The anxiety and consternation that marked the long search for the Bishop of Bafia has given way to sorrow and mourning. The Bishop’s lifeless body has been taken to the Yaoundé General Hospital Mortuary under tight security. The convoy that accompanied the deceased body from Ebebda arrived Yaoundé at about 1:11 pm amidst crowds that had assembled along the itinerary from Emana, through Etoudi, Santa Babara to the mortuary.

The Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam and the Governor of the Centre Region, Naseri Paul Bea were part of the accompanying officials. The Governor said an autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death before the corpse will be handed over to the church.

The corpse of the missing Bishop was found on the third day of search operations coordinated by the National Fire Brigade. The lifeless body of the Bishop was spotted at the river bed at about 7:30 am by a Fisherman, and finally pulled out of the Sanaga River at about 11:00 am by a team of local fishermen, officers of the Navy and the National Fire Brigade that had been engaged in the research for more than 48 hours.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Mgr Piorro Pioppo led special prayers at the river banks shortly after the corpse was brought out. After the prayer session, local traditional authorities perfumed customary rites. The body was spotted about 20 kilometers from the bridge at a portion of the river which is about one meter deep.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Mgr Piorro Pioppo, the President of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, Mgr Samuel Kleda, the Archbishop of Yaoundé, Mgr Jean Mbarga, the driver of late Bishop and his security personnel all identified the corpse.

He was wearing a black shirt, a black trousers and black sandals. Officials on the scene said the body did not have any signs of physical injuries probably laying to rest hypothesis of a physical assault. Investigations are now underway to determine the cause of drowning of the 58 year old Bishop.

Source: CRTV

Jean Fils Ntamack, the Attorney General of the Court of Appeal in the Center region has announced the creation of a special inquiry into the death of His Lordship Bishop Balla of the Bafia Diocese. The Attorney General said the investigation will be conducted jointly by the Judicial Police and the Central Investigation Department of the National Gendarmerie.

The Bishop’s remains (seen here) were discovered by a Malian fisherman at a place known as Tsang in Monatele in the Lekie Division on Friday the 2^nd of June.  Under the supervision of the Attorney-General, the investigation will be carried out under the authority of state prosecutors from courts in Bafia, in the Mbam-et-Inoubou, and Monatélé in the Lékié Divisions where the body of the bishop was recovered. Mbam-et-Inoubou and Lékié are two of the ten divisions of the Center region.

The late Bishop disappeared on the night of May 30, 2017 and his body was found lifeless on June 2nd off the Sanaga River after a traditional ceremony led by the patriarch of Mbam who pleaded to his ancestors for the Bishop’s body to be made available to the living. For almost 72 hours, efforts made by sea divers from the Cameroonian Navy and local fishing community proved futile.

Many now say it was after the ritual performed by the patriarch that a Malian fisherman on his canoe saw the body. Local residents then alerted security forces, who formally identified the body as that of Jean Marie Benoit Bala, who was until Tuesday night, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bafia.

By Chi Prudence Asong

The Attorney General of the Court of Appeal in the Center region has reportedly instructed the Directorate of the Judicial Police and the Central Investigation Department of the gendarmerie to carry out an investigation into the death of Bishop Jean Benoit Balla.

The Biya Francophone regime in a statement issued on Friday said it was treating the death as “suspicious”. The CPDM investigation will be carried out jointly by the Directorate of the Judicial Police and the Central Judicial Research Service of the National Gendarmerie. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the two services have been placed under the authority of state prosecutors in the courts in Bafia and Monatélé and will be under the direct supervision of the Attorney General of the Court of Appeal in the Center region.

The government statement was published shortly after the discovery of the body of the prelate who has been missing for more than 48 hours.  Our senior political commentator said it is now evident that no one is safe in Cameroon. His Lordship Bishop Balla died at the age of 58.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

All roads will lead to Houston for the next Fako America Election Convention on Saturday June 24th 2017.  The event will bring together Fako elites based in the US in a traditional and cultural forum that started some three decades ago. Top on the agenda will be the election of a President and his executives to run the affairs of the well over 1000 Fako citizens resident in US.

According to one of the most talked about candidate for the post of President Mola Nathaniel Mosaso, contenders are allowed to campaign for their posts by telling the electorate their manifesto. He told Cameroon Concord News that, the post of President has to do with the concern of not only Fakos in America, but mostly developmental issues back home.

On why he is vying for such a prestigious and challenging post, Mosaso said it is because he believes he has the potentials and credibility to be the leader of Fako citizens in the US. He mentioned during our conversation with him that, he had been carrying out projects back in Cameroon precisely at Bwassa in Likombe in Buea Sub Division. More of such projects to alleviate poverty and uplift the living condition of the underprivileged Fako people are among his executives’ modus operandi, should he and his team be voted into office, Mosaso reiterated

Asked if he can be entrusted with his people’s hard earned money, Mosaso responded with confidence that his government would be as transparent as water in a glass.  Another contender for an executive post is the fire spitting Mme Agnes Nduma Mbwaye who revealed recently that, the campaign has two camps as there are two contenders vying for the post of President. She disclosed that Mola Billy Esele will be contesting the elections.

Attempts at getting Mola Billy Esele one of the prominent presidential challengers to talk to us proved abortive.  It is worthy to know that other contenders for various posts in the next executive include Mota Muenya, Senator Ajalah Allotey, Iya Dada Lyonga,  Iya Mamua Mbua, Iya Hannah Lemeh Likambi . The outgoing President Chief Esuka Endeley has called on his kindred to exercise caution and respect for all during this period of campaign. Meanwhile tension is mounting as the electorate are brazing up for the jamboree.

By Tina Nene Nganda

A Yaoundé High Court has heard that a 78 year old man indecently assaulted a 10 year-old boy and had sexual intercourse and conducted acts of homosexuality.  The Mfoundi High Court that held on Wednesday the 24^th of May was fed with evidence of this horrendous act by the young victim and dozens of eye witnesses who all revealed that with the help of a 28-year-old accomplice, two men currently incarcerated at the Kondengui prison reportedly sodomized a 10-year-old boy.

 Ruben, 28, and Judas, 78, took seats in the box of the accused at the Mfoundi High Court and were named and shamed as the court was told that on the night of February 8-9, 2016, the 10-year-old victim left the family home to empty a trash with a wheelbarrow that he lost. For fear of reprisals, he found refuge in a hangar of a travel agency located in the Biyem assi neighborhood in Yaoundé. Having seen him at about 11.30 pm, the accused arrested him and charged him with the theft of several gas cylinders and a large sum of money in the agency’s shop.

After going to the residence of the guardian of the victim, they asked the latter to pay the sum of 150 000 FCFA. They succeeded in collecting 70,000 FCFA.  By some strange happenstance, the two men after receiving the money turned back and force the child to have anal sexual intercourse with them. At around 5 am, the child’s constant screaming alerted residents and passers-by who drew the attention of the police.

According to the version of the victim gathered in a gendarmerie report, it was the old man who took off the young boy’s underpants and asked him to kneel down. They brutalized and sodomized him. Ruben and Judas meanwhile have pleaded not guilty and each in turn refuted these accusations. For his part, the public prosecutor said he was convinced of the guilt of the two men because of the clarity of the narrative of the alleged victim. The verdict of this case is expected on the 13^th of June.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

The Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Front, SDF decided over the weekend to set up a special committee to investigate the abuses and extra judicial killings in Southern Cameroons. Following the SDF National Executive Committee meeting of Saturday the 28^th in Bamenda, the SDF announced its decision to set up a special committee to investigate the rapes, arbitrary arrests and detention of Southern Cameroonians in Francophone jails attributed to the forces of law and order.

Southern Cameroon has recorded several cases of rape, disappearances, kidnappings and deaths, attributed to the police and the Francophone dominated elite force known as BIR. A video highlighting abuses against students was widely circulated on social media.  The said exactions are attributed to the forces of law and order from La Republique du Cameroun.

Several leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium banned by the Biya Francophone government were arrested and detained at the Kondengui central prison in Yaoundé. The English-speaking leaders are currently being prosecuted by the Yaounde military court.

The creation of a special commission of inquiry comes after the SDF’s criticism against the 84 year old dictator Paul Biya and his government, for their silence on the demands made by the Cameroon Common Law Layers and teachers trade unions which plunged the country into a deep crisis.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Cameroon Concord News

Three civil servants in the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform (MINFOPRA) will stand trial on June the 1^st 2017 at the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé. The Court recently revealed that it now has evidence of corruption and embezzlement of public funds against the trio.

Elisabeth Abogda, deputy director of the budget, as well as her two collaborators, Serge Mbang Zogo and Mvogo Mvogo have been sued before the Special Criminal Court for an alleged misappropriation of 100 million CFA francs relating to an operation launched in 2011 for the recruitment of 25,000 contractors in the civil service.

Prosecutors at the court hinted that the amount indicated represents the damage suffered by the State of Cameroon following the mysterious disappearance of 1213 cash vouchers during the operation of recruitment. The said vouchers were kept inside Room 607 of MINFOPRA where the three officials involved were working during that period.

To substantiate the accusation, the Ministry has reportedly produced 26 exhibits that were admitted into the procedural file and the testimony of the witnesses of the accusation received in court during the proceedings. Cameroon Concord News understands the exhibits include inter alia, the various notes appointing the members of the various teams responsible for the distribution of cash certificates, the coordinator, the persons in charge of distribution, requests for explanations addressed to certain agents.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as the President’s court is no misnomer.  We call it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit. An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused.  A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence.  A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility.  It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world.  This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon.  There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.  Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

By Rita Akana and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

Police banned a press conference today in Yaoundé organized by the Amnesty International office for West and Central Africa. The officials of the renowned body were surprised at the Biya’s regime reaction and informed press men and women that they had respected all legal procedures but “We are extremely surprised at the ban on this press conference,” said Aliuone Tine, Amnesty International’s regional director for West and Central Africa, facing a dozen policemen in uniform including some elements from the Secret Service.

Cameroon Concord News understands Amnesty International intended to present to the media a petition which recorded more than 300,000 signatures worldwide, through which thousands of people asked the 84 year old dictator President Biya for the release of three students each sentenced to 10 years in jail, for circulating a joke on Boko Haram, by SMS

The three Cameroonian students were convicted of non-denunciation of terrorist acts on the 2^nd of November 2016 and 310,000 people around the world are asking the Cameroonian authorities to release these students and allow them to join their families for them to realize their dream of being able to continue their studies and find a job.  Among the signatories of the petition are celebrities like Patrick Mboma, a Cameroonian football legend.

In December 2014, Fomusoh Ivo received an SMS saying, “Boko Haram recruits young people from 14 years. Conditions of recruitment: 4 GCE subjects including religion “. According to Amnesty International, his friend’s SMS was meant to highlight the difficulty of finding a good job without a diploma, and suggested, in the tone of the joke, that included the armed group, Boko Haram.

The young Fomusoh, forwarded this message to Afuh Nivelle Nfor, who then sent it to Azah Lewis Gob. These three young people were charged on 3 March 2015, under the Penal Code and the Cameroonian Military Justice Code.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest

Four workers of the Buea City Council in Southern Cameroons have embarked on a hunger strike over unpaid salary. The workers who had earlier suspended their strike last week due to the May 20 parade, on Tuesday May 23, 2017 besieged the premises of the regional delegation for Labour and Social Security before moving to the Governor’s office.

The strike leader, Hans Manga Monono is accusing Mayor Patrick Ekema of deliberately keeping their salaries for reasons best known to him. He told reporters that all attempts made to meet the Mayor has met with a stone wall. The workers are Hans Managa Monono 17 month’s arrears, Njie Martin Evakise and Moki Charles Toni 5 months each and Mbua Elizabeth Ngowo 22 months.

Njomo, a staff delegate speaking on behalf of the Council revealed that the four workers had abandoned their duties and cannot today be claiming months of arrears. He said he as a staff representative has not been handed the file of the workers who according to him were supposed to meet him first before taking the matter to court. The striking workers are now waiting on the Governor of the South West region to resolve the situation in their favor.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net