Life

First ever Manyu ekpe extraordinary session holds in London, Sesekou Ralph Tanyi vindicated

20, June 2017

First ever Manyu ekpe extraordinary session holds in London, Sesekou Ralph Tanyi vindicated 0

Large differences among ekpe members from Manyu Division based in the United Kingdom which led to sharp debates and cultural schisms, and the famous Pa Tanyi’s public denunciation of Sesekou Ralph Tanyi shows how extensive the feuding in UK ekpe lodge has become and how remote the prospects of unity are among the Manyu ekpe citizens.
It were for these reasons that the first ever ekpe extraordinary session in Great Britain held on Saturday the 17th of June 2017 at the residence of His Royal Highness Chief Sampson Abangma who also moonlights as the supreme leader of the Bache kingdom.

Opening the session, Chief Abangma observed that Manyu ekpe members must return to the hallowed values lay down by the ancestors that for decade after decade, sought to bring about really meaningful peace and decorum in the Manyu nation. The singing was amazing and led by Nfor Ngbe Nelson Agbortoko of Besongabang.

The Manyu title holders reportedly examined the main issues confronting the ekpe community in the UK including an investigation opened in Cameroon by Pa Sampson Tanyi against the award of a Sesekou title to a senior Manyu elite in the UK, Ralph Tanyi. Cameroon Concord News understands the so-called Manyu Ekpe Supreme Council wrote a letter to Pa Tanyi in which the body noted that Ralph Tanyi had breached ekpe rules and should not be recognized as a Sesekou.

By some strange happenstance, the document was forwarded to various Manyu groups and other Cameroonian cultural associations in the UK and Northern Ireland. The UK ekpe lodge after a thorough examination of the letter and backed by the fact that the Manyu Chiefs Conference had distanced itself from the said document, resolved that Ralph Tanyi of Kembong village was a recognized Manyu title holder and a Sesekou.
The UK ekpe lodge also advised Sessekou Pa Sampson Tanyi to stop posing as a traditional ruler mindful of the fact that he is a quarter-head in his native Tayor village. The Manyu elders further pointed out that there is no organization known as Manyu Mgbe Britain and that the Mamfe ekpe lodge should be made to understand the structure of ekpe in the UK.

In a soul-searching speech, Sesekou Ralph Tanyi informed the forum that Pa Tanyi had conducted a 15 years inquiry on his person ever since he raised an alarm on the corruption practices in the Manyu Elements Cultural Association, MECA UK. Consequently, the house reached a unanimous decision that the obscure document was a fabrication aimed at tarnishing the hard earned reputation of Sesekou Ralph Tanyi. The Manyu traditionalists also stated that the Pa Tanyi letter was extremely lacking in ekpe finesse.

The UK ekpe lodge meeting was attended by HRH Sessekou Chief Sampson Abangma, Sesekou Augustine Tambekong of Bachou Ntai, Sessekou Thomas Tambe of Eyang Atem Ako, Sessekou Sampson Tanyi of Tayor, Sessekou Ralph Tanyi of Kembong, Osongoribo Samuel Akoegbe of Besongabang and Osongoribo Pius Mbi of Etoko.

By Eyong Peter


Political GCE in Southern Cameroon: Bamenda under high security, Soldiers transporting exam papers

13, June 2017

Political GCE in Southern Cameroon: Bamenda under high security, Soldiers transporting exam papers 0

The examination centers for the political GCE that started yesterday in West Cameroon are reportedly under very strong security presence in Bamenda with a little more than 36,000 candidates in the seven divisions of the North West region  participating.

Cameroon Concord News understands the examination is under close surveillance. Victor Mombakued, the Regional Delegate for Secondary Education, reassured national opinion on the security measures taken in the various “safe examination centers”.  He said to prevent pyromaniacs from attacking examination centers; the regional delegation of Secondary Education has been working in close collaboration with the staff of the Governor.

The army has been involved in the transportation and distribution of examination materials since most of the candidates are Francophone Cameroonians. Delegate Victor Mombakued was heard calling on parents to send their children to take part in the political GCE.

It should be noted that all seven divisions in the North West Region are home to GCE Writing Centers. They are Bui, Boyo, Donga Mantung, Mezam, Menchum, Momo, Ngoketunjia. The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium had declared the GCE null and void and Anglophone parents have been warned to keep their children away from those bogus GCE centers created by the Francophone regime in Yaoundé.

By Fru James

Cameroon Concord News

Anglophone Problem: Testing the wrong waters

10, June 2017

Anglophone Problem: Testing the wrong waters 0

After more than seven months, the unfortunate political situation playing out in Cameroon has not known any significant changes, despite many promises by the government aimed at appeasing the rebelling Anglophone minority. Over the last months, other events capable of overshadowing the Anglophone crisis have occurred, but through careful planning and effective communication, Anglophones have ensured that their problem stays on the front burner. They have continued to use all means available to them to ensure the world does not forget that a linguistic minority is being marginalized and mistreated in Cameroon. With the Anglophone Diaspora’s help, Cameroon has been put in the global spotlight, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. The Anglophone problem remains a pain in the government’s side. It has given it a bad name, placing it among the most dangerous human rights abusers. The United Nations, the Vatican and other partners of the country have all called on the country’s leaders to find long-lasting solutions to this problem that might throw the entire sub-region into an unprecedented turmoil, if not well-managed.

To brush up its image, the government has already made many concessions. Its to-do list is incredibly long. The promises have come from all sectors and today, every Francophone official in Cameroon is doing his best to speak English in a bid to placate Anglophones who feel cheated and abused by both the government and ordinary Francophones. However, for many Anglophones, government promises are not worth their weight in gold. They are more cosmetic than real. The government is used to speaking from both sides of its mouth and going to it for solutions is like looking for love in all the wrong places. Anglophones are still very mad at the government and they hold that it must release their leaders and display a lot of good faith for any meaningful discussions to take place. They argue that, having suffered for fifty-six years due to the government’s policy to marginalize them, the aging government must take concrete actions to convince Anglophones that it is serious with the whole notion of national unity.

Anglophones are also pointing to the continuous arrest of their fellow brothers and the detention of their leaders as evidence that the government is not repentant about the destruction and pain it has caused the people of the North West and South West regions. They argue that as long as Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, Dr. Fontem Neba and Mr. Mancho Bibixy remain in detention, there will never be peace in Cameroon. It should be pointed out that more than 100 Anglophones are still being held in jails across the country and many had been killed at the height of the crisis, while some have died due to harsh detention conditions. The pain and suffering this situation has caused Anglophones and the gimmicks the government is playing are simply causing the crisis to linger.

Over the last couple of months, the trial of Anglophone leaders has been going on, with no end in sight. Anglophones expect the government to release their leaders so that real and genuine discussions can take place. The pain of marginalization and the killing of fellow Anglophones have left the North West and South West regions in pain. Schools have remained closed since October 2016, though the government gives the impression that things are well on track. Courts have remained closed across the entire Anglophone region for more than seven months following the beating of striking lawyers and the arrest of Barrister Agbor-Balla who is now a symbol of the struggle.

The government has been up to its old antics, believing that time will be its ally in this fight. It strongly believes that by continuously adjourning the case against Anglophone leaders, it will win the war of nerves it is waging against Anglophones. It erroneously holds that with time, Anglophones will simply forget about their leaders who are in jail and life will return to the ‘old normal’.

From every indication, the government appears not to have a full understanding of the issues and the current economic and political contexts. It holds that poverty will bring striking Anglophones to their knees. The current crisis has changed Cameroon forever. Anglophones are no longer scared of a regime that has brought untold hardship to its own people. Time and technology are on their side. Communication has become cheaper and easier, thanks to ICTs. Information can easily be shared and mobilization has become a lot easier. Over the last thirty years, the government has done a lot to impoverish Anglophones, but this has now changed following the advent of ICTs. ICTs are enabling many Anglophones to seek online opportunities. They understand that ridding themselves of a patronizing government is the best path to tread. With globalization, driven by ICTs, Anglophones are seeking opportunities abroad while still living in their country. Many Anglophones are working online and earning incomes while still fighting for better living conditions at home. The Anglophone Diaspora is shoring up their efforts and this is helping the population to stay the course. The people are determined to change Cameroon in a big and positive way and no government gimmicks will diminish their hunger for a better country.

The government appears to be testing the waters, but these waters are the wrong ones, as they are full of violent and merciless crocodiles. Anglophones are carefully watching the government and a false step on its part will surely put the country on the path to self-ruination. Five decades of hardship have hardened Anglophones and the appetite for secession is growing by the day as the government fails to start discussions on the country’s political future. Anglophones are impatiently waiting for their leaders to be released. The wait is too long and it is giving way to disappointment as the military tribunal in Yaounde keeps on delaying the sentencing of Anglophone leaders who, from every indication, are in good spirit.

Anglophones are really running out of patience. The more the wait protracts, the more radicalized they become. In many parts of the North West and South West Regions, Anglophones are challenging government authorities. Recently in Bamenda, some students who dared to go to examination centres to write the General Certificate of Education (GCE) exams,met with an unfortunate fate. They were amputated by some masked men. With government authority waning in many parts of the Anglophone region, many cloak-and-dagger organizations have sprung up and anybody caught violating the people’s laws gets dealt with in a manner that is far from being pleasant.

Anglophones have made up their minds. They are walking away from the status quo ante and they seriously think the future of their country must be different, not just in terms of opportunities, but also in terms of leaders. Current leaders are old and sick and have lost the will to bring prosperity and dignity to their people.

The Anglophone Diaspora, for its part, is still at work. This time around, it is out of the government’s radar. With many groups emerging as a result of the crisis, the situation is becoming more complicated. The Anglophone Diaspora has a huge war chest and it is ready to participate in the country’s future development. It should be recalled that due to a well-orchestrated government marginalization policy, more than two million Anglophones are, today, living out of Cameroon, with many of them residing in Nigeria, South Africa, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Diaspora has the wherewithal and with its encyclopedic mind, it is capable of lending a helping and useful hand to development efforts in the country. Most Anglophone engineers, translators, interpreters, lawyers, medical doctors and nurses are living out of their native land. These men and women are happy to serve their country, but bad politics and poor governance have seen them off to distant lands where cold and loneliness are blighting their lives. The Diaspora is behind efforts by Anglophones to change the political equation in Cameroon. It is determined to bring about a new country that will be based on justice, fairness, human rights and the rule of law.

While the government dilly-dallies in starting discussions on the form of the state, the Anglophone Diaspora is, for its part, forming many groups to ensure that the government fights a war on many fronts. While diplomacy is considered the option of choice, there are also efforts at using other methods to mount incredible pressure on a crumbling government that has no emotional attachment to its own people. Many of these groups are calling for the total independence of Southern Cameroons, while a few still hold that federalism could make Cameroon a better place than the one in which they grew up.  But there are a few groups that are still spitting fire, arguing that if Anglophone leaders get convicted for crimes they have not committed, then the government has opted for total chaos. Fund-raising efforts in many USA cities are now focused on organizing a liberation struggle, with SCNC championing the cause. SCNC argues that the government of Cameroon cannot be trusted and that only a total liberation struggle in Cameroon will give Anglophones the independence they need.

However, many moderates still want to give the government a second chance. They hold that federalism could address many issues raised by Anglophones. They point to Canada which has the same linguistic problem, adding that while federalism may not be a panacea, it will however go a long way in creating harmony and peace in the country. The moderates, however,posit that if Cameroon has to avert the specter of war, then it should be looking at Canadian-style democracy which has made Canada one of the best countries in the world. Canada is not only a bilingual country, it is a country that has become the envy of the entire world with many people from across the globe heading there to give their children the opportunity to grow up in peace. They want their children to enjoy the economic and financial prosperity that has become Canada’s hallmark.

While the world is expecting Cameroonians to work out their differences around a negotiating table, the government is quietly pursuing its own agenda. Though it disagreed with the demands initially made by Anglophone teachers and lawyers, it is now implementing some of the changes called for by those in jail in a bid to defuse the unfortunate situation that has lasted for more than seven months. It has begun implementing some of those measures, though its efforts are still not dousing the fire in many Anglophone minds. The National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) will soon be welcoming some 80 Anglophones– an Anglophone is a descendant of somebody born in Former Southern Cameroons – who will be trained and sent to the Anglophone region to attend to their people so as to put an end to the arrogance Anglophones have been accusing Francophone Cameroonians of.

A few days ago, the government posted Anglophone judges and magistrates to the entire Anglophone region and this has been hailed by many moderates who think such measures could help reduce tensions. However, the road ahead is still very long. The Common Law section at the Supreme Court is still a promise just like the appointment of Anglophones to key government positions. Anglophones are sick and tired of being considered as second-class citizens. They want the injustice to be addressed and this should be done within a broad-based forum on the country’s future where oil and other resources must feature on the agenda.

The world is watching Cameroon. The once-upon-a-time oasis of peace has become a land of chaos. The Anglophone minority is hell-bent on changing the country. It wants a federal structure that will preserve the Anglophone culture and guarantee the rights of the people. Its determination has put the Francophone majority to shame. Anglophones are prepared to walk away from Cameroon if the government does not change its views on the form of the state. After fifty-six years of marginalization, the country’s English-speaking minority thinks it is time to right the wrongs of the past. They want this to be achieved through dialogue, but the government is not yet prepared to yield a lot of ground. Having played God for five decades, the Yaounde government is yet to come to terms with the political changes Anglophones are calling for. But time is of the essence. The government has to realize that times have changed and the authority it used to wield over its people is gone for good. The Anglophone Diaspora has successfully injected itself into the political equation and it is time to recognize it or it will spend a huge amount of time plotting schemes that will destabilize the country for a long time. There is no point testing the wrong waters. Anglophone leaders should be released for Cameroon to know some peace. Cameroon will be a united and indivisible country if dialogue is given a chance.  Sticking to old ways will not help anybody. Everybody needs peace and only dialogue can bring peace to a country.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

Contributing Editor, Cameroon Concord News Group

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the African continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.

 

Francophone medics announce TOTAL SHUTDOWN as doctors strike enter third phase

9, June 2017

Francophone medics announce TOTAL SHUTDOWN as doctors strike enter third phase 0

The Cameroon Medical Doctors Trade Union (Symec) has again announced a general strike action in all public hospitals from June 12, 2017. Symec says the strike is part of the third phase of their action, despite the numerous stonewalls erected by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government.

Cameroon doctors have made public four major demands which include the establishment of basic health insurance with universal coverage; Wage increases for physicians in the public sector, suspension of non-salary physician assignments, and an increase in the retirement age of physicians between the ages of 55 and 65.

The Francophone Minister of Public Health, tried to break the actions of the doctors by assigning in the remote areas, the leaders of the union, whose calls to strike are very closely monitored by the vicious regime in Yaoundé.

By Sonne Peter

Cameroon Concord News

Africa: New Media Technologies and Citizen Participation in the Public Sphere

27, May 2017

Africa: New Media Technologies and Citizen Participation in the Public Sphere 0

New media technologies have, for a long time, been considered as communication tools par excellence because they are believed to enhance citizen participation in the public sphere. These technologies of freedom are also beloved because of their interactivity and the independence they grant citizens across the world. Because of this, many communication scholars have posited that new media technologies will radically change the African continent in terms of citizen participation in the public sphere. However, Africa has always proven to be a different continent, especially regarding these trans formative technologies. The following article by our Contributing Editor Dr. Joachim Arrey sheds more light on the role these technologies can play to transform political participation in African countries. He also highlights how these challenges are actually militating against the democratization of these technologies. 

The emergence of new media technologies in the twentieth Century has not only raised enthusiasm about citizen political participation in the public sphere in the digital era, it has also given the voiceless a chance to express their views and hold their leaders accountable. The enthusiasm is based on the popularity of new media technologies and the fact that they enjoy relative autonomy from state and commercial control and influence. New media technologies are not only considered as extremely effective means to record, store and distribute information, they are believed to allow for asynchronous as well as synchronous two-way information flow while at the same time being independent of spatial constraints. They are exceptional tools when it comes to helping individuals and groups promote their causes to public officials and interested members of the public.

The use of new media technologies for participatory communication in the public sphere is viewed as a significant path to the advancement of deliberative and participatory democracy across Africa. As pointed out by communications scholars such as Wasserman, Nyamnjoh and Hurwitz, research on new media technologies has underscored the relationship between new media technologies and greater citizen participation in the democratic process in both Western and non-Western cultures and these new technologies are serving as engines that are galvanizing public interest and participation in modern democracies such as those on the African continent. Currently, across the continent, many people view the Internet, in particular, as the new communication tool par excellence and the venue for political groups of all stripes to propagate their political messages and win sympathy and new members to their political agenda. Compared with the Platonic ideal of individual citizen action and participation, new media technologies constitute new phenomena that are facilitating mass communication in technologically-equipped societies. Unlike old media, new media technologies are facilitating new forms of two-way communication and political participation, encouraging interaction among citizens and public officials and providing a rich forum for the discussion of contentious political issues.

In recent years, these tools of freedom are being employed by advocacy and interest groups to organize their supporters for online lobbying of local, national and foreign officials. Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are making it a lot easier for citizens to share their perspectives and expose crimes committed by dictatorial or democratic governments that engage in undemocratic and abusive practices. These new technologies have been instrumental in significant political changes in Africa. Across the continent, social media have reduced the cost and complexity of organizing mass numbers of individuals into a single, cohesive, political force and they have, in the process, redefined social activism, attracting and enabling the young and the old to make common cause where necessary and such actions have resulted in the downfall of brutal dictators such as Gadhafi of Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Ben Ali of Tunisia. What is more interesting is that new media continue to evolve, creating new opportunities for political expression that becomes increasingly difficult for others to suppress like the recent demonstration in Egypt following the military’s overthrow of Egypt’s democratically elected President, Mohammed Morsi. Thanks to new media technologies, platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are redefining the way political participation in the public sphere is occurring. Given its growing membership, Facebook is now the third largest country on earth and it is now among the electronic platforms of choice for many political organizations and people across the world, including Africa, for them to share their political views and participate in their countries’ political activities.

These technologies are all the more appealing due to their interactivity, universality and the freedom they provide to citizens to choose the information that meets their needs. They are popular means of communication because they are free from control by political authorities and market forces. This implies that with new media, the gate-keeping role of journalists in traditional media has been diminished.

However, at the heart of this debate is the issue of access. If citizens must participate in the political and democratic process, they must have access to information which plays a key role in how citizens participate in the political process and how they make judgments about the performance of their political leaders. The extent to which new forms of democratic participation in Africa can be developed using new media technologies will also depend on how these new communications technologies are regulated. It will also depend on who has access. Despite their relative autonomy, more than two decades after their introduction, there are questions about access, inequality, power and quality of information. Though online communities are emerging across Africa, they are mostly among the elite. Discussions about new media have often disregarded the unusual African terrain which defies many of the technological innovations said to be re-configuring the structures and processes of communications globally. This includes poor telecommunication networks in most parts of Africa, resulting in low levels of Internet usage. While new media technologies have a role to play in enhancing citizen participation in the public sphere, their potential and effectiveness in Africa must be viewed in light of the continent’s economic, political and cultural realities.

For new media technologies to actually enable African citizens to participate in their countries’ political and democratic processes, these citizens must have unfettered access to these tools of modern communication which have resulted in greater citizen political participation in other parts of the world. In Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a huge gap between those who have access to new media technologies and those who don’t have. Many people in rural parts of the continent are not technology savvy and do not have the resources and requisite telecommunications infrastructure that can enable them be part of the new information age. This therefore calls into question the notion that new media technologies can radically enhance citizen participation in the public sphere in Africa. With media censorship in the era of new media a reality on the continent, citizen participation in the public sphere is unlikely to increase.

The new media environment is still the bastion of society’s more privileged members, and has done little to encourage participation among the traditionally unengaged. Even as the Internet user base increases and becomes more ordinary on the continent, it still is not available to millions of citizens who do not have the resources and skills to participate in the new feast of ideas. In some ways, the Internet has widened the political information and participation gap between societal ‘haves and ‘have-nots’ on the continent and this is gradually eroding the initial hope and excitement about the Internet being a public sphere of unmediated discourse.

NB This article was first published on May 2014

Biya laptop computer gift may just be another CPDM political hoax

27, May 2017

Biya laptop computer gift may just be another CPDM political hoax 0

Several students from the University of Yaoundé have claimed that they met the requirements for a computer promised by President Biya but their names have disappeared from the additive list. Many of the students who recently rallied at the Ngoa ekellé campus of the University of Yaoundé 1 do not understand why their names are not on the list of beneficiaries of laptops promised by the 84 year dictator.

Cameroon Concord News however gathered that the students have fulfilled the conditions requested by the authorities. It is not the first corrupt incident that involves the national chairman of the ruling CPDM party. It was the same with the President Biya’s Excellence Awards. So far, 15,532 students are registered beneficiaries of the 500,000 computers promised by the Head of State.

The fact remains that these computers, which would normally have already been distributed to students, remain highly anticipated and may just be another Biya wholesale hoaxes.

By Sama Ernest

French Cameroun: CPDM government celebrates “mixed” couples

23, May 2017

French Cameroun: CPDM government celebrates “mixed” couples 0

After a failed national day celebration in both French and Anglophone Cameroon, the Biya Francophone regime is now brandishing the names of cabinet ministers who are married to women from outside their regions of origin as a major achievement and a justification that the nation is one and indivisible.  , L’Œil du Sahel news paper reportedly having strong ties with the regime in Yaounde revealed that Ministers Amadou Ali, Louis Paul Motaze, Baba Hamadou,  and the disgraced Marafa Hamidou Yaya including many other highly placed government officials are married to women from other regions.

The paper observed that the Francophone political elites view national integration in Cameroon with passion of the mind. L’Œil du Sahel made an incursion into the private lives of certain senior Francophone members of government among them Ministers, MPs, Senators and general managers of state owned corporations  who are sharing their lives with women from other regions and cultures.

The report revealed that Amadou Ali, the Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, is married to Agnes Françoise Ali, born in Moukouri in the Littoral region. Amadou Ali is a Kanuri Muslim who went to look for a woman in a non-Muslim family in the Littoral, more than 1000 km from place of birth in Kolofata.

In another case, Louis Paul Motaze, the current Minister of Economy and former Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s Office is married to Aïssa, an Haoussa from the Logone and Birni Division in the Far North region whom he met in 1985. To be sure, Louis Paul Motaze and Aïssa Motaze will be celebrating 33 years in matrimony this year.

Senator Baba Hamadou originally from Ngaoundéré got married to Françoise Hamadou an Ewondo from Ngoumou. The couples have been married for 27years now.  In the same vein, the former minister today in prison, Marafa Hamidou Yaya has bonded with Jeannette, a Sawa from Banassama while Sports Minister Bidoung Mpkatt has Habissou Bidoung from the North.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

Yaounde: Awareness programmes mark “World No Tobacco Day”

23, May 2017

Yaounde: Awareness programmes mark “World No Tobacco Day” 0

A free consultation campaign for smokers has been launched at the Cite Verte District Hospital in Yaoundé. The two-day campaign that began on the 22nd May 2017 was initiated by the Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control (C3T) as part of activities ahead of the World No Tobacco Day on the 31st of May 2017. Commemorative activities are holding under the theme, “Tobacco: A threat to development.”

According to the Communication Officer of C3T, Caleb Ayong the health campaign aims at informing smokers on the damage caused by smoking and the importance of constant medical check-up and follow-up treatment. He also stated that tobacco is a deadly product that kills half of all its consumers, adding that many ignore the devastating effects of tobacco because they are not immediate.

The Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control’s Communication Officer expressed the wish that by the end of the campaign, Tuesday 23rd May, many smokers would have turned up for the free consultation and take necessary measures to get adequate treatment.

According to a communiqué signed by the President of the C3T, Dr Flore Ndembiyembe, sensitization stickers will be distributed to inter-urban transporters on 30th May and a Poster Exhibition dubbed the Shocking Truth will be organized at the Cercle Municipale, Bonanjo in Douala on 31st May 2017.

Source: CRTV

Yaounde: Husband stops wife from boarding flight to Paris

21, May 2017

Yaounde: Husband stops wife from boarding flight to Paris 0

A man prevented his wife from boarding a flight to Paris at the Yaoundé Nsimalen airport last Thursday. The lady whose names we are withholding had gone through airport security and was waiting for the time to initiate the formalities for her boarding when her husband arrived and handed over their marriage certificate to the airport police officers who later denied the woman access to the plane.

The 32-year-old wife tried to leave her 39-year-old husband with their her 4 children and taking more than half of their family savings of over 2.5 million CFA francs from their credit union account. The husband, originally from the West region, is a taxi driver and the owner of several others. He was informed of the secret project by his wife’s best friend. Feeling betrayed, the husband hurried to Yaoundé Nsimalen airport on the day of the flight with their marriage certificate and managed to block his wife’s trip to Europe.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the lady, who hails from Douala in the Littoral reportedly, met a man via Face Book who had promised her a better life and marriage in Europe. After several virtual exchanges, the young lady decided to make the trip. After the drama last Thursday, the husband, decided to seek divorce. But the two families took steps to bring back the serenity and the idea of divorce has been dropped.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

Anglophone teachers in Yaoundé have refused to correct copies of the 2017 Common Entrance Examination

18, May 2017

Anglophone teachers in Yaoundé have refused to correct copies of the 2017 Common Entrance Examination 0

Unhappy with the reduction the Francophone government’s reduction of the marking fees from 60 francs last year to 33 CFA francs this year, Anglophone teachers in Yaoundé have said that they will not correct a single script of the Common Entrance Examination that held on Tuesday 16 May 2017.  The expression on the faces, and the angry tone of the conversations held with some of the teachers by our cream of reporters in Yaoundé, speaks volumes about the prevailing situation.

The 2017 session of the Common Entrance has just been completed by the primary school pupils and they are now waiting for the red ball pen users to get the correction job done. However, Cameroon Concord News has learnt from the Anglophone teaching community in Yaoundé that none of these teachers intend to enter the marking centers.

The Southern Cameroonians have refused to make the corrections and are also denouncing the drastic reduction of their expenses envisaged for this task. They had already done so last year, when the Biya Francophone government reduced the correction costs by half, from 120 CFA francs to 60 francs. The teachers were already in the marking centers yesterday Wednesday, May 17, 2017 preparing the marking scheme to start the corrections, when the CPDM Regional Delegate for the Center Region sent by the Minister of Basic Education announced another drastic reduction- a reduction according to which each teacher will receive only 33 CFA francs per corrected script.

This time around, the pill was impossible to swallow for these dedicated Anglophone teachers especially as reductions have become recurring in the cost of marking the Common Entrance Examination. Based on a Prime Minister Order that sets the fee for correction of the Common Entrance at 120 CFA francs, the angry teachers have made it clear that no copy will be marked under these conditions. It is now evident the Southern Cameroons crisis has spilled over into French Cameroun.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

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