News

1, December 2016

Yang Philemon faces African leaders in Libreville ⁰

Prime Minister Philemon Yang took part in the security and political crises meeting grouping member states of ECCAS on Wednesday in Libreville. The forum was the 8th Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on the political and security situation in the sub region. The Presidents of Chad, Idriss Déby Itno, Rwanda, Paul Kagame and Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera, traveled to Libreville for the summit.

Under the impetus of Ali Bongo, the current Chairman of ECCAS and of the Security and Peace Council of Central Africa (COPAX), the meeting discussed terrorism, electoral issues, Peace building, international peace missions, sub regional integration, youth, the humanitarian situation and maritime safety and security.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that the leaders also agreed to strengthen coordination on surveillance and intelligence gathering efforts between States to prevent the rise of violent extremism and terrorism and support for regional economic integration efforts through inter alia, A Free Trade Area (FTA), enhanced cooperation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the fight against terrorism and dialogue in the countries of the sub- region affected by political conflicts.

By Chi Prudence Asong

1, December 2016

Rwanda: Government opens probe into role of French officials in 1994 genocide ⁰

Rwanda has opened a formal investigation into the alleged role of 20 French officials in the 1994 genocide. The Rwandan government accuses France of complicity in the genocide. The French officials are accused of supporting the Hutu nationalist government, which carried out the mass killing of an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 Rwandans, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group. Paris denies the allegation.

“The inquiry, for now, is focused on 20 individuals whom, according to information gathered so far, are required by the prosecution authority to explain or provide clarity on allegations against them,” said Rwanda’s prosecutor general Richard Muhumuza.

He added that the probe would enable prosecutors to decide “whether the concerned individuals should be formally charged or not.” Muhumuza said that he had contacted the French government and that full cooperation was expected.

The Rwandan genocide began following the shooting down of a plane carrying former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994. Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was also killed in the plane crash. They were both ethnic Hutus.

After the crash, Hutus who were in majority, were incited to commit acts of ethnic violence against Tutsis. France’s Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on November 16 that it was “a disgraceful lie” to say that the French army took park in genocide.

Relations between the two countries have gone through ups and downs since the genocide. In 2014, Rwandan President Paul Kagame repeated accusations that French troops were both accomplices and “actors” in the massacre.

In October, Paris re-launched an inquiry into the shooting down of Habyarimana’s plane to hear testimony from a former general who accuses Kagame of being behind the attack. The Rwandan government has rejected the claims, saying it is an attempt by France to cover up its role in the genocide.

Presstv

30, November 2016

Biya snubs Anglophone leaders, dispatches Philemon Yang on a new mission to Gabon ⁰

Prime Minister Philemon Yang will not be meeting with the Anglophone leaders today Wednesday November the 30^th 2016. The Head of Government will represent President Biya at the Extraordinary Summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC), which opens today in Libreville, Gabon.

Philemon Yang reportedly promised the new generation of Anglophone leaders that he was going to meet with them for a second round of dialogue today. But his political boss who has no feeling for the Anglophone community has decided to dispatch the Prime Minister to Gabon.

According to Alain-Claude Bilie-Bi Nzé, Gabonese Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, the Libreville summit will be devoted to peace and security in the sub-region. Specifically, at the summit in the Gabonese capital, the Heads of State, Government and delegations present will examine the situation of the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Chad. Important resolutions are therefore expected.

By Fru James in Yaounde

NB This reporter is not a staff of the Cameroon Concord News Group

30, November 2016

UK: Members of Parliament sexually harass young employees but can go unpunished ⁰

A Labour lawmaker in the United Kingdom has revealed that the Members of Parliament sexually harass young employees but can go unpunished as their victims feel helpless. Labor MP John Mann made the remarks at the House of Commons’ Standards Committee on Tuesday, saying that sexual assault by politicians at Westminster was a “major issue” to be addressed. “In here [Westminster], there are alleged sexual assaults by current members of Parliament and nowhere for people to go, or they don’t feel confident in going. That’s a major issue,” he said.

Mann called for the necessity of setting up a whistle-blowing service to help victims come forward, adding that the female employees did not feel secure to raise the issue. The lawmaker told the committee that he was aware of cases where staff had “significant issues” with the way current parliamentarians behave towards them but he was powerless to report colleagues to police because “there is no criminality” involved.

“That is not a matter of criminality but [one] that would be potentially an issue for whistle-blowing to make a complaint. The cases I am aware of, there is no criminality otherwise it would be very straightforward. I would be advising go to the police,” he said. In a shocking example, Mann said that older MPs would force young female interns to work late before “pressing” them into going home with them.

“There has been improper sexual behavior in this building that I am aware of with members of staff by Members of Parliament, including in recent times, the last two years, and I have had complaints of that, the individuals do not feel comfortable or confident, working in a political environment, of raising that issue and explicitly did not want me to raise the issue and therefore potentially have them named,” Mann noted.

UK MPs are already embroiled in other sexual scandals. In 2015 alone, reports by UK media reveled that over 247,000 attempts were made by users of the British parliament’s network to check out pornographic material.

Presstv

29, November 2016

UN chief denounces recent bloodshed in the Central African Republic ⁰

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has denounced recent bloodshed in the Central African Republic (CAR) where clashes between members of the former Seleka rebellion killed scores of people. The clashes between rival armed groups from ex-Seleka in Bria northeast of the capital Bangui killed 85 people and displaced nearly 11,000 people, according to the UN.

In a statement on Monday, the UN chief urged the armed groups to “immediately stop the violence and genuinely commit to ongoing efforts to address the root causes of the conflict.” The fighting was said to have broken out between the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African Republic (FPRC) and the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC). The two factions have been engaged in sporadic fighting over control of taxes levied on nomadic Fulani herdsman during the current seasonal migration. In March 2013, the Central African Republic plunged into chaos when then-president Francois Bozize was toppled and replaced by Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia, the first Muslim to hold the presidency in the country.

Djotodia’s opponents then formed “anti-Balaka” vigilante units, drawn from the Christian majority, which began to target Muslims and commit widespread atrocities. The UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the national police are seen conducting a joint operation in the capital Bangui. (Photo by UN) In 2014, some 11,000 peacekeepers were deployed by the UN to the country as part of MINUSCA or the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic. Seleka and anti-Balaka representatives signed a ceasefire agreement later that year but the country has not yet fully emerged from its bloody past.

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Central African Republic, Fabrizio Hochschild, said in a statement on Monday that almost half of the country’s population of over four million people is in dire need of humanitarian aid. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), hundreds of people have been killed and many more displaced since a deadly series of clashes broke out in the country in September.

Presstv

29, November 2016

In Loving Memory of Paul Atanga Nji, Mafany Musonge and Philemon Yang ⁰

× We have 2 sea ports all in francophone areas

× We have 3 international airports. All in francophone areas

× We have 2 or 3 hydro electricity dams. All in francophone localities

× Economic and political capitals all francophone

× the 3 first most powerful position in Cameroon Head of State, Senate President, National Assembly Speaker) all occupied by francophones

× The greatest document in public service (integration decision) only in French.

× Ministers of Higher Education, Secondary Education, and Primarily Education are Francophones.

× Ministers of Public Service, Finance, Justice and Defense are Francophones.

×PRIME MINISTER HAS NO REGIONAL DELEGATIONS. AND CAN NOT ACT WITHOUT PASSING THROUGH THE ALL SURROUNDED FRANCOPHONE MINISTER WITH REGIONAL DELEGATIONS EVERYWHERE.

× Government has not done any investment in any Anglophone zone to favor Anglophones.

29, November 2016

Business as usual in La Republique as Biya receives Senegalese Head of State ⁰

The President of Senegal, Macky SALL has commended Cameroon’s much-envied status in Africa. The Senegalese leader made the acknowledgement during a visit to Cameroon on Monday 28 November 2016.

President Macky SALL noted that he came to highlight Cameroon’s greatness at the heart of the continent, which has been magnified by its cultural, economic and political stability.

For his part, President Paul BIYA said Yaounde and Dakar will continue to share a sincere and excellent friendship, attached to the promotion of democracy, peace, dialogue, and unity in Africa.

President Macky SALL was welcomed at the Unity Palace by BIYA. Both men held a meeting behind closed doors, which was followed by a special lunch offered by the Presidential Couple. The august guest thanked President Paul BIYA and First Lady Chantal BIYA for the hospitality reserved to him and his delegation.

The Senegalese Head of State was accompanied from and to the Nsimalen International Airport by Prime Minister Philemon YANG.

28, November 2016

UN says four million children orphaned due to violence in Congo-Kinshasa ⁰

Some four million children have lost at least one parent in two decades of continuous violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations (UN) has announced. The UN said in a report that a total of more than 26 million children have also been orphaned in West and Central Africa, where the DR Congo is located.

This is the second highest number of orphans living in the world behind South Asia, according to the report. “They are the orphans with a story of violence since 1994 — it’s a generation of victims that continues,” says Francisca Ichimpaye, a senior monitor at the En Avant Les Enfants INUKA center. And the children “lose their story in the violence,” Ichimpaye said. Orphans are forced to fend for themselves and their younger siblings. Some of them are vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups; others face sexual exploitation in a country where rape has become commonplace.

The DR Congo, which faces grinding poverty and crumbling infrastructure, has been plagued by ethnic conflict and a fight over valuable minerals since 1998. Civilians are the main victims of the ethnic strife. On Sunday, at least 30 civilians were killed in the DR Congo when militiamen from the Nande ethnic group in the eastern country attacked the village of Luhanga, where the Hutu ethnic people live. The Nande and Hutu groups have been divided along ethnic lines and relations between the two sides have been tense over the past months.

Presstv

28, November 2016

Biya to meet President Macky Sall of Senegal today in Yaounde ⁰

President Biya will receive the Senegalese head of state today in Yaounde. A statement by the Cameroonian dictator’s civil cabinet said Biya will be at the Yaounde-Nsimalen International Airport today November 28, 2016 at 11:30 am to welcome President Macky Sall.

Both leaders will have a one-and-one at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel, before an official CPDM style luncheon offered by the Cameroonian presidential couple. The Senegalese president will leave Yaoundé late in the afternoon. Senegal maintains close relations with Cameroon, marked by mutual respect and a frank and cordial friendship. Since 1962, Cameroon and Senegal have signed a dozen of agreements. These include:

– the Cultural Agreement of 4 March 1964;

– the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation of 16 June 1972;

– the Commercial Agreement of 10 January 1974;

– the Agreement on cooperation in the field of sea fishing of 19 February 1991;

– the Agreement on ordinary civil aviation of 30 May 1973;

– the Cultural Exchange Protocol of 16 May 1980;

– the Convention on Social Security signed in Yaoundé in June 1991;

– the Cooperation Agreement in the field of communication signed on 24 July 1990 between CRTV and ORTS;

– the Tourism Agreement signed on 24 June 2010 in Dakar;

In the spirit of intensification of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the Follow-up Committee of the 4th session of the Cameroon / Senegal Joint Cooperation Committee was held in Yaoundé from the 16^th to 17^th of November 2015. Closed in 1994, the Senegalese embassy in Cameroon resumed its activities in July 2007.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from CIN

27, November 2016

Former UN Secretary Kofi Annan pays tribute to Fidel Castrol ⁰

“Today I mourn the loss of a friend, the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Securing the welfare of the Cuban people and ensuring the independence of his nation shaped much of Fidel Castro’s thinking and many of his actions. Whether one shared his political views or disagreed with them, Fidel Castro was one of Latin America’s most remarkable leaders.

In the course of his long life he overcame countless adversities and rarely chose the easy and comfortable path. I met Fidel Castro many times over the years and came to appreciate his extraordinary intellect, sharp mind, and his ability to engage in constructive dialogue. Farewell Fidel.”