Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has accused the United Nations of covering up its failure to establish peace in South Sudan by blaming a Kenyan commander in charge of the UN forces in the conflict-stricken country. Kenyatta said on Thursday that the UN was “scapegoating” Kenyan forces deployed to South Sudan for the failings of its mission in the country, known as UNMISS.

“We know that the people of this region want peace in South Sudan. But we also know that peace will not come to South Sudan by blaming a Kenyan commander for the wider failings of the mission to South Sudan,” said Kenyatta.

The harsh criticism came two days after the UN sacked Lieutenant General Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki as the head of UNMISS, saying the results of a probe into his response to the fighting in South Sudan in July were “chaotic and ineffective”. The UN said soldiers killed civilians, looted warehouses and raped women, including foreign aid workers, during the escalated wave of violence in the capital, Juba.

Kenyatta, however, rejected the findings and said that Kenya would pull out its troops from South Sudan in protest at the UN statements. “We will no longer contribute to a mission that has failed to meet its mandate, and which has now resorted to scapegoating Kenyans,” Kenyatta said, adding, “Serving does not come at the expense of the country’s dignity.”

Kenyatta’s angry remarks followed a Wednesday statement by the Kenyan Foreign Ministry which announced Ondieki’s dismissal but said soldiers would be withdrawn and Kenya would disengage from its mediator role in the peace process for South Sudan.

Kenya has more than 1,000 troops in South Sudan. The troops are part of the 13,000-strong force of UN Mission in South Sudan. It had also agreed to contribute to a proposed 4,000-strong “regional protection force” intended to bolster UNMISS.

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Kenya says it will withdraw from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dismissed the Kenyan commander of the mission over its failure to protect civilians. The Kenyan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the country would “withdraw, immediately” its forces from South Sudan in reaction to Ban’s decision.

On Tuesday, the UN secretary general dismissed and called for the immediate replacement of Lieutenant General Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki in reaction to a damning report that showed the failure of the mission to protect civilians and the UN staff during the deadly violence that erupted in the capital Juba in July.

The ministry said it had been informed “with dismay” of Ban’s decision, adding, “The continued deployment of (Kenya’s) troops in South Sudan is no longer tenable and is inimical to their safety and well-being.” It also accused the UN of failing to address the shortcomings of the peacekeeping mission, known as UNMISS. An independent UN inquiry released on Tuesday found that UNMISS had failed to respond to repeated pleas for help from aid workers under attack just a few minutes’ drive away.

According to the summary of the report, General Ondieki lacked the proper leadership of the mission that “culminated in a chaotic and ineffective response to the violence.” Kenya rebuked the dismissal as lacking transparency and consultation.

“This action is not only wrong but also insulates the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) from the hard questions it needs to answer, and the responsibility it must shoulder to facilitate the proper management of UNMISS,” the Kenyan Foreign Ministry said.

Kenya contributed about 1,000 troops to UNMISS, which is composed of nearly 16,000 soldiers. The ministry added that Kenya would also “discontinue plans to contribute to the Regional Protection Force, and … disengage from the South Sudan peace process.”

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011, but descended into war in December 2013, after President Salva Kiir accused the former vice president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup to usurp power. Numerous international attempts to reach a truce between the warring sides have failed.

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Moroccans have staged protest rallies across the North African country after a fisherman was crushed to death in a garbage truck while trying to take back fish seized by police. On Sunday, thousands of outraged people marched on the streets of several cities, including the northern town of Hoceima in the country’s Rif region where the fishmonger lost his life on Friday.

According to local media and authorities, the street vendor, Mouhcine Fikri, jumped inside the trash truck that police used to destroy the confiscated fish in a desperate attempt to recover it when he was caught inside the crusher. Fikri, 31, was selling sword fish, which is not allowed to be fished during this time of the season.

Protesters blamed the police for the gruesome death and demanded an end to what they termed official abuse and injustice. Sunday’s rallies were called by activists from the February 20 movement, which organized demonstrations during the Arab Spring-style protests in 2011. Arab Spring refers to a series of uprisings and revolutions that started across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 against unemployment, inflation as well as corruption, among other issues.

Fikri’s body was laid to rest in the area of Imzouren some 20 kilometers southeast of Hoceima in a huge funeral procession late Sunday afternoon.

“I have never seen such a crowd in the last few years, since 2011 at least,” said Houssin Lmrabet, an activist from the town of Imzouren, where thousands took part in the funeral of the victim and protests that followed. “Everyone feels crushed by that garbage truck.”

In an effort to calm tensions, Moroccan King Mohamed VI, currently on a tour of Africa, ordered Interior Minister Mohammed Hassad to visit the victim’s family and to ensure a “meticulous” investigation. Hassad denounced the incident and vowed that an investigation would be held to “determine the exact circumstances of the tragedy and punish those responsible.”

“No one had the right to treat him like this…. We cannot accept officials acting in haste, anger or in conditions that do not respect people’s rights,” Hassad said. The Moroccan Human Rights Association also censured the “heinous” incident and recalled another incident in Hoceima, in which five youths died during 2011 protests of the February 20th Movement. That movement emerged amid the Arab Spring uprisings that began in Tunisia when vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after police confiscated his wares.

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President Biya has thanked his Chadian counterpart and Chairman of the African Union for coming to comfort the Cameroonian people after the railway accident that shocked the entire nation. The Chadian leader Idriss Deby Itno paid a 48 hour visit to Cameroon on Friday, October 28, 2016.

The two heads of State met head-to-head at the Unity Palace during a dinner offered by the presidential couple. Paul Biya thanked Deby for his presence after the tragic train accident on the 21^st of October at Eséka. Said Biya, “As soon as you were informed of the rail disaster in my country, you sent us the condolences of the Chadian people and those of the people of the African continent in your capacity as Chairman of the African Union. This tragedy, this disaster, this event, shocked the entire Cameroonian people. Many of our compatriots have died … So many others were wounded.”

Biya added that “in addition to your message of condolence, you wanted to come in person today to bring us the comfort of your friendship. Thank you, Mr. President and dear brother. It is in trouble, they say, that one recognizes his true friends.”

President Biya did not miss the opportunity to magnify the relations linking the two countries in Central Africa. “These links are based on woven relations in history, between two neighboring peoples who have much in common. In the latest period, these relationships have shown that when the safety or even the existence of our country was threatened, we were able together to face and reverse the common enemy.”  President Deby will leave Cameroon today, October 29, 2016.

By Sama Ernest

The President of the Republic of Chad and current Chairman of the African Union, Idriss Deby Itno will begin a two day state visit to Cameroon today Friday the 28^th of October 2016.The Chadian dictator is expected in Yaounde at about 3:00pm local time.

President Idriss Deby will be received at the Nsimalen International airport by his Cameroonian counterpart Paul Biya. The two men will have a brief discussion at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde.

Idriss Deby Itno and Biya will have a tete a tete at the Unity Palace at 5:00pm.Chad and Cameroon are neighbouring countries that share strong bilateral ties. Both countries are currently combating the terrorist group Boko Haram. The Chad – Cameroon pipeline project remains concrete example of the brotherly ties that both countries share. The Idriss Deby visit ends on Saturday.

CRTV

According to information relayed this morning by Radio Equinoxe from Douala, William Eteki Mboumoua died in the early hours of Wednesday in Yaoundé from an illness.

83 year old, William Eteki Mboumoua was still in active service as the boss of the Cameroon Red Cross. He was elected Secretary General of the OAU to replace the late Nzo Ekanghaki who had fallen out of favour with the Ugandan thug, Idi Amin Dada. He also served as Minister of Education.

By Sonne Peter

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the expansion of relations with African countries is among the Islamic Republic’s central policies. In a Monday meeting with visiting Ivory Coast Foreign Minister Abdallah Albert Toikeusse Mabri in Tehran, Rouhani expressed Iran’s readiness to enhance cooperation with Yamoussoukro in all fields, particularly in economic areas.

The Iranian chief executive said that the two countries should make use of their capacities to promote relations. Rouhani highlighted the Islamic Republic’s progress in the fields of technology and engineering, saying Tehran is prepared to help the West African nation advance its development projects.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president called for collective efforts by all countries to counter terrorism. He describe the terrorism as a “major scourge for the world,” adding that the “terrorists have nothing to do with Islam, which is the religion of love, peace and peaceful coexistence.”

More than17, 000 Iranians have fallen victim to terrorist attacks since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said President Rouhani, adding that Iran “will spare no effort” to help those countries seeking assistance and cooperation in their anti-terror fight.

Mabri, in turn, stressed the need for concerted efforts to counter terrorism, saying the growth and prosperity of all countries hinges on the establishment of peace and security. He further voiced his country’s determination to enhance cooperation with the Islamic Republic in all areas, especially in the economic sector.

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Cameroon’s  Minister Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh has reportedly met with Jean-Claude Gakosso, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Congo. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that both men had the audience inside the Unity Palace on the 11^th of October 2016.

With political tension and violence increasing at catastrophic rapidity in neighbouring Congo-Kinshasa, the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation was bearer of a sealed envelope from President Denis Sassou Nguesso to President Paul Biya.

The Congolese envoy in a chat with journalists of the state radio and television blatantly refused to disclose the content of the letter. He however observed that the letter was a message appealing to President Biya to focus on consolidating peace in the region.

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and the special envoy of President Denis Sassou Nguesso took the opportunity to revisit the bilateral cooperation between Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville.  Jean-Claude Gakosso was accompanied to state house by the ambassador of the Republic of Congo, Gisele Bouanga Kalou.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Prime Minister, Philemon Yang has received in audience the Prime Minister of Chad, Albert Pahimi Padake. Both heads of government met on October the 11^th, 2016 in the Star Building in Yaounde. The Chadian Head of Government reportedly handed over a sealed message from Chadian President, Idriss Deby to his Cameroonian counterpart, President Paul Biya.

Yang and his guest reviewed relations between Cameroon and Chad in various fields. The Chadian official indicated that the Cameroon – Chad railway line is advancing, hitch-free. Development in the energy sector between both countries was also discussed as well as security issues related to the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

We understand Chad is lobbying for Cameroon’s support, as one of its nationals is vying for the post of Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

CRTV