News

20, April 2017

Cameroon to restore internet services cut off in Southern Cameroons ⁰

The 84 year Cameroonian dictator, Paul Biya has instructed the Francophone Minister of Post and Telecommunications to restore internet services to predominantly English-speaking parts of the country which were cut off in an appalling violation of Anglophone right to freedom of expression.

Biya made the decision following pressure from the United Nations and other international bodies. Cameroonians in the northwest and southwest regions, which are predominantly English speaking, have been unable to connect to the internet since 17 January amid widespread protests against the Francophone government policies which have reportedly marginalized the country’s English-speaking population.

Southern Cameroonians have long reported that they face discrimination and marginalization and are excluded from top civil service positions and public services. They also complain their access to justice is limited because the majority of legislation and judicial proceedings are in French. A network shutdown of the Southern Cameroons scale violated international law.

By Chi Prudence Asong

20, April 2017

UN investigators unearth 17 mass graves in Congo ⁰

The United Nations says its investigators have discovered 17 mass graves in the central Democratic Republic of the Congo, increasing the number to 40 documented in an area that witnessed clashes between the army and a local militia. The UN said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the graves were reportedly dug by Congolese army after fighting with Kamuina Nsapu militia in Kasai Central province in late March.

“At least 74 people, including 30 children, were reported to have been killed by soldiers as a result of these clashes,” the statement added. The government has not commented on the report, but it has previously rejected the notion that soldiers have used disproportionate force against militia fighters and claimed the militia had dug the sites.

The Kamuina Nsapu uprising has become the most serious threat to President Joseph Kabila, whose refusal to step down following a defeat in the latest polls stoked chaos in the vast central African country. Kabila’s presidential term expired on December 19, 2016, but ruling officials have effectively prolonged his mandate until 2018, claiming that the government would not be able to arrange elections before then.

The government of Kabila reportedly reached an agreement with opposition parties to end the political crisis in the country over his decision to stay in power. Under the accord struck on December 30, 2016, by political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kabila will leave office following elections due to be held by the end of 2017. The fighting between Congolese troops and militia has escalated after government forces killed their chief tribal leader, Kamuina Nsapu, in late August 2016. More than 400 people have been killed since then.

Source: Presstv

20, April 2017

French Cameroun: Huge fire engulfs Etoudi market ⁰

Some ten shops have been destroyed by wild fire at the Etoudi market in Yaoundé. The flames that erupted in the early hours of Tuesday the 18^th of April 2017 were believed to have come from a poor electrical connection in the market.

Soldiers of the National Fire Brigade at Etoudi intervened and later received support from the Mimboman Fire Brigade to effectively contain the fire that engulfed a portion of the busy market.

No human lives were lost in the incident but millions of CFA francs of investments were reduced to nothing. The fire reportedly consumed mobile phone shops and some restaurants. Travel agencies situated behind the electronic section of the market also suffered some damages.

Traders were wailing in consternation as they helplessly watched their livelihood crushed away in huge fumes of dark smoke. The Etoudi market is located barely a few kilometer from the State House. It is currently under construction though parts of the uncompleted structures have already been occupied by traders.

Source: CRTV

20, April 2017

Detained Anglophone Lawyers distance themselves from Bar Council President ⁰

Detained Southern Cameroon Lawyers have distanced themselves from declarations made by the President of the Cameroon Bar Council on April 9,2017 in which he confirmed that after due consultations, Anglophone Lawyers have agreed to resume work on May 2.

In a Press Conference held in Yaoundé Tuesday April 18, 2017 the lead defense Counsel for the detainees, Barrister Bernard MUNA said his clients were not party to declarations coming from Barrister Jackson Ngnie Kamga and that the Batonnier did not consult those detained or their defense counsel and did not say what will happen to those imprisoned after courts reopen.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the Biya Francophone regime has been wooing some young Anglophone lawyers in the South West who are suffering financially due to the strike action to resume work. Some of the legal minds in Limbe, Tiko and Buea are already flirting with the idea of getting back to court. However, one of the lawyers interviewed by our undercover reporter in Buea said Anglophone lawyers will only go back to court when certain conditions are met.

By Rita Akana

20, April 2017

La Republique: Inspector General at the Ministry of Finance owns a Qatari-type castle ⁰

The images of a castle reportedly belonging to Antoine Félix Samba, former Director General of Budget at the Ministry of Finance has ignited the web. It was an amateur photographer who captured the images of the house owned by Antoine Félix Samba currently serving as Inspector General in the same Ministry.

It is a residence made up of successive duplexes surmounted by dome roof and connected by suspended footbridges. Work has not even finished as there seem to be an extension as indicated in one of the videos posted. The whole house is bathed in an ostentatious luxury, with a recurrence of marble, gilding, precious wood, staff, glazing and wrought iron. The owner of the house has a taste for decoration, with a canvas depicting the Last Supper, where Jesus and his apostles took the last meal before the passion of Christ.

The owner also loves of art. A Bamileke mask is recognizable among many others, lions and goddesses are frozen in the marble of eternity in this environment that transpires the splendor. On one of the photos posted there is a swimming pool, the ultimate embellishment of a house that has nothing to envy the castles of Qatar emirs presented in documentaries dedicated to billionaires.

The estate built by Italian entrepreneurs, it is said to be located in the Nkolondom district in Yaoundé, on the flank of one of the seven hills of Yaoundé. The public now say Mr. Samba got the money as a result of bad governance, unfair distribution of wealth, laxity of our leaders and an irresponsible Cameroonian population.

19, April 2017

Former US President George H. W. Bush hospitalized again ⁰

Former US President George H.W. Bush has been re-admitted to a hospital in Houston, Texas, for a recurrence of a case of pneumonia. Bush, 92, has been at the Methodist Hospital since Friday, his spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement on Tuesday.

A source close to Bush said he will probably be kept at the hospital for several more days for medical observation. Bush has suffered from poor health in recent years. In January, he spent 16 days at the same hospital in Houston being treated for pneumonia. During that time, he was on a ventilator and was in ICU.

He was also hospitalized in 2015 after falling at his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, and breaking a bone in his neck. In 2014, he was hospitalized in Houston for about a week for shortness of breath. He also spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues. Bush has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.

The 41st president is also referred to as “Bush 41”, “Bush the Elder” and “George Bush Senior” to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who became the 43rd US president. Bush served as US president from 1989 to 1993, and was vice president from 1981 to 1989 during the 8-year administration of former President Ronald Reagan.

Presstv

19, April 2017

Daesh attack in Egypt’s Sinai kills 1 police officer, injures 4 ⁰

Armed men have attacked Egyptian security forces close to the St. Catherine Monastery in the country’s Sinai Peninsula, killing one police officer and wounding four more.

The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the Tuesday attack on the security checkpoint, which is situated some 800 meters from the monastery.

St. Catherine is one of the world’s most important Christian sites and was built in the late 6th century and is registered as a UNESCO world heritage site.

The incident comes just over one week after the Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for two deadly bombings on Christian churches in the country.

18, April 2017

US F-35s arrive in UK to deter ‘Russian aggression’ ⁰

The United States has deployed several of its F-35 aircraft to the UK on their first operational mission to Europe, as part of an initiative to protect the NATO military pact against what Washington and its allies call “Russian aggression.”

The advanced aircraft flew from Hill Air Force Base in Utah to Royal Air Force’s Lakenheath airfield over the weekend, British media reported Monday.

The Pentagon had announced earlier that the aircraft would partake in joint exercises with NATO forces and further demonstrate their “operational capabilities.”

“As we and our joint F-35 partners bring this aircraft into our inventories, it’s important that we train together to integrate into a seamless team capable of defending the sovereignty of allied nations,” said USAF General Tod Wolters, Commander of US Air Forces in Europe.

Culled from Presstv

18, April 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 3 Roman Catholic Bishops to stand trial ⁰

Three Roman Catholic Bishops will appear before a court in the Bamenda province of Southern Cameroons for not intervening to ask parents to send their children to school. The plaintiffs backed by the corrupt regime in Yaoundé are claiming the sum of 150 billion CFA francs in damages.

The spiritual leader of the Bamenda ecclesiastic province, Archbishop Cornelius Esua, his deputy, Bishop Michael and His Lordship Bishop George Nkou of the Kumbo Diocese were summoned to appear before a court in Bamenda on Friday April the 21^st for their possible role in the strike action orchestrated by the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. The summons was given to the Bishops a few days ago, during the Holy Week by a regime headed by a Roman Catholic Christian with good ties with the Vatican.

The civil parties constitute a group of parents whose children are enrolled in Catholic schools and they claim that the prelates have not done enough to ensure the resumption of classes in Catholic institutions ever since the Southern Cameroons crisis started last year.

The Southern Cameroons Bishops who are by extrapolation members of Pope Francis cabinet have argued that they have never closed any Roman Catholic academic establishment. Barrister Richard Nde who has opted to defend the Bishops told Radio France International that the trial is basically political. “There is nothing concrete. It is only the interest of money and the political aspect.”

In February, the West Cameroon Episcopal Conference stressed in a statement that the Anglophone crisis was symptomatic of a deep “socio-political” crisis. The bishops then argued that the numerous killings, arrests, torture , rapes and the shutdown of the Internet had aggravated the situation. Relations between the State and the Church remain strained even though President Paul Biya was received last month by the Holy Father Pope Francis at the Vatican.

By Chi Prudence Asong

18, April 2017

Archbishop of Douala says attack on Anglophone Bishops is “sacrilegious” ⁰

The President of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, Archbishop Samuel Kléda has denounced the Yaoundé regime’s fierce attack on Southern Cameroons Bishops. The Archbishop of the Douala Diocese say Roman Catholic Bishops of the Bamenda ecclesiastical province cannot be held responsible for the closure of denominational schools as claimed by the a group backed by the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.

The Man of God observed that the attack on the Roman Catholic Church by government agents is a real scandal! The Metropolitan Archbishop of Douala told Radio Equinoxe that the Catholic Church did not orchestrate the Anglophone crisis that has paralyzed the English-speaking regions since November 2016. He pointed out that the Southern Cameroons Bishops did not shut down the private and public schools. Archbishop Kleda wondered aloud if the so-called Consortium of Parents that sued the Anglophone Bishops will also file a complaint against those responsible for private and public institutions.

Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua, his assistant Bishop Michael Bibi, the bishop of Kumbo Diocese George Nkuo, and the principal of the Sacred Heart College of Mankon, are expected to appear before the Bamenda Court of First Instance on Friday, April 21, 2017, to answer the charges against them. The two plaintiffs are senior officers of the Cameroonian army. They blame the respondents for collecting tuition fees on behalf of the school year, which is drawing to a close, without giving anything as a course. Therefore, they are claiming compensation of 150 million FCFA.

Monday, April 17, 2017 was the day of resumption of classes for the 3rd quarter of the school year 2016/2017 throughout the national territory. In Buea and Bamenda as in other towns in the South-West and North-West Regions, several schools belonging to the Anglophone educational sub-system, including denominational schools of the Catholic Church, have not been opened.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Eyong Johnson