Life

29, January 2020

Coronavirus: Cameroonians in China write to Paul Biya ⁰

To His Excellency Mr. Paul BIYA,

President of the Republic of Cameroon

Your Excellency,

We your compatriots schooling and working in Wuhan~ Hubei Province in China, bring our warm wishes for the year 2020. We pray for good health, happiness and peace in our fatherland.

Your excellency,

We are writing to you directly, because the situation forces us to do so outside the established protocol.

Indeed we are Cameroonian nationals residing in the People’s Republic of China where for the most part we are students and workers.

We are here to steal the flame of knowledge in order to come and help our country overcome the challenges of development.

Your Excellency, we are about three hundred (300) Cameroonian residents in Hubei Province which happens to be the epicenter of the Coronavirus 2019-nCov epidemic that is currently affecting our host country and others.

With shopping centers, markets, and transportation at a standstill, we are therefore very anxious about the future of events. Wuhan has been in quarantine since 23 January 2020 Mr President. Despite our many approaches (phone calls and correspondences) to the Cameroonian Embassy in Beijing, we remain without news or official answers to reassure us or give humanitarian instructions.

Your Excellency,

The Chinese government is working to contain this virus but however, it continues to gain ground and psychosis too.

Our frustration is even greater when our colleagues from neighbouring countries receive both moral and physical support from their hierarchy. We refuse to believe that we have been abandoned, which is why we want to seize this opportunity to cry out for help from you.

We wish to suggest that we be provided with a Hotline or Emergency number for all Cameroonians in China via the Embassy.

Above all, Your Excellency, we pray to be provided with the most urgent necessities at this time of crisis: masks, disinfectants and food. Most shops have been emptied and many of us have already exhausted our reserves and are completely stranded.

We know as our father, you cannot see your children being confronted with such an unfortunate situation without being moved. Help us, Your Excellency, we pray you.

We would have loved to be evacuated from here, but understand that circumstances may not permit, and so kindly pray to be assisted with the basic necessities that can sustain us here till things get back to normal.

We are confident, Mr. President, that this message will reach you in good faith.

May God continue to bless, protect and guide you.

Signed:

Members of the Executive Bureau,

Cameroonian Community in Hubei, China-

1. Dr. Pisso Nseke

2. Jum Francis

3. Christian Manga

29, January 2020

China: Coronavirus death toll passes 130 as US considers flight ban ⁰

The death toll from a new coronavirus in China rose sharply to 132 on Wednesday with nearly 1,500 new cases, heaping pressure on Beijing to control the disease as U.S. officials said the White House was weighing whether to suspend all flights to the country.

The White House is holding daily meetings on the outbreak and monitoring China-U.S. flights as a likely source of infections, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters, though it had decided against suspending air traffic on Tuesday.

Two U.S. officials said the administration had not taken any options off the table, however, including a temporary ban on flights, if public health data supported the move.

Fears of the spreading virus have already pushed airlines around the world to reduce flights to China and global companies to restrict employee travel to the country, while sectors from mining to luxury goods have been shaken by concerns for global growth in the event of a worst-case pandemic.

China’s National Health Commission on Wednesday said the total number of deaths from the flu-like virus rose by 26 on Tuesday to 132, while the number of confirmed cases rose by 1,459 to a total of 5,974.

New cases were also reported around the world, including Germany where four people from the same company were infected after one of them contracted it from a colleague while visiting their workplace in China.

The German cases raise concerns about the human-to-human spread of the virus which can be transmitted in droplets from coughs and sneezes and has an incubation period of up to 14 days.

Known as “2019-nCoV”, the newly identified coronavirus emerged late last year in Wuhan, a major transportation hub and capital of central Hubei province with a population of 11 million people.

China has since moved to lock down most of Hubei province, with a population around the same as Italy, to contain the epidemic. Most of the confirmed deaths and patients from the outbreak are in Hubei.

Health authorities believe the virus originated from an animal and have pointed to a seafood market in Wuhan where wildlife was traded illegally.

The virus has spread to more than a dozen countries and cases such as those in Germany show it is spreading through human contact and not only through travellers from China.

Experts say it is too early to know what its death rate will be, since there are likely to be many cases of milder disease going undetected.

“The virus is a devil and we cannot let the devil hide,” state television quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing on Tuesday.

“China will strengthen international cooperation and welcomes the WHO participation in virus prevention… China is confident of winning the battle against the virus.”

China’s assurances failed to calm investors, however, as and health authorities around the world continued to step up efforts to stop the virus from spreading on their shores.

The United States said it was expanding screening of arrivals from China from five to 20 airports and would consider imposing further travel curbs.

“All options for dealing with infectious disease spread have to be on the table, including travel restrictions,” said U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar.

From France to Japan, governments were organising evacuations, while Hong Kong – scene of anti-China unrest for months – planned to suspend rail and ferry links with the mainland. United Airlines said it was suspending some flights between the United States and China for a week from Feb. 1 due to a “significant decline in demand.”

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said a chartered plane would pick up its consular staff on Wednesday. The European Commission said it would help fund two aircraft to fly EU citizens home, with 250 French nationals leaving on the first flight.

(REUTERS)

28, January 2020

French Cameroun: Senate President illness thought to be leukaemia ⁰

The President of the so-called House of Senate has finally returned to Cameroon. Marcel Niat Njifenji arrived the Nsimalen International airport on the night of January 27, 2020 from Switzerland.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources hinted that physicians specialized in the treatment of leukaemia examined the ailing French Cameroun leader Niat Njifenji during his long stay in Geneva to determine whether he was suffering from blood disorder.

And for the first time, a very flippant but reliable source at the Cameroon embassy in Switzerland revealed it is likely the constitutional successor of President Biya is suffering from leukaemia.

Hon. Niat (85) has been sick for years and “blood tests have shown he has a low platelet count – a symptom of leukaemia or other cancers” our source at the Cameroon embassy revealed.

A French Cameroun official at the hospital which specializes in blood disorders that hosted Mr Niat said the Senator and his family were moving towards the end of his illness.

Niat did not participate in the parliamentary session in November 2019. To be sure, the Biya acolyte was represented by the first vice-president of the Upper House, Aboubakary Abdoulaye.

The ailing Senate boss was even forced in October 2018, to vote for the presidential election at the Cameroon embassy in Paris, France.

By Chi Prudence Asong

28, January 2020

Germany confirms first case of deadly coronavirus ⁰

Germany has declared its first confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus that broke out in China.

Bavaria’s health department said late on Monday that a man in the town of Starnberg, 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Munich, has been confirmed as suffering from the virus.

The patient is in “good condition” and isolated under medical observation, Bavaria’s health department said in a statement posted on its website. It did not disclose any details of the patient’s age or nationality.

“People who have been in contact (with the patient) have been informed in detail about possible symptoms, hygiene measures and transmission channels,” the health department said.

The virus, that broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of last year, has thus far killed 100 people, infected over 2,800 others, stranded tens of millions during the big Lunar New Year holiday and rattled global markets.

Cases linked to people who travelled from Wuhan have been confirmed in a dozen countries, from Japan to the United States.

(REUTERS)

25, January 2020

France confirms first three cases of Wuhan coronavirus in Europe ⁰

France confirmed on Friday its first three cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, with two patients being hospitalised in Paris and the other in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn told a news conference authorities had confirmed two cases, Europe’s first, and that more cases were likely to occur in France.

In a separate statement on Friday, the health ministry announced the third case, a relative of one of the first two.

Earlier, the charity SOS Medecins said it had treated one of the cases, a patient of Chinese origin who was showing symptoms of a fever and who said he had been in contact with people from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Buzyn said the patient was 48 years old and had returned two days ago from a trip to China which included a stop in Wuhan.

“He’s been put in an isolated room so as to avoid any contact with the outside world. He’s fine”, she said.

Most of the cases and all of the deaths so far have been in China, where officials have imposed severe restrictions on travel and public gatherings.

The virus has created alarm, but there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as just how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can lead to pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.

The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the virus an “emergency in China”, but stopped short of declaring it a global health emergency.

Buzyn said the official advice to those suspecting they might have caught the virus was not to go to hospital – to avoid spreading it – but to call a special number where they would be told what to do.

The minister said she planned to hold daily news conferences on the issue.

(REUTERS)

22, January 2020

Bikutsi: Cameroon’s hyper-erotic dance giving women an artistic ‘voice’ ⁰

Bikutsi, a dance celebrating sexuality and relationships, has taken centre stage across Cameroon in the past three decades.

The form arose in patriarchal communities where women were forbidden “to raise their voices in public”, Cameroonian ethnomusicologist Jean Maurice Noah wrote in his book on the subject.

Olivia Beyene, Bikutsi singer said: “That’s the soppy, frilly side, that’s what it is. It’s a bit seductive too, it’s part of bikutsi, especially on stage and it’s specific to Cameroon, it’s specific to the Cameroon bikutsi show.”

An artistic director says Bikutsi is hyper erotic, sensual and expresses what is basic. The, ground, the earth, the essence and at the end of the day, and at the end of all that we have done, there is what is essential to man, to human being, a rapprochement between man and woman.

Olivia adds: “It’s kind of popular. In Cameroon the population likes it, the population likes the perverse side, that’s what attracts attention. It’s just to attract attention and to play to the gallery. But if not, behind all this, there is always a message to convey.”

Bikutsi was born in pre-colonial times in the fang, bulu and beti ethnic areas of central and southern Cameroon, where women would gather together after a hard day’s work, without the men, to sing and dance of joys, sorrows and frustrations.

In this era of freedom, some women expressed, the pain of living next to a violent husband, while others shared the secrets of a successful marriage with the younger ones.

Source: France 24

21, January 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Native doctors wanted ⁰

There is an acute shortage of native doctors today in the country’s two English-speaking regions of the country due to the ongoing civil war that is tearing the country apart.

Most native doctors, who used to say they could even prevent thunder from striking, have all vanished ever since the civil war broke out.

Native doctors have been targeted by both government forces and Amba fighters for different reasons.

Government troops accuse them of preparing the amulets, known as Odeshi, which are supposedly protecting the fighters against the military’s superior fire power.

Amba boys, for their part, have been targeting these doctors whose ability to protect anybody against death has not been tested.

Some Amba fighters have even had to take the native doctors with them to their jungle for them to spend time on practices that can protect them against bullets.

But some of the native doctors have been killed by bullets during fierce confrontations between the warring factions. Strangely, they could not protect themselves.

Speaking to a native doctor from Kumba who has become an IDP in Douala in East Cameroon, he said that the fighting had ruined his business.

Asked why he had to leave Kumba due to the fighting, he said bullets did not need a visa to reach anybody, adding that it would be foolhardy for anyone to stand in the way of a roaring bullet.

He added that most of his work tools had been ruined due to the fighting; stressing that living in East Cameroon was like living in Hell as he could not speak French.

He said he was praying for the fighting to end, adding that he had embraced God and would be mixing western religion and his native medicine to produce better results.

He urged his colleagues who had fled to Nigeria to return home so that they could work together to bring about peace in the war-torn country.

He pointed out that poverty was stalking him like a stubborn shadow since he had lost his clients and constituting a new client base in East Cameroon was indeed challenging.

He stressed that there were many mentally-ill people today in the two English-speaking regions of the country because of the war, adding that if the war had stopped, he and his colleagues could have helped to stabilize those who have been mentally and psychologically scarred by the war.

He opined that more native doctors would be required, as many had died due to poverty and lost business opportunities.

He indicated that there was a lot of work for new native doctors, especially those who could stand the pressure and stress of dealing with mentally-ill persons.

By Joachim Arrey

19, January 2020

Makossa: Leg amputee Nguea La Route will never walk and dance again ⁰

Renowned Cameroonian artist Nguea La Route who had a hip disarticulation operation, meaning they removed her left leg up to and including the hip joint on October 4, 2019, has gotten another amputation on her right leg. The operation took place at the Douala General Hospital on the night of Wednesday, January 15, 2020.

Mama Nguea entered the surgery around 11pm Wednesday and came out shortly after 3 a.m. Local media reported that Nguea La Route had a long session in the intensive care unit.

The artist, whose condition seemed stabilized after the first operation, had left Laquintinie hospital several weeks ago. Things however took a dramatic u turn and she was rushed to the General Hospital where a second amputation took place.

Cameroon Concord News understands a charity concert was organized in Douala on December 2, 2019 in support of the artist. The free concert sponsored by Nicole Mara brought together several legends including Ben Decca, Toto Guillaume, Franco and Hobscur.

The musicians took popular songs from Mama Nguea that celebrated life and raised 400,000 CFA francs which was handed over to her.

By Rita Akana

19, January 2020

Yaounde: Teachers Protest, Seek Reinstatement of Corporal Punishment Amid Rising Violence ⁰

Cameroon teachers are protesting what they say is growing violence against them by both students and their parents, and the teachers are urging the government to protect them and reinstate corporal punishment. The teachers say the absence of corporal punishment is encouraging abuse of teachers. This week, several attacks on teaching staffs were reported, including one in which a teenage student fatally stabbed his teacher, in the capital.

Students shout Saturday at a government-run school in Obala, a town on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, protesting the principal’s decision to destroy all mobile phones and knives seized from children Friday at the school. One of their senior discipline masters, Narcisse Ateba, says the students use mobile phones to access social media platforms that promote violence, and they also use sharp objects such as knives to attack their peers and teachers.

He says that some parents and students will want to harass or beat him up, but he has nonetheless decided to publicly destroy the 15 mobile phones found and seized by teachers from students Friday because it is illegal to use them in classrooms. He says he will not allow students to come to school with razor blades, box-cutters and knives.

The destruction of the mobile phones and the peaceful marches to administrative offices and palaces are part of protests by teachers at Obala against what they say are increasing acts of violence against them.

This week, a 16-year-old student at the public school Nkolbisson in a neighborhood in Yaounde is accused of using a knife to stab his mathematics teacher who died of excessive bleeding as he was being rushed to a hospital. The school said the student insisted on using his mobile phone in class against the teacher’s instruction. The student was arrested and detained by police, and will be answering to charges, including premeditated killing.

Another teacher this week was battered by students in Douala for questioning why they were late to school, and yet another teacher in Douala was beaten by a parent and fell into a coma. The parent was said to be angry with the teacher’s decision to use corporal punishment on his son as punishment for making noise in class. In another incident, a student used a machete to chop off another student’s finger in Obala after a fight during a soccer match.

Elvis Yisinyuy, an official with the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union in Yaounde, says attacks by students on teachers intensified in 2015 when Cameroon prohibited teachers from beating or severely punishing students.

“When a minister says that teachers are not supposed to administer corporal punishment to students, the student will now see that he [the minister] has the right to bring disorder because there is nothing the teacher can do in class,” said Yisinyuy. “The minister should revisit the text and permit teachers to administer corporal punishment with caution.

Yusinyuy said the high wave of drug consumption by students and the inability of teachers to use corporal punishment because they have been prohibited from doing so is also responsible for the wave of attacks.

Nalova Lyonga, Cameroon minister of secondary education, says corporal punishment can not be tolerated because it is an abuse on the rights of students who are mostly children.

“What I have told the teachers is that they themselves have to make a distinction between a disciplinary case and a case which becomes a criminal case, and they should be able to report to the special police at the disposal of the schools,” said Lyonga.

Lyonga said Cameroon students are exposed to other cultures of the world because of the increasing use of mobile phones, and they gain access to social media platforms that promote violence, while neglecting the peace and unity that Cameroon traditionally preaches.

Carol Kayum, president of Reference Citizens, a non-governmental organization that promotes citizenship education, has been visiting schools in Yaounde to educate both teachers and students against violence. She says Cameroon should uphold it’s culture of non-violence to prevent the growing number of assaults on other students and teachers.

“Our cultures are rich. Parents should transmit them to children, and also there should be communication between schools and parents so that we know what our children are doing in school, and we also tell the school authorities what the children do at home,” said Kayum. “School authorities and parents should control the use of drugs.

Kayum said many people now join the teaching profession because they lack jobs, and not for the love of teaching, and as such, they are not loved by students.

The students also have complained they are harassed by some teachers whom they accuse of behaving poorly or not teaching well.

The Cameroon Ministry of Secondary Education has recorded 40 violent attacks by students on their peers, 22 attacks on teachers and 15 attacks by parents on teachers within the past month.

Source: VOA

18, January 2020

Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan to give up royal titles ⁰

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have agreed to give up their royal titles and stop receiving public funds as part of a settlement with the Queen that lets them spend more private time in Canada.

The announcement from Buckingham Palace on Saturday follows more than a week of intense private talks aimed at managing the fallout of the couple’s shock decision to give up front-line royal duties.

“Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family,” Queen Elizabeth II said in a statement.

“I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”

Her comments referred to battles with the media that prompted Harry and Meghan — known until now as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — to sue several newspapers over intrusions into their private lives.

A separate statement attributed to Buckingham Palace said “the Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family”.

HRH is the acronym for Her Royal Highness.

“As agreed in this new arrangement, they understand that they are required to step back from Royal duties, including official military appointments. They will no longer receive public funds for Royal duties,” the statement said.

The settlement added that the two will also repay £2.4 million ($3.1 million) of taxpayer’s money spent on renovating their Frogmore Cottage home near Windsor Castle.

– ‘Progressive new role’ –

The Palace added that it would not comment on who ends up paying for their security detail in Canada — an issue of intense public debate.

It also failed to mention whether the couple would be allowed to benefit financially from future royalties and franchise fees.

Harry and Meghan are seeking to register the “Sussex Royal” brand as a global trademark for their future enterprises.

The couple are dedicated to environmental causes and are looking to develop their charitable foundation as part of a “progressive” new role.

The queen’s announcement is her second on the royal crisis — dubbed Megxit in honour of Britain’s painful battle over Brexit — ahead of Harry and Meghan’s effective resignation on March 8.

“We have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple said at the time.

“We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America.” Meghan then jetted back to Canada and is now their with their son Archie.

Their announcement caught the royal family by surprise and created a media sensation in both Britain and the wider world.

Their treatment by London’s hard-hitting tabloid press and their personal future — as well as questions about longstanding royal traditions — have turned into daily front-page news.

Media reports said Harry would probably join Meghan and Archie on the west coast of Canada this coming week.

Source: AFP