Cardinal Christian Tumi, cardinal emeritus of the Douala Arch Diocese has reacted to the issue of tribalism in governance in Cameroon. The retired Roman Catholic prelate was asked to comment on the recent wave of memoranda written by elites from some communities to the head of state, President Paul Biya that have become common practice in Cameroon.

The response of the former Archbishop of Garoua was straightforward. “I do not accept this way of doing things. This is purely tribalism. We must have an acceptable development pattern void of tribalism. We have over 200 ethnic groups in Cameroon. If each tribe or ethnic group began to demand jobs or infrastructure only for their community, what will become of Cameroon?

The Cardinal added that, “We must not think in terms of tribe, but in terms of nation. If a Cameroonian works well, regardless of tribal origin and irrespective of the place where he works, he works for Cameroon. I do not believe in the regional balance. That is why I favour merit and competence. We must promote values such as good work and effort in society. I have never worked as Bishop in Anglophone Cameroon where I am from. As a priest, I never worked in my tribal area. I have worked with the people I met in all the places the Holy Father has sent me to. I’m on my third diocese,” noted Cardinal Tumi.

Cameroon has been rocked by a series of petitions from political elites of the Far North, North, Centre and South regions all claiming that their respective peoples and constituencies have not received the attention they deserve from the ruling CPDM consortium of crime syndicates.

By Sonne Peter with cables from CIN

An Intercity train from Yaoundé to Douala derailed this morning at Eseka. The derailment was confirmed by Camrail-a subsidiary of Bolloré Logistics & Transport, responsible for the structures of the railway sector in Cameroon.

The CPDM government has reportedly deployed military intervention and security teams and have so far not made any official statement concerning the happenings in the country. Unconfirmed reports say many bodies were seen littered around the train immediately after the accident.

The country was hit by the collapse of a bridge on the Yaounde-Douala highway, some 65 km from Yaoundé. Consequently, the two main cities of the country were cut off by road.. Many passengers were directed to use the train services from Yaoundé to Douala, called “Intercity”. 8 coaches were added to enhance the movement of users which prompted the incident.

By Rita Akana

Nestor Nga Etoga, a journalist and editor of a weekly newspaper The Investigation, was arrested on Tuesday the 18^th of October 2016 at about 10 am, at the Nlongkak Roundabout in Yaounde by plain cloth police officers and is now being held in a cell at the Centre Regional Delegation for National Security.

Cameroon Concord News gathered from local media sources that he had earlier been summoned by a state prosecutor, Georges Gérard Meka, of the Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde for blackmail-a complaint initiated by Fipcam, a logging company based in Mfou (25 km from Yaoundé).

The journalist had reported a story on the working conditions at the Cameroon Flooring Manufactures (Fipcam) where the workers of the said company complained about their wages, working conditions and lack of any form of social care for the last 13th months.

The company leaders are now using their connections in government to send the journalist to jail. Many Cameroonian journalists are subject to death threats, as part of their profession, in a country where press offenses are still not decriminalized.

By Fru James

Ndop police have arrested a gang smuggling some 600kgs of cannabis from Nigeria to Bamenda. The drug traffickers and their booty were picked up by officers of the public security department. The members of the group were presented to the Senior Divisional Officer for Ngoketunjia, Norbert Valery Kuela.

The prefect of the division prescribed stronger measures to check the phenomenon of drug trafficking. This latest catch revealed the divisional officer was indication that the Cameroon policing establishments were on a high alert. Cameroon Concord News understands that there has been a significant drop in drug smuggling via Ndop to Bamenda.

CRTV

The National Coordinator of the Revenue Securement Programme (PSRR) has been arrested and detained at the Yaounde central prison located in Kondengui. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that the arrest was made on the 13^th of October 2016 after Hamadou Yanoussa had a brief interrogation at the Special Criminal Court.

An audit mission initiated by the Minister of Public Works on the 25^th of May 2016 revealed that huge amounts of money collected from truckers at the weighing station at Nomayos at the outskirt of Yaounde, Nkakanzock to Edea, Bekoko,  Bonaberi and Njombe-Penja in Mungo were not being paid into the treasury.

The monitoring mission reported the disappearance of 750 million CFA francs. A journalist with a sister publication, Cameroon Intelligence Report noted that 549 million collected from the Nomayos post; 10 million FCFA from Edea; 4.3 million from Njombe-Penja and 165 million from Bekoko were not paid into the national treasury.

The Public Prosecutor of the Special Criminal Court, Justine Aimée Ngounou Tchokonthieu after receiving the complaint from the Public Works minister decided to order the arrest of Hamadou Yanoussa who is also a chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate. Information also filtered at the time of filing this report that some of his colleagues have been summoned to appear before prosecutors at the Special Criminal Court soon.

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN and Rita Akana

The Ministry of Forestry has on the 14^th of October 2016 received 11 brand new pick-up vehicles from the Debt Reduction Development Program C2D an- initiative of the French Development Agency. The handing over ceremony was chaired by the Minister of Forestry and Wild Life Ngole Philip Ngwese, in the presence of C2D’s National Coordinator, Bruno Mfou’ou Mfou’ou in Yaounde.

The vehicles which were donated to ease the job of Forestry and Environmental experts and to boost production in the Forestry sector were distributed according to the following order: 7 vehicles will serve the need at the Regional Delegations of Forestry, 2 at the Forestry Training Centre and 2 for the Environmental Training Centre. The ministries always use these vehicles for political campaigns.

CRTV

Cameroon will on the 15^th of October 2016 join the International Community to observe the International Day of the Rural Woman commemorated under the theme, “Empowering Rural Women, Ensuring Food Security and Ending Poverty.” Discussions have already started with some elite attempting to answer the question of who is a rural woman and how the rural communities are coping with the challenges of the 21^st century. In Cameroon, a rural woman is considered as one who dwells in a rural area and depends largely on agriculture, livestock, fishing and mining.

Cameroon’s rich landscape makes her activities relatively easy even though she faces a number of challenges including access to funding. Cameroon’s rural women however, have been exposed to a number of positive changes which has affected their mentality over the years. The mentality change, some of the women have opined is thanks to their affiliation to little groupings and associations where they have been made to understand they are worth more than just the farmlands and the animal farming they are involved in.

Some government officials have observed that the rural women have been taught how to develop their businesses and they have also been introduced into other self-reliant activities including “njangis”, thereby partly resolving the issue of funding. The CPDM government through the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family has also been actively involved in upgrading the status of rural women in the country. Their production rate has increased due to training, counselling and donation of farm tools and seedlings from NGOs and government.

Celebrations this year will also focus on some setbacks including insufficient access to information, inaccessible roads, isolation, influence of stereotypes and difficult access to land among others faced by the women.

CRTV

The Lord Mayor of the Buea city council, Ekema Patrick Essunge has been given a civic reception by the Manyu Youth Association based in Buea. The mayor was honoured in a reception recently that was purely traditional and was rich in pomp and colour.  In a rare recognition of new generation leadership in the South West constituency, the Manyu Youth led by its Fako branch president, Ako Julius was full of praise for the mayor who is reportedly doing a remarkable job in the city of Buea.

During the unique occasion that also witnessed a powerful display of the rich Manyu culture, Mayor Ekema Patrick was decorated with the Manyu traditional regalia in the presence of the Manyu Youth National President and some prominent South West elites. The Manyu community assured the Mayor of their unflinching support in his fight aimed at transforming Buea and reiterated the fact that they were at his service whenever the need arises.

The Manyu citizens made an appeal to the Lord Mayor to make available a small piece of land in his municipality for them to build a Manyu Youth Centre in Buea. The renowned National President of the Manyu Women, Meg Agbor in her key note address revealed that Mayor Ekema was a true son of the South West region, a great Cameroonian and a brother to the Manyu community.

In his reaction to the huge Manyu presence at his residence in Buea, the lord Mayor Ekema observed that “I am very honoured and touched that you have bothered to organise this occasion for me.”  The mayor added that the Manyus were the first in the South West region after the North West Fons to honour him. Mayor Ekema explained during the forum that the ongoing activity in Buea is not to demolish houses but to get rid of some existing structures that were constructed some half a century ago.

The man of action did praise the Manyu Youth for their sense of responsibility and thanked them for the honour. In his Mola Ekema style, the mayor granted the request of the Manyu people and noted that he was going to speedily obtain the piece of land for them to build their youth hall. Manyu traditional rites were performed amid heavy applauds for peace and prosperity to reign in Fako Division.

By Eyong Paolo

Dusseldorf City News Buea

An official of the Regional Delegation of the Ministry of Forestry and Wild Life for the East Region who also moonlights as a chartered member of the ruling CPDM party, Poye Narcisse Alex has been arrested for illegally keeping elephant tusks in his house.

Poye Narcisse who got a part time job at the regional delegation via his political connections found himself in police drag net on the 2^nd of October 2016 at Kika Village a locality situated at the border with the Republic of Congo.

The Brigade Commander of the Gendarmerie for the East Region, Paul Nseng Aka’a who ordered the arrest, revealed that Narcisse Alex while on duty came across four illegal Nigerian traffickers of elephant tusks who abandoned their belongings and escaped. Alex Narcisse then picked up the elephant tusks left behind by the Nigerian businessmen and instead of reporting the happenings to the Gendarmerie, decided in a typical CPDM pattern to transport the items to his residence.

A day after the incident, he personally told the Gendarmerie Legion Command that he had impounded 4 elephant Tusks from some illegal traffickers instead of 11. An investigation led the forces of law and order to his home where they discovered the rest of the tusks. The 30 year old Narcisse Alex and one other suspect are presently under detention in an undisclosed National Gendarmerie Post in the East Region pending further investigation.

Rita Akana with files from CRTV