News

18, January 2024

Yaoundé: Biya, CAR FM discuss bilateral ties ⁰

President Paul Biya held a meeting with visiting Foreign Minister of the Central African Republic (CAR) Sylvie Baipo-Temon on Tuesday, during which the two sides discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties.

“The Central African Republic and Cameroon maintain excellent relations. We have very strong fraternal links and are good neighbors,” Baipo-Temon told reporters after the meeting in the Cameroonian capital city of Yaounde.

She conveyed best wishes from CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera to his Cameroonian counterpart and the people of Cameroon.

The two sides also exchanged views on the stability and development of the Central African region, according to a statement from the Cameroonian presidency.

Source: Xinhuanet

17, January 2024

British Royals hit by double health scare as King and Kate need hospital treatment ⁰

King Charles III is set to attend hospital next week for treatment for an enlarged prostate.

Buckingham Palace said the King’s condition is benign but he will undergo a “corrective procedure”.

The 75 year old’s public engagements will be postponed for a short period of recuperation, the Palace said.

The announcement comes shortly after it was revealed the Princess of Wales is in hospital after undergoing abdominal surgery.

It is unusual for medical updates about two senior royals to be released on the same day, but it is understood it was necessary because the King had to cancel engagements scheduled for Thursday.

He had been due to meet foreign dignitaries and cabinet members in Scotland on Thursday, but those meetings have been cancelled on medical grounds.

It is also thought the King was keen to share his diagnosis with the public to encourage other men who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked.

“In common with thousands of men each year, the King has sought treatment for an enlarged prostate,” the statement said.

Benign prostate enlargement – which is non-cancerous – is common in men over 50 and is not usually a serious condition, according to the NHS website.

Around one in three men over the age of 50 will have some symptoms of an enlarged prostate, which is a gland that sits just below the bladder.

While it is not usually a serious threat to health, it can cause symptoms and problems, including difficulty passing urine or emptying the bladder.

The condition does not mean the patient has an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The NHS has published guidance on how it is treated.

Source: BBC

17, January 2024

One Cameroonian peacekeeper killed, five wounded in Central African Republic ⁰

The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the attack perpetrated on 15 January against the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in Mbindale through an explosive device, following which one peacekeeper from Cameroon was killed and five wounded.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the family of the peacekeeper killed, as well as to Cameroon. They also expressed their condolences to the United Nations. They wished a speedy and full recovery to the peacekeepers injured.

The members of the Security Council reiterated that attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes and reminded all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law. They called on the Government of the Central African Republic to swiftly investigate this attack with the support of MINUSCA, promote accountability for such acts by bringing perpetrators to justice, and keep the relevant troop-contributing country informed of the progress consistent with Security Council resolutions 2518 (2020) and 2589 (2021). They stressed that involvement in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks against MINUSCA peacekeepers constitutes a basis for sanctions designations pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The members of the Security Council expressed particular concern about reports of illicit transnational trafficking networks which continue to fund and supply armed groups in the Central African Republic, noted in particular the increasing use of explosive ordnances, including improvised explosive devices and landmines, which account for a growing number of civilian casualties, as well as the destruction of civilian properties and continue to disrupt humanitarian access. They stressed the need to further investigate and combat this threat.

The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for MINUSCA and expressed their deep appreciation to MINUSCA’s troop- and police-contributing countries.

The members of the Security Council further stressed the importance of MINUSCA having the necessary capacities to fulfil its mandate and promote the safety and security of the United Nations peacekeepers, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2709 (2023).

The members of the Security Council reiterated their strong support for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic, Valentine Rugwabiza, and for MINUSCA to assist the Central African Republic authorities and the people of the Central African Republic in their efforts to bring lasting peace and stability, as mandated by the Security Council in resolution 2709 (2023).

Source: Miragenews

17, January 2024

Nigeria: Ibadan blast blamed on illegal miners in Oyo ⁰

A deadly blast that rocked the Nigerian city of Ibadan overnight was caused by explosives stored by illegal mingers, the Oyo state governor has said.

Two people were killed and 77 others injured in the explosion that has affected seven suburbs of Nigeria’s third most-populous city.

Crowds have thronged the site of the blast as rescue efforts continue.

A man whose mother’s home was destroyed says she was in bed at the time of the blast and is now in hospital.

“The roof and everything went down. She was inside in her bed when it happened. She was rushed to the hospital naked and I’m going there now,” he told the BBC as he was rushing to see her.

Buildings have been reduced to near rubble at the site of the blast and vehicles destroyed. Further away from the blast zone, windows have been blown out of houses and rooftops damaged.

Eyewitnesses say the explosion happened at around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT) in Bodija, a residential district of district of the city.

It was heard across the city of Ibadan, the capital of south-western Oyo state.

One of the onlookers at the scene is a painter who had been working at one of the buildings that collapsed. He turned up to work in the morning and is unable to find his boss.

“I have been calling him but the number is not connecting and I saw that his vehicle has been destroyed,” he told the BBC.

Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde posted a statement on Facebook promising that those responsible would be “brought to book”.

“I have directed that the medical bills of all victims be covered by the government,” he said.

“We will also be providing temporary accommodation for those whose houses were affected and ensuring that they are supported to rebuild their lives.”

Source: BBC

17, January 2024

Danish monarch publishes a book three days into reign ⁰

Three days after becoming the king of Denmark, Frederik X has published a book seemingly out of nowhere.

The book has come as a surprise to Danes, and media outlets have been hastily live-blogging lines from it.

“The King’s Word” promises Frederik’s thoughts on topics including Denmark’s place in the world and his relationship with his wife, Queen Mary.

Frederik was crowned king on Sunday after his mother, Margrethe II, abdicated on New Year’s Eve.

The book costs up to 250 Danish Krone (£29; €33.50) and is around 110 pages long.

The book was based on interviews conducted over the past year-and-a-half

It was written with Jens Andersen, who authored Frederik’s 2017 biography, and is based on interviews conducted over the last year-and-a-half.

In one section, Frederik says that, as a child, he had difficulty accepting he would become King of Denmark, saying he “just wanted to be like all other boys of my age”.

“I remember my 18th birthday as something similar to the end of the world. It was the feeling that now everything that was fun and exciting was coming to an end. Fortunately, it didn’t,” Frederik says.

Later in the book, the king also reportedly discusses his faith, saying that he and his Australian-born wife say prayers with their children every evening.

He also talks about family life, saying that his father – the late Prince Henrik of Denmark, who died in 2018 – was “very patriarchal” and “tried to pass that pattern on to his two sons”.

Frederik says: “I have learned a lot from having a wife who, from time to time, reminds me that of course I am not always right, and that my words are not automatically believed, just because I am a man in the house.”

Tens of thousands of people turned out to watch King Frederik X succeed his mother as the monarch of Denmark on Sunday.

Blinking back tears, Frederik told a cheering crowd outside Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen that he hoped to become “a unifying king” for the future.

His mother, Margarethe II, abdicated after 52 years on the throne.

Source: BBC

12, January 2024

Congo-Démocratique: Chaos in Kinshasa as river rises to near-record level ⁰

Floods have wreaked chaos in Kinshasa – the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo – with water pouring into homes and residents navigating submerged roads via canoe.

The overflowing River Congo, passing through much of the country, has also swamped places outside the capital.

The vast, vital waterway has reached its highest level in six decades.

More than 300 people have died in floods over the past months, officials say.

On Thursday, residents in the impoverished megacity of Kinshasa told the BBC how “schools, hospitals and churches” have been washed away.

“I had lived here with my relatives… I have lost everything,” Jonas Mungindami said.

Similarly, Denise Tuzola said her house is now “full of water”.

“There is no church here anymore and there is no way for the children to go to school,” she added.

Kinshasa is home to several small rivers and streams, which often double as open sewers. Many have now overflown.

On one flooded street, a man waded through through thigh-level water, hauling a canoe full of passengers behind him. Trucks drove cautiously through the same waters, while dozens of discarded bottles bob on the surface.

The RVF, the agency overseeing DR Congo’s waterways, sounded the alarm in late December.

It warned that heavy rains would cause “exceptional flooding” around the Kinshasa area.

By this point, provinces such as Mongala and Ituri had already faced serious flooding.

In Kinshasa, flooding is common but this year the Congo River has risen just shy of 6.26 metres, the level reached during record flooding in 1961.

Further upstream, in the city of Kisangani, the mayor said that over 200 houses have been submerged.

The Congo River has also caused turmoil in Congo-Brazzaville, a nation that borders DR Congo.

Flooding there has impacted more than 336,000 people and 34 health facilities, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere caused by climate change makes extreme rainfall more likely.

Just over a year ago, floods in Kinshasa left more than 120 people dead.

Source: BBC

12, January 2024

South Africa says Israel’s response to Hamas operation breached Genocide Convention ⁰

South Africa says Israel’s response to the offensive launched by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group on October 7 had breached the Genocide Convention, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague holds a hearing against Israel for Gaza’s “genocide” case.

At the top UN court in The Hague on Thursday, South Africa said Israel had breached the UN Genocide Convention by imposing a brutal war on the densely-populated Gaza Strip for more than two months, stressing that the Hamas attack could not justify such military incursion on the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Late last month, Pretoria, in an 84-page suit filed against Israel at the ICJ, asked the top court to urgently declare that the Tel Aviv regime has breached its responsibilities under international law since it launched an ongoing war on the impoverished coastal sliver.

South Africa detailed evidence of brutality being perpetrated in Gaza, making the African nation the first to file a lawsuit against the occupying regime at the ICJ, appealing to the court to force the regime to “immediately suspend” its war on Gaza.

“No armed attack on a state territory no matter how serious… can provide justification for or defend breaches of the convention,” said Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s justice minister, during his opening statement in the case at the ICJ.

“Israel’s response to the October 7 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the convention,” he stressed, setting out South Africa’s case at the top court.

“The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years, on October 6, 2023, and every day since October 7, 2023. In the Gaza Strip, at least since 2004, Israel continues to exercise control over the airspace, territorial waters, land crossings, water, electricity, and civilian infrastructure, as well as key government functions,” Lamola added.

South Africa, when faced with such evidence of genocide in Gaza, firmly decided to initiate this case in an attempt to prevent such crimes in the Palestinian enclave as contained in Article 1 of the Convention, the South African justice minister further said at the court.

After Lamola, Adila Hassim, who is an advocate representing South Africa’s case, took the floor.

“South Africa contends that Israel has transgressed Article 2 of the convention by committing actions that fall within the definition of genocide. The actions show systematic patterns of conduct from which genocide can be inferred,” she said.

Hassim went on to say that the “first genocidal act is mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza.”

“Israel deployed 6,000 bombs per week. At least 200 times, it has deployed 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs in southern Gaza, which it designated safe. No one is spared. Not even newborns. UN chiefs have described it as a graveyard for children,” she added.

Other representatives of the South African nation one after the other presented the case against Israel at the top UN court.

“Israel’s political leaders, military commanders and persons holding official positions have systematically and in explicit terms declared their genocidal intent. These statements are then repeated by soldiers on the ground in Gaza as they engage in the destruction of Palestinians and the physical infrastructure of Gaza,” said South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.

While lawyers inside the ICJ are making the case against Israel, a large number of pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered outside the building, demanding justice and a quick end to the brutal war.

The third representative of South Africa at the ICJ was Vusimuzi Madonsela, who told the court that Pretoria had come forward “to prevent genocide and to do so in the discharge of the international obligation that rests on South Africa and all other states under the convention.”

“The consequences of not indicating clear and specific provisional measures and not taking steps to intervene while Israel disregards its international obligations before our eyes would, we fear, be very grave indeed,” he added.

After South Africa’s representatives concluded their arguments, ICJ President Joan Donoghue announced that the sitting was adjourned and that the court would meet again tomorrow to hear Israel’s oral arguments.

As it is an urgent procedure, the top UN court could rule in a matter of weeks.

The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.

Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 23,210 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 59,167 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

Source: Presstv

12, January 2024

5 Amba fighters killed in military offensive in Southern Cameroons ⁰

At least five separatist fighters have been killed in an offensive by Cameroon’s military against armed separatists in the restive English-speaking Northwest Region, local and army sources said Tuesday night.

The attack took place early Tuesday in the Ewai village of the region.

Cameroonian troops raided a separatist hideout, which was serving as the main base of one of the separatist groups in the region, killing the five separatist fighters, an army official in the region said.

“Our brave soldiers also captured so many of their weapons and rescued some people who were abducted by the separatist terrorists. Many of the terrorists escaped with bullet wounds,” the official who asked not to be named said.

Separatist leaders confirmed the attack on social media but claimed that only three fighters were killed.

A resident of the village, who asked not to be named, said that hundreds of people in the village fled to the bush as the offensive unfolded.

There was no word on casualties on the side of government forces during the raid.

The separatists, who have been in conflict with government forces since 2017, hope to establish an independent nation in the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

9, January 2024

Biya’s new fiscal measures leading to salary cuts ⁰

Effective January 1, 2024, with the implementation of Cameroon’s 2024 fiscal law, the government has introduced new tax measures expected to lead to an inevitable decrease in salaries for some workers. According to Célestin Tawamba, the leader of Cameroonian business leaders, these measures are projected to result in a salary reduction ranging from 5% to 25% in various companies.

One significant measure involves the expansion of the list of in-kind benefits subject to the income tax scale. The related circular signed on December 29, 2023, by Finance Minister Louis Paul Motazé specified that “personal income tax (IRPP) in the salaries and wages category has been rationalized by fully taxing all benefits in kind paid in cash. The list of benefits in kind subject to estimation for the determination of the taxable base of IRPP in the salaries and wages category has been extended to include: telephone 5%, fuel 10%, security 5%, and internet 5%”.

This means that along with existing benefits in kind, such as housing allowances (15%), electricity (4%), water (2%), domestic help (5% each), vehicles (10% each), and food (10%), previously subject to the income tax scale, the State is adding, as of January 1, 2024, phone allowances (5%), fuel allowances (10%), security allowances (5%), and internet allowances (5%). According to information from sources within the General Tax Directorate, under this new provision of the 2024 fiscal law, a worker receiving, for example, a phone allowance of 50,000 CFA per month will only see 5% of that amount (2,500 CFA) exempt from IRPP. The entire remaining allowance, i.e., 47,500 CFA, will be subject to IRPP.

Significant deductions for high incomes

Similarly, a worker receiving a fuel allowance of the same amount (50,000 CFA) will have IRPP deducted from 45,000 CFA, while 5,000 CFA will be exempt from paying this tax. Considering that the IRPP rate for salaries below 2 million CFA is 10% in Cameroon, the worker in this scenario (assuming their salary is less than 2 million CFA, ed) will lose 4,500 CFA from their fuel allowance due to the payment of IRPP to the tax authorities, corresponding to a decrease in their salary by 4,500 CFA. This reduction will be even more significant as the same operation is applied to the phone, security, and internet allowances.

It is worth noting that the in-kind benefits targeted by this new provision of the 2024 fiscal law related to IRPP concern higher-income workers who generally enjoy substantial salary packages. In other words, the 2024 fiscal law will allow for increased tax revenue collection from higher salaries. The larger the salary, the greater the deduction for IRPP on in-kind benefits, as the IRPP rate varies depending on income levels. It is 10% for incomes below 2 million CFA per month, 15% for incomes between 2 and 3 million CFA, 25% for incomes between 3 and 5 million CFA, and 35% for incomes exceeding 5 million CFA.

Moreover, the government, in the 2024 fiscal law, caps the flat-rate deduction at 4.8 million CFA per year (400,000 CFA per month) for the 30% deduction from the gross annual salary. “Only salaries exceeding 1,333,000 CFA per month are affected by this limitation,” the Minister’s note read.

A worker with an annual salary income totaling 100 million CFA will now only benefit from a maximum deduction of 4.8 million CFA (the rest being subject to IRPP payment), compared to the previous 30 million CFA. The nearly 25 million CFA that were previously exempt from IRPP before the new fiscal law came into effect will now be added to the taxable base, resulting in a significant loss of income to the tax authorities.

Source: Business in Cameroon

6, January 2024

Joseph Owona, former Biya acolyte dies aged 78 ⁰

Professor Joseph Owona, a cabinet minister under President Biya and a successful academic, has died aged 78.

A Cameroon government embassy official in Paris, France confirmed the death of the peer, who became Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and was later appointed Secretary General at the Presidency.

Owona served as right-hand man to the 91-year-old President Biya during the early days of multi-party politics.

He would later serve as Minister of Health, Minister of Youth and Sports and President of FIFA’s Normalization Committee of the Cameroon Football Federation and retained a keen interest in the International Relations Institute (IRIC) in Yaoundé.

In the early 90s, he made a mockery of Cameroon researchers accusing them of not producing any results.

Sometimes referred to as a Biya favourite, Professor Joseph Owona began his rise through politics deep inside the secretariat of the ruling CPDM Central Committee.

He was a controversial figure described by many as the minister who brought problems to Biya while others brought solutions.

Owona was a law professor at the heart of the Biya’s government promoting tribalism and nepotism. As Secretary General at the presidency, he was widely criticised for suggesting that no Bamileke could be head of state. He never withdrew his remarks after a firm rebuke from Etoudi but was removed from his role.

Born on 25 January 1945 in Akom, the polygamist served as a minister several times and was a member of the Constitutional Council from April 2020 to January 2024. He did his higher education at the University of Yaoundé and Panthéon-Sorbonne in France.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai