Life

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

8, August 2023

GCE Fraud: 693 candidates caught with pre-prepared material, 189 with cell phones ⁰

1891 candidates who sat for the 2023 General Certificate of Education Examination have been handed suspensions ranging from 1-3 years and their results canceled for examination malpractices.

State media, CRTV, has reported that the candidates were sanctioned by the GCE board for a series of malpractices.

The report reveals that 693 candidates were caught with pre-prepared material, 994 for collusion, 189 with cell phones, 6 for script substitution, 8 for impersonation, and 1 for violence.

Of the 1891 candidates, 1688 were slammed with a 1-year ban for collusion, violence, and the use of pre-prepared material while 203 others who were found guilty of using cell phones, script substitution, and impersonation, were slammed with a 3-year suspension.

They all also saw their results canceled.

When results were released on July 24, 2023, some schools scored 0% because their candidates were all sanctioned.

The number of malpractices recorded this year has almost doubled as compared to 2022. The number increased from 987 cases last year to 1 891 this year.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

29, July 2023

2023 SOBA UK Residential Convention: The President’s statement ⁰

2023 SOBA UK ANNUAL RESIDENTIAL CONVENTION LAUNCH

2023 Convention theme: “Empowering for Success: Unlocking the potential of the boy child”

Dear Guest,

We trust that you and your family are well and enjoying the British summer.

We invite you to an unparalleled event of sophistication and compassion—the 2023 SOBA UK Annual Residential Convention. Prepare to be captivated at the exquisite Celtic Manor Resort, nestled amidst the enchanting Coldra Wood in Newport from 20^th to 22^nd October 2023.The Celtic Manor Resort, a true 5-Star Luxury Resort sprawling across 2000 acres of picturesque parkland in the breathtaking Usk Valley, is renowned as the best hotel in the UK for nine out of the last ten years, has hosted the 2014 NATO summit and the 2010 Ryder’s Cup golf tournament. It truly offers the most unique experience and the perfect family getaway in breathtaking surroundings.

The Celtic Manor Resort offers state-of-the-art facilities among them is the award-winning Forum Spa, as well as 5 restaurants and 3 championship golf courses. There are 2 adventure golf courses and the treetop adventure course Forest Jump.

Convention theme

The theme for this year’s Convention, “Empowering for Success: Unlocking the Potential of the Boy Child”, embodies our unwavering dedication to community education and empowerment initiatives. Our heartfelt commitment extends to empowering young boys, paving the way for their journey towards success. This year, our focus lies in empowering students at Sasse College, our beloved Alma Mater, by enhancing their educational resources. Additionally, we aim to provide opportunities for boys in the neighboring Sasse village and Tole village communities, enabling them to pursue a quality higher education and turn their dreams into reality. To accomplish these noble aspirations, we humbly seek your generous support. We wholeheartedly invite you to join us at the gala dinner on Saturday, October 21, 2023, where your presence and contribution will make an immeasurable impact. Together, let’s empower the boy child, ignite their potential, and create a brighter future for all.

Family-friendly convention

We appreciate that our guests are bringing their families along to the convention and we seek to lighten the responsibility of parents in keeping our children engaged.

We have allowed free time on the Saturday 21^st October up to 4pm for Sobans to spend quality time with their families and friends at the grounds engaging in any of the numerous outdoor activities for children and adults.As before, we maintain our Annual General Assembly Meeting off the convention premises, to take place a week prior to the convention via Zoom.
We will also be making available a nanny service (for a fee to paid for prior to arrival at the venue) on the Saturday night whilst parents attend the convention ball at the Caernarfon Suite.Please note your place is reserved upon booking prior to Saturday, 21 October 2023.

Ticket price

SOBA UK has accomplished the extraordinary by providing an unparalleled 5-Star experience at an astonishingly affordable early-bird price of £100 for a standard ticket until August 31st, 2023. After this date, the ticket price will revert to £125, reflecting the true value of the event. Our early-bird offer ensures that the ticket cost remains consistent with last year’s rate, despite the enhanced offerings this year. Don’t miss out on this exceptional opportunity! Secure your place at the early-bird price before August 31st.

Hotel rooms

There are numerous options at, and near to the resort for you to book your stay for the weekend. Rooms can be booked directly with the resort via their website: https://www.celtic-manor.com. We encourage guests to book their stay as soon as possible to avoid the inevitable price hikes nearer to the event date.

The Events Management team looks forward to welcoming you to the 2023 convention. We encourage you to buy your tickets as soon as possible and take advantage of the early-bird offer.

Join us at The Celtic Manor Resort for an unforgettable experience where luxury and philanthropy intertwine.

Kind regards,

Franklin Egbe

President, SOBA UK

On behalf of the SOBA UK Events Management team

Contacts:Obale: +44(0)7540977896 Atem: +44(0)7766757376

26, July 2023

US: Hollywood heavyweights lead strike rally in Times Square ⁰

Hollywood A-listers including Emmy winner Bryan Cranston and a group of Oscar winners on Tuesday led a large rally of striking actors and writers in New York’s Times Square, as the stalemate with studios and streamers dragged on.

Academy Award winners Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain and F. Murray Abraham were among the stars joining the mass of demonstrators.

Movie and television production has effectively shut down in the United States since thousands of members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) guild walked off the job on July 14, joining writers who have been on strike for weeks.

Both guilds are demanding better pay and job security, as well as safeguards against the threat posed by artificial intelligence as they pursue the first industry-wide walkout in 63 years.

“We will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots,” “Breaking Bad” star Cranston told attendees, referring to fears about AI being used to recreate an actor’s likeness.

Surrounded by Times Square’s giant screens, which often advertise the latest movies and streaming series, Cranston delivered a message to Disney boss Bob Iger, the target of the actors’ ire.

“We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living and, lastly and most importantly, we will not allow you to take our dignity,” he bellowed, wearing a SAG-AFTRA t-shirt and raising his fists.

Abraham, best known for winning an Academy Award for his starring role in the 1984 movie “Amadeus,” said unionism was “good for America.”

“We’re fighting for integrity, respect, and honor,” said the 83-year-old, who recently featured in television hit series “The White Lotus.”

Steve Buscemi and Christian Slater were also among the protesters.

SAG-AFTRA represents actors from mega-stars to day-players who take small roles on television series. It represents about 160,000 people, including stuntmen and dancers.

The industrial action not only prohibits actors from filming but also from promoting their productions in person or on social media.

Source: AFP

19, July 2023

UN official lauds Yaoundé’s strides in HIV/AIDS prevention and control ⁰

Cameroon has made “remarkable” strides in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, a United Nations official said on Tuesday.

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), made the remarks after meeting Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute in Yaoundé.

“Cameroon has been succeeding in fighting against HIV/AIDS in the last 10 to 12 years, bringing down infections by more than 60 percent,” Byanyima said.

Despite the encouraging strides, there are still challenges, and efforts, especially in stopping mother to child infection and keeping children on treatment, need to be stepped up to keep the infection rate lower, she said.

There is an “ambitious plan to roll out universal secondary education so that girls are safe at school and not infected,” she added.

The HIV prevalence rate in Cameroon dropped from 3.3 percent in 2020 to 2.7 percent last year, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Source: Xinhuanet

16, July 2023

Blaise Kalaba among 5 killed in Douala road accident ⁰

At least five people died early Friday in a road accident in Cameroon’s Littoral Region, according to the police.

The accident occurred at 3:00 a.m. local time in the Bare locality of the region when a passenger bus collided head-on with another vehicle, local police said.

Among the deceased was Blaise Kalaba, a renowned Cameroonian comedian, who was killed alongside four other persons who were traveling in his vehicle that collided with the passenger bus.

At least five other people injured in the tragedy were rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

Such accidents in Cameroon are often linked to the poor state of roads and drivers’ ignorance.

The Ministry of Transport estimates that 1,500 people die in road accidents each year in the Central African nation.

Source: Xinhuanet

6, July 2023

Yaoundé launches vaccination campaign to tackle measles, rubella outbreak ⁰

Cameroon on Wednesday launched a five-day vaccination campaign targeting children amid an outbreak of measles and rubella.

Out of Cameroon’s 200 health districts, 99 have reported cases of measles affecting children below 10 years old, said Shalom Ndoula, permanent secretary of Expanded Immunization Program in the Ministry of Public Health.

“In Cameroon the disease has affected more than 4,000 children with 18 deaths so far and that is a worrying situation,” Ndoula told reporters in the capital city of Yaoundé.

“It is a nationwide campaign, but the targeted children are children from nine months to five years that are the most affected by the measles outbreak.” he added.

According to the program, about 5.5 million children will be vaccinated in Cameroon.

Signs and symptoms of the disease include fever, rash, cough, red eyes and runny nose, said officials, warning that measles complications are severe in malnourished children and infants under two years of age.

Source: Xinhuanet

6, July 2023

“Separatists” Kidnap students for sitting for public exams ⁰

Parents whose children took official national examinations in the crisis-hit northwest of Cameroon have raised an alarm over a series of kidnappings carried out by separatist fighters on their children.

In 2017, Cameroon separatists banned schools from operating in the two English-speaking regions of the country, warning defaulters would face consequences.

They began clashing with government forces in an attempt to establish an independent nation they called “Ambazonia” in the two Anglophone regions.

Despite the boycott call, many schools continue to operate, though students are asked to wear mufti over uniforms, in order not to be targeted.

Some 27000 candidates sat for the GCE Exams

2023 session in the Northwest region on May 30.

Bui division, one of the most affected communities of the six-year war, witnessed an increased number of candidates from 750 last year to 1260 in 2023. The Divisional Delegate of Secondary Education, Baijong Ezikiel, says this increase is a sign of progressive return to normalcy in the division.

Although these students successfully wrote the exams within three weeks amid strict security, some of them have been kidnapped and regained freedom days later, after their families paid heavy fines.

A local source in Kumbo, headquarter of Bui division said their daughter was kidnapped on her way back from a neighbour’s home and kept away from the family for three days.

“We were so confused because they often see her and know she is going to school. I don’t know why they decided to kidnap her. This has affected her immensely,”she said.

Another parent in Kumbo who reached HumAngle on telephone said he paid $250 to free his daughter from a separatist camp.

“One of them asked me to pay $1663 dollars before my child could be freed. I pleaded and the leader finally said I should pay $500,” he cried.

Separatist fighters are currently making a lot of money from several kidnappings. In February, five students of a secondary school in Kumbo, headquarters of Bui Division, were kidnapped and over $1500 was demanded from each family.

The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs reported that eight attacks on education were registered in February this year in the North-West and South-West.

Over 700,000 children have been impacted by school closures due to violence.

Source: HumAngle

29, June 2023

Madonna in hospital due to ‘serious bacterial infection’, tour postponed ⁰

Madonna is recovering after falling ill with a “serious bacterial infection” that landed her in an intensive care unit for several days, her manager Guy Oseary said in a statement Wednesday.

“Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care,” he said. “A full recovery is expected.”

Oseary said the 64-year-old pop icon’s “Celebrations” tour, due to start July 15 in Vancouver, Canada, was postponed until further notice.

The New York Post’s Page Six website said the pop star was taken to a hospital in the city after becoming unwell.

Her global, nearly sold-out tour was billed as paying homage to Madonna’s more than four-decade long career, and according to her website boasted 84 concert dates.

Stops in the United States were to include Detroit, Chicago, Miami and New York, the city where her storied rise to superstardom began.

She was then slated to continue in Europe, with dates in London, Barcelona and Paris, as well as four dates in Mexico City.

The Grammy-winning megastar behind classics including “Like a Virgin” has asserted incalculable influence over her stellar career as one of music’s top stars.

In his statement on social media, her manager vowed to provide more information when available, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows.

In 2020 Madonna underwent hip replacement surgery following an injury sustained on her “Madame X” tour.

‘Material Girl’

Born in 1958, the Catholic-educated artist headed to New York in the late 1970s with just 35 dollars in her pocket.

She scraped a living through everything from nude modeling to selling donuts.

Her first big single was “Everybody” in 1982, followed by a string of hits including “Lucky Star,” “Borderline,” and “Holiday.”

The 1984 release of “Like A Virgin” propelled Madonna onto the international stage.

She followed up in 1985 with another disco anthem, “Material Girl.”

Madonna hospitalized for several days, tour postponedThe early 1990s saw her don infamous pointy cone-shaped bras on her “Blond Ambition” Tour in 1990.

She also released a racy book called “Sex,” filled with photographs of sexual acts that was released to accompany her 1992 album “Erotica.”

In the late 1990s her music took off in a new direction, thumping to a new dance-flavored beat on her multi award-winning 1998 album “Ray of Light.”

In 2003 she grabbed the showbiz world’s attention by clinching pop princess Britney Spears in a lingering kiss on stage at that year’s MTV Music Video Awards.

And she still displays the provocative streak for which she is both beloved and notorious.

In January, news dropped of her forthcoming tour in a video nodding to her 1991 documentary “Truth or Dare.”

In the clip, the Queen of Pop plays the classic sleepover game with fellow celebrities, all with risque undertones.

“I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” she said when announcing the tour.

Source: AFP

24, June 2023

Yaoundé moves to protect children Online as exploitation, abuse worsen ⁰

Last Tuesday, Cameroonian parliamentarians and META experts met to proffer ways to protect children from cyberbullying. This was spurred by several cases of minors in the country being exposed to harm on social media.

The most recent case involves the posting of a video recording of two young girls saying they were raped by a police officer in Beau, in the southwestern region of the country.

The girls said the man raped them in a taxi and threatened to harm them if they told anyone.

It is not clear who recorded the video, but when it was being shared online, attempts were not made to blur or hide the faces of the girls in any way to protect their identities even though they are minors. This has subjected them to even more attacks on social media. Many social media users have been evaluating the victims’ facial expressions, and the grievous nature of the crime committed against them is not getting as much attention.

The young girls have received more insults and attacks online than sympathy and support.

As the case is being followed by civil society actors at the police station in Buea, others took turns on social media to condemn this act, blaming those who filmed the video for deliberately exposing the victims to public scrutiny.

Taryang Tabe, a women’s rights activist, said those who created the content possibly did not understand the implications of showing the faces to these young girls.

“When I saw it on Facebook, I knew it had gone out of control. We must now only use the anger in advocating for the perpetrator to face the law. This may reduce the trauma in both girls when justice is served,” he said.

Children’s agency, UNICEF, says more than a third of young people in 30 countries report being cyberbullied, with 1 in 5 skipping school because of it.

“Children may be victimized through the production, distribution and consumption of sexual abuse material, or they may be groomed for sexual exploitation, with abusers attempting to meet them in person or exhort them for explicit content,” it added.

Similar cases

Some Cameroonian TV stations last year exposed the faces of children who were caught up in a group sexual act in Yaoundé last year. Women’s rights activists condemned the media organisations as well.

Pictures of children who go through domestic violence have been shared often on social media platforms and media outlets as well.

The meeting

The meeting between parliamentarians and META experts on Tuesday was meant to build capacities on best practices of child safety online and seek proper legislation to protect children in Cameroon.

Zondol Hersesse, President of the Committee on Constitutional Law, Human Rights, and Freedoms at the National Assembly said there is a growing need to protect children on the internet. Children, he said, are the most vulnerable on social media.

META experts present at the meeting said it has become very easy for children to be exploited online and are now trying to put measures in place to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse on the internet.

Source: Humangle media