One person, AGWE Solomon AFI, 49, has died and several others injured in a road accident around Finance Junction, North West regional capital Bamenda. A 70 Seater bus matriculated NW 470 AV belonging to the Moghamo travel agency which left Douala 10 Pm Saturday to Bamenda, upon descending the Finance Junction around 5am missed tract, somersaulted and landed beside the road few meters to Sand Bank.

The tires of the bus were hanging vertically facing the road, the windscreens shattered. Passengers only succeeded to escape through broken windows. As rescue team from the Bamenda Army rescue unit arrived, a certain AGWE Solomon was discovered dead on the spot, dozens of others were injured. Others who were trapped in the bus were finally taken out by rescuers after tedious exercise.

Survivors told reporters that the driver of the vehicle seemed tired and worn and had made several attempts to throw them in the bush. The injured victims were taken to the Bamenda regional hospital for prompt medical attention and the deceased victim taken to the mortuary.

Cameroun Info.net

Fako Chiefs have reportedly rejected the sum of five million francs (5000’000 frs) offered to each traditional ruler to denounce the struggle for freedom from Francophone slavery.

Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that of the fifty four (54) members who were present in the town hall meeting, thirty four (34) of them walked out rejecting the offer while twenty signaled their intention to receive the money. The chiefs have declared their unflinching support for change and the new Anglophone nationalism.

Our informant is keeping a close watch over this issue and we will publish the names and full addresses of the chiefs who will eventually accept the payments.

By Rita Akana

Over two dozens of youths arrested in Bamenda, North West region during two separate strike actions staged on November 21, 2016 and December 8 have gained freedom. A former detainee who wanted to be called only by his surname, Elvis reveals that over 25 of them incarcerated at the Bamenda Central prison were released on bail Friday December 23, 2016 .

He said they were presented before state council and that their case was defended by some lawyers and Human rights activists. According to information independently gathered those who are still in prison are unable to bail themselves or pay for charges levied against them. The 25 were among others arrested during the uprising in Bamenda when a strike action initiated by Common law Lawyers and Anglophone Teachers turned violent and the  Bamenda population joined in to denounce among others poor road networks and limited water supply.

The youths also staged a strike action and prevented the CPDM party from holding a unity meeting on December 8, 2016 but they met with police brutality as live bullets, tear gas and water cannons were used on them. Over half a dozen died but government sources counted just two deaths. However the fate of other youths over 50 transported to Yaoundé on helicopter is still to be determined. Common Law Lawyers and Allophone Teachers have set their release as a pre condition for dialogue with the government, without which dialogue will end on deadlock.

What has left untold about the Bamenda twin strike action on November 21 and December 8 this year leaves much to be desired. Most of those arrested were never part of the strike; in fact they were just unfortunate passer bys. Elvis who was released Friday sells plantains in Bamenda. That fateful December 8, he was returning from his site of sale and was intercepted by police forces who asked to see his palms, immediately they saw that they were dirty, they arrested him with pretext that he too was involved in burning tires and throwing stones. Like Elvis, several other youths were randomly arrested and detained, some brutalized.

Some of the youths who died were taken to their early grave by stray bullets. At City Chemist roundabout a youth went to fetch water but died on the spot after a stray bullet got him. Another youth went outside their home to eat his Pawpaw but a bullet came from nowhere and struck her mouth denying him the Pawpaw and squeezing life out of him.

Contrary to a situational report from North West Governor Adolphe LELE L’Afrique to Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, which indicated that only two persons died, there have been more than six corpse removals from the Bamenda hospital mortuary, an indication that over half a dozen persons died. There are still some youths who were critically injured in hospitals as fear heightens they might give up the ghost.

Culled from Cameroun Info. Net

Officials of the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms have agreed on a program for 2017. This was during the commission’s 21st Ordinary Session chaired by the institution’s Chairman, Dr Divine Chemuta Banda.

During the meeting, members approved a draft budget of 1.7 billion CFAF for 2017. Apart from the budget, members scrutinized the 2016 report on the state of human rights in Cameroon that is expected to be published.

In this regard, there was a zoom on cases of the violation of human rights during the strike actions in the South West and North West Regions. Dr Divine Chemuta Banda said the commission shall continue to encourage dialogue as the best way to maintain peace. Also during the session, commission members had the opportunity to take stock of the successes in 2016.

CRTV

The so-called Minister of State in charge of Justice and Keeper of the Seal has made a mockery of Cameroon Common Law Lawyers in a presentation at the National Assembly. Laurent Esso revealed that lawyers are only protected while in court and not on the streets.

Said Esso “With respect to the protection of lawyers on the street, I want to be clear on that. A lawyer is covered by immunity before the courts and this immunity relates to statements made at the hearing and documents filed at the hearing. When a lawyer is before a court, he is protected by the Prosecutor of the Republic of the jurisdiction. But when a lawyer is on the street, he does not enjoy immunity because that is not what the law says. He is protected only in the courts.”

The Francophone minister added that those who go out on the street face the police and it is not the Ministry of Justice or the court that ensures the maintenance of order. They have their own procedure and are implemented by the Sub-Prefect, the Prefect or the Governor.  “So if lawyers want to be protected, let them come before the courts.” Laurent Esso also noted that the Department of Justice has received no complaints from what he painted as “the so-called Common Law lawyers”. To the Minister, the Common Law Lawyers strike is unnecessary.

By Sama Ernest

The Government Delegate to the Bamenda Urban Council, Vincent NDUMU has announced that the company in charge of collection and recycling of refuse will be officially installed in the city in 2017. Ndumu who has come under fire recently in the way garbage is managed in town also said that the Council has signed over 5 billion Francs deal with HYSACAM for five years.

According to the government delegate, the coming of HYSACAM will reduce the heavy load and burden on Council’s resources. Before the arrival of HYSACAM next year, the Bamenda City Council has been using its own resources to collect and dispose waste in the city for a meager sum of about 350 000 000 frs for one year.

But Mr NDUMU said the coming of HYSACAM will mean dozens who were working in the Hygiene and Sanitation department will have to be sacked, hence it will cause massive unemployment. Even though he reassured that he could integrate them in other services, a majority of workers stand to lose their jobs. Garbage disposal in the North West regional capital Bamenda has been a thorn in the flesh of the Government Delegate who has been accused of not working to preserve the beauty of the town which is gradually fading into a jungle.

But he says that those who are accusing him are ignorant of the huge task the Council has. He cited case of markets where taxes are far below what they use to dispose garbage from the markets. Vincent NDUMU has challenged City Dwellers to tell him which Government Delegate out of the 14 has worked hard like him to embellish the town. He frowned at media reports which according to him always target his personality.

Cameroun Info.Net

Two months after the Eseka train tragedy which occurred on the 21^st of October 2016, some 128 km from Yaoundé the nation’s capital, mystery still persists on the official causes of the tragedy. The CPDM government is yet to establish the responsibilities and role played by prominent officials prior to and after the crash.

Four days after the accident which officially claimed the lives of 79 people and wounded over 600, President Paul Biya, on leave at the time of the events, and whose drama had precipitated his return to the country, announced that his government was determine to make public the causes of the railway accident and to propose measures to limit the risk of the occurrence of such a catastrophe in the future.

After a month’s work, the commission created by the Cameroonian dictator and headed by the Prime Minister handed over its findings to the Head of State. The presidency has not made any official declaration on the subject. Access to the site was highly secured and many journalists were prevented from visiting the crashed wagons of the Inter city service 152. Consequently, Cameroonians are still unaware of the real causes of the train accident which cost the lives of several of their compatriots.

The President of Bolloré Africa Railways was quoted as saying that the train was running at an “abnormally high” speed before the derailment. The various investigative commissions set up by the judicial police in Yaoundé and announced by the public prosecutor at the Mfoundi and Nyong-et-Ekelle High Court (Eseka), seem to have disappeared.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Dr Christopher Fomunyoh was honored on Tuesday December 20, 2016 by the Publisher of The Scoop newspaper. The much respected Cameroonian opinion leader who also moonlights with the US based National Democratic Institute was described during the award ceremony as the most Combatant politician in Cameroon in 2015.

The President of US based National Democratic Institute, NDI; Dr Christopher Fomunyoh used the forum to assure the people of Kumba that the time has come when all their wounds will be healed and their worries forgotten.

He described recent Police brutality on Kumba youths as unacceptable and urged them to hold on steadfast, “This is an opportune moment to send a strong message to fellow Cameroonians to say I have been very dismay by what is happening since the month of November,I have really been saddened by the loss of lives and the violence and my message is that this is the time for healing ,the healing needs to begin and it is going to happen”. He reassured them.

Kumba inhabitants say they now live in fear of the unknown after last week’s brutal acts on them where some youth lost their lives and others were arrested.

Culled from Cameroun Info.Net

Cameroon Concord News has learnt that 4 of the 71 British Southern Cameroonians arrested in Bamenda and taken to Yaoundé have died while being held prisoner by the Francophone army. Our informant hinted that the 4 were deliberately killed.

The Biya Francophone regime has blatantly refused to open up any investigation as recommended by many international human rights organizations including Amnesty International over the killings, rape and arrest of many Anglophone Cameroonians in Buea, Bamenda, Kumba and Kumbo.

A sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report has identified Prime Minister Philemon Yang and nine senior military officers including the governors of the North West and South West regions in a report that accuses them of responsibility for the deaths of  many Anglophone Cameroonians recently.

The Francophone army had run amok during the unrest in Bamenda, Buea, Kumba and Kumbo killing dozens of innocent people in summary executions. There is a huge military buildup in Bamenda, the regional capital of the North West region and many Anglophone civilians are now subjected to arbitrary arrest and their mobile devices confiscated.

By Rita Akana

French ambassador to Cameroun Gilles Thibault has paid a working visit to the Mifi Division in the West Region. The visit reportedly enabled the French diplomat to assess projects realized within the framework of the French Debt Servicing Program C2D. It was one of the main issues examined during the meeting between the Mr. Gilles Thibault and the administrative officials at the Governor’s office. Ambassador Gilles was updated on the population’s concerns about delays on the Bafoussam Highway construction project.

The Ambassador later visited the Bafoussam Palace where he was ornamented with a west traditional regalia, a ritual performed when high level visitors are received. Some West Regional notables later met the August guest at the Bangante Town Hall in the presence of some development partners including the Mayor of Bangante. Development strategies and how best to execute projects in the West Region were discussed.

The working visit finally ended at the Universite de Montagne – an institution that recently received funding to the tune of 500 billion FCFA as part of the French Debt Servicing C2D package. Ambassador, Gilles Thibault finally appealed on state authorities to give priority to dialogue in resolving the problems in the country.

CRTV