

4, July 2016

Adieu Professor Tazoacha Asonganyi ⁰

The late Professor Tazoacha Asonganyi had a PhD in Biochemistry in 1980 from the University of London (UK). He did his PhD research in a Laboratory at Gower’s Street some few meters from Dillon’s Bookshop London, which he visited on a regular basis. During the same period he also worked with a Negritude Community Group (“Headstart Books & Crafts” London N15) which dealt in books on the history of peoples of African origin.

These two contacts outside his area of specialization caused a profound change in his education and did influence him principally. He was a fan of Cheikh Anta Diop whose books and many others with the same thrust he read during that time. He taught in the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaoundé 1 since 1985, training medical students for over 30 years. He was a visiting lecturer at many universities and published in many international academic journals including some 90 peer-reviewed articles.

His scientific research interests were in Sleeping sickness/Trypanosomiasis, River blindness/Onchocerciasis, HIV/AIDS. Following the inception of multiparty politics in Cameroon in the early 1990s, he emerged and became Secretary General of the SDF from 1994-2005. He then became the Permanent Secretary of the opposition CNRR in 2004.

He parted ways with the SDF in 2006 and published over 100 articles in newspapers and other media analyzing the political situation in Cameroon and many other African countries. He observed elections for the Carter Center USA in Ghana, and for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of Washington DC in Nigeria. He was one of the highly solicited guests on CRTV programs like Press Hour and MORNING SAFARI.

CRTV

2, July 2016

Yaounde: New National Reference Laboratory for Malaria research opens ⁰

The two storey edifice was inaugurated on Friday 1^st of July 2016 by the Minister of Public Health Andre Mama Fouda in the company of the French Secretary of State in charge of Development Andre Vallini; the French Ambassador to Cameroon Christine Robichon and the Director of the Cameroon Medical Research Centre Guy Vernet.

The laboratory which is situated at the Cameroon Medical Research Centre in Yaounde has been created in order to step up the fight against Malaria. It is equipped with modern scientific tools such as high resolution microscope. The National Reference Laboratory for Malaria Research Project was constructed with funding from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy Planning and Regional Development, and the French Corporation.

CRTV

2, July 2016

CRTV: Charles Ndongo takes command ⁴

The newly appointed General Manager of the Cameroon Radio and Television Cooperation, Charles Pythagoras Ndongo and his deputy, Emmanuel Wongibe, have been installed into their functions.

The scantily attended ceremony took on Friday the 1^st of July 2016 at Studio 1 at Mballa II. The ceremony was chaired by the chairman of the CRTV board and Minister of Communication, Issa Bakary Tchiroma.

Rita Akana (Cameroon Concord News)

1, July 2016

Elechi Amadi Author of The Concubine dies at 82 ⁰

Elechi Amadi is no more. According to Thisday newspaper, he died on June 29, 2016 in hospital in Port Harcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria, of an undisclosed ailment at the age of 82. Reacting to the news, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said Amadi was “a consummate patriot, a great literary icon, a soldier’s soldier and development enthusiast.”

Eldred Jones, in “African Literature 1966-1967,” described the novelist as “a Nigerian author of plays and novels that are generally about African village life, customs, beliefs and religious practices, as they were before contact with the Western world.” Amadi is best remembered for his 1966 novel, “The Concubine,” which was described “an outstanding work of pure fiction.” His other works included “The Great Ponds,” “Isiburu,” “Sunset in Biafra,” “Dance of Johannesburg,” “Pepper Soup,” “The Road to Ibadan,” “The Slave,” “Estrangement,” “Les Grand Etangs,” and “The Woman of Calabar.”

Born in 1934 in Aluu, Rivers State, Amadi attended Government College, Umuahia, Survey School, Oyo and the University of Ibadan, where he obtained a degree in Physics and Mathematics in 1959. He was a land surveyor and later teacher in several schools, including the Nigerian Military School, Zaria from 1963–66. Amadi served in the Nigerian Army and remained there during the Nigerian Civil War, retiring as a Captain.

He also served in the Rivers State government as Permanent Secretary, Commissioner for Education and Commissioner for Lands and Housing. Elechi Amadi was a writer-in-residence and lecturer with the Rivers State College of Education (now Ignatius Ajuru University of Education), where he was Dean of Arts, Head of the Literature Department and Director of General Studies.

CAMTRIBUNE

30, June 2016

Yaounde: Public Health Minister launches European Union Project 48 ⁰

The Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda on the 29^th of June 2016, launched a European Union project aimed at improving on the management of epidemics. The three-year project launched in Yaounde will be operational in 11 countries along the Atlantic Coast of Africa. Apart from improving the management of crisis, the project will also reinforce surveillance and the alert systems.

Dubbed “Project 48”,the representative of the management team of the project, Marie Françoise Saron said the regional team to handle the project was being constituted by national experts. The experts will exchange notes during training sessions so as to be better equipped for the job.

Besong Esther Agbor with files from CRTV