News

7, December 2016

Governor Otto Joseph Wilson begins final journey ⁰

The Governors of the other nine Regions of Cameroon are already in Yaoundé to pay a final tribute to their colleague of the Center, Otto Wilson Joseph, who died on 24 October 2016 in a hospital in France.

According to a program made public this Wednesday on national radio and television (CRTV), the plane having on board the remains of Otto Wilson Joseph will land on Thursday night in Yaoundé. Once in his Command Region, Otto Wilson will be granted military honors and a vigil.

On Friday, the remains will leave Yaoundé for a final trip to the Isangele district in the Bakassi Peninsula in the Southwest Region. At Isangele, Otto Wilson Joseph will be accorded one last vigil in the presence of his colleagues and some members of the Biya government. On Saturday, December the 10th, the earth will close on him.

Otto Joseph Wilson, who headed the Central Region since the 4^th of June 2014, died on the 24^th of October 2016 following a protracted illness after a medical evacuation at the American hospital in Paris, France on 8 October 2016.

Anang Jude with cables from CIN

7, December 2016

Egypt dismantles a vast network trafficking human organs ⁰

The Egyptian authorities have announced the dismantling of a vast network specialized in the trafficking of human organs. According to the administrative control authority, twenty-five people were arrested in possession of “millions of dollars and gold bullion after an investigation carried out in 10 hospitals.

Among the suspects arrested were doctors, nurses, intermediaries and buyers, the ministry said, referring to the largest case of organ trafficking ever seen in Egypt. The network is made up of Egyptians and nationals from other Arab countries who take advantage of the economic situation of citizens to be able to buy their organs and sell them for a large sum of money.

According to the United Nations, hundreds of poor Egyptians sell their organs every year to buy enough to live or repay their debts.

By Chi Prudence Asong

7, December 2016

Nigeria: Poverty, prejudice drive more women to join Boko Haram ⁰

Failing to improve the lives of girls and women trapped in poverty and domestic drudgery in north-east Nigeria could drive them into the ranks of extremist groups, analysts said. Many girls and women have been abducted by the jihadist group Boko Haram and used as cooks, sex slaves and even suicide bombers, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

Yet some women in the mainly Muslim north-east, frustrated by poverty, gender discrimination and deep-rooted patriarchy, have chosen to join Boko Haram voluntarily in the hope of a better life, an International Crisis Group (ICG) report said. “For some women trapped in domestic life, Boko Haram offers an escape,” Rinaldo Depagne, West Africa project director for the ICG, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Dakar, Senegal. “But this reflects a huge abyss of desperation among women … and a failure of society in the north-east,” he added.

Rates of child marriage, school enrolment and literacy among girls and women in positions of power are far worse in the north of Nigeria than the rest of the country, activists said. But women often take senior positions in Boko Haram. Female members are almost as likely as men to be deployed as fighters and may outnumber them in roles such as recruiters and intelligence operatives, researchers said in a study published in October.

Boko Haram militants have killed about 15,000 people and displaced some 2.6 million in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria during a seven-year campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate. The army has driven Boko Haram out of much of the territory it held in 2014, but government and aid agencies must focus on caring for and reintegrating women affected by the insurgency as the country comes back under their control, the ICG said. Many women uprooted by the conflict and living in camps for the displaced have resorted to selling sex in exchange for food, while those who were married to or raped by the militants are often rejected by their communities.

For those women who chose to join Boko Haram, the power and freedom afforded to them means they are far more difficult than men to de-radicalise and reintegrate into their communities, according to Nigerian psychologist Fatima Akilu. “Exclusion and abuse of women may undermine military gains and mean they have same kind of grievances that pushed many to join Boko Haram in the first place,” Depagne said. “The state and civil society must improve the situation for women affected by Boko Haram, both victims and perpetrators, and ensure they play a role in rebuilding the north-east,” he added.

Defenceweb

7, December 2016

Obama says Guantanamo Bay is a disgrace and waste of money ⁰

US President Barack Obama has expressed disappointment over failure to close the notorious prison of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba during his term in office, saying it was a disgrace and a waste of money. “We are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars to keep fewer than 60 people in a detention facility in Cuba,” Obama said during his last security speech in the US state of Florida on Tuesday. “That’s not strength … And I will continue to do all that I can to remove this blot on our national honor.”

The US president noted that the prison, which currently holds 59 detainees without pressing charges dishonors America. Obama had pledged during his 2008 presidential campaign to close the military prison, which is located on Cuba’s southeastern coast, before he leaves office in January. However, he has been unable to fulfill his promise in the face of stiff opposition from the US Congress. The Obama administration has transferred most of the detainees to other countries, but there is a small number of detainees who the administration says it would like to keep at a US facility for national security reasons.

A Senate report in December 2014 revealed that the CIA had used a wide array of sexual abuse and other forms of torture as part of its interrogation methods against the prisoners at Guantanamo. About 780 men have passed through the facility since it was opened following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to hold terrorism suspects. Washington says the prisoners are terror suspects, but has not pressed charges against most of them in any court.

Presstv

7, December 2016

National Communications Council suspends 20 journalists ⁰

The National Communications Council, the secular arm of power in the field of media regulation has dished out new sanctions against particularly virulent media reporting against the CPDM regime. More than 20 journalists and media were suspended from activities on Tuesday the 6^th of December 2016.

Cameroon Concord News gathered the sanctions ranged from 1 to 6 months including the cessation of activities in some cases. The heaviest sanction was imposed against Douala-based “Aurore plus” newspaper and its editor, Michel Michaut Moussala, with more than 35 years of the professional experience.

The newspaper was suspended from activities and its publisher banned from the profession following a complaint by the former general manager of Camair-Co. The “powerful” Minister of Transport Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o successfully got the head of a reporter while the President of the Cameroon Football Federation had a journalist suspended for writing that he was “not the president of the FECAFOOT”.

By Rita Akana

6, December 2016

UN names 41 peacekeepers in sex abuse in Central African Republic ⁰

The UN has named and referred for punishment 41 of its peacekeepers accused of a slew of “abhorrent” sexual abuse of refugees in the Central African Republic (CAR). The announcement came after a four-month probe into disturbing reports of sexual assaults and exploitation of women and children by the UN peacekeeping mission in the CAR (MINUSCA) in the Kemo prefecture during 2014 and 2015. According to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the joint probe by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and investigators from Burundi and Gabon found 25 of the suspects were from Burundi and 16 others from Gabon.

The world body had shared the report with both member states, including the “names of the identified alleged perpetrators and has requested for appropriate judicial actions to ensure criminal accountability.” The investigation was primarily based on the testimony of victims and witnesses given the lack of medical, forensic or any other physical evidence of alleged incidents that happened at least a year ago.In total, the OIOS interviewed nearly 150 complaints, including those of 25 minors, all of which reported sexual abuse in the town of Dekoa of the prefecture. Some of the female victims acknowledged their abusers through photos and other evidence. “The alleged perpetrators, if allegations against them are substantiated, and, if warranted, their commanding officers will not be accepted again for deployment in peacekeeping operations,” Dujarric said.

All of the alleged perpetrators had been rotated out of the crisis-hit country before the allegations surfaced, he added. “The United Nations condemns, in the strongest terms, all acts of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by peacekeepers or any other UN personnel and will maintain follow up so that perpetrators of these abhorrent acts are brought to justice,” he said.

Last year, UN chief Ban Ki-moon fired the head of MINUSCA mission because of the increasing number of sexual abuse cases. He warned that the UN would throw out the entire peacekeeping unit if the soldiers accused of assaults were not prosecuted.

Under peacekeeping arrangements, the countries providing the troops have jurisdiction over prosecuting such crimes. The CAR plunged into crisis in December 2013, when anti-balaka militia began coordinated attacks against Muslims after the ouster of the government in March that year.

The UN peacekeepers have been patrolling in the crisis-hit country since April 2014 to protect citizens and refugees from violence between warring factions there. In his latest annual report, Ban announced that 69 cases of sexual abuse had been committed by UN peacekeepers last year, half of them in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Presstv

6, December 2016

1,300 refugees rescued in Mediterranean, 16 found dead ⁰

More than 1,300 refugees have been rescued and 16 bodies recovered from the Mediterranean Sea over the past three days, the Italian coastguard says. Italy’s coastal service said 285 of the refugees were rescued on Saturday, 791 on Sunday and 231 on Monday, making up 1,307 the total number of refugees saved from the sea. Reports said all the refugees were packed on board nine different vessels, small wooden boats and inflatable dinghies.

Coastguard officials said efforts to resuscitate two women found on a dinghy had failed. “Two women died of hypothermia in spite of the colossal efforts of the team. We are heartbroken, again,” they said. Among those pulled to safety were a number of Syrian families traveling with young children from Libya. Thousands of people have died over the past months crossing the perilous sea route from the Libyan coast to Europe in search of a better life.

The coasts of Libya have become a launch pad for asylum seekers heading for Europe. A large number of them are Sub-Saharan Africans attempting to reach Italy. In response to the widening crisis, the European Union launched Operation Sophia in 2015. The naval mission was meant to reduce the flow of people smuggled across the Mediterranean, and to train the Libyan coastguard to fight smugglers’ boats. Yet, the operation is largely viewed as a failure. At least 4,700 people have been killed this year trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The figure has already exceeded the toll in the entire 2015, which was more than 3,600.

The International Organization for Migration has recorded a high number of refugee arrivals in Italy from North Africa in 2016. It says 173,000 have reached the Italian shores since the start of this year, nearly 14,000 more than the figure in 2015 and breaking a 170,000 record registered in 2014. The surge in Mediterranean journeys from the south into Italy came after the European Union reached a deal with Turkey in March to curb the arrivals in Greece from the east.

The European Union has been dealing with an excessive influx of refugees in recent years, driven by war, famine, poverty and persecution. The crisis has largely divided the continent over how to deal with the situation. A number of European countries have adopted harsh measures, including toughening border controls, shutting refugees out, and even erecting razor-wire fences. But the problem remains far from resolved.

Presstv

5, December 2016

Southern Cameroons on fire, several arrests in Bamenda, Fru Ndi in Buea, Kumba joins the dance ¹

British Southern Cameroonians have staged massive demonstrations in the South West and North West of the regions of the country today Monday the 5^th of December 2016. In Buea, capital of the South West region, the elected representatives of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) led by its leader Ni John Fru Ndi mobilized and held a pro Anglophone rally.

A huge crowd accompanied the SDF leaders at the Molyko stadium where thousands of people gathered and were addressed by John Fru Ndi. The SDF chairman expressed solidarity with the demands of the Anglophone population, who are advocating for federalism or secession from Cameroon. On this claim, the regime in Yaoundé has vowed not to yield and hardliners in the Biya Francophone Beti-Ewondo government have openly stated that Anglophone claims are not on the national agenda.

The city of Kumba in the South West has also entered the federalism and secession dance. The Kumba population have responded to the calls made by the lawyers and the teachers for Anglophone demands to be met immediately. In Bamenda, the starting point of the Anglophone protest, the situation was also very tense throughout the day with clashes reported between the police and the population. Shops remained closed, the men in uniform squared the city and shots were even heard in some places.

The graduation ceremony at the Bamenda University scheduled for the 9^th of December has been postponed to a later date. Several arrests were made today in British Southern Cameroons.

By Rita Akana and Sama Ernest

5, December 2016

Revealed: 232 agents of ELECAM were recruited with fake university certificates ⁰

Two hundred and thirty-two (232), agents holding false diplomas, have just been uncovered at ELECAM (Elections Cameroon), the body in charge of the electoral process in the country.

The 232 election officers, 36 from the Far North, 8 in the North, 57 in the Center region and several from other regions were recruited in ELECAM with False diplomas by the commission evaluating training provided abroad.

The situation hinted Cameroon Concord News Yaoundé city reporter has cast doubt on the level of ethics of agents of ELECAM and the institution in charge of the electoral process in Cameroon.

This is not the first time that false diplomas are detected in a Cameroon administration. In Cameroon, the utilization false diploma is now a way of life practiced by young people.

Many have been recruited within the Cameroon administration and in countries around the world which do not have a mechanism to enable them to verify the diplomas awarded in Cameroon.

By Rita Akana

5, December 2016

John Kerry says State Department’s recommendations have no “value” in the eyes of Donald Trump ⁰

US Secretary of State John Kerry says his department’s recommendations have no “value” in the eyes of President-elect Donald Trump, who has been making phone calls to world leaders since his election on November 8, a policy which the State Department considers as controversial. Speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington on Sunday, Kerry said neither Trump nor his transition team had contacted the State Department before speaking to leaders of other countries. “We have not been contacted before any of these conversations. We have not been requested to provide talking points,” Kerry said, in an attempt to distance President Barack Obama’s administration from some of Trump’s phone calls that may anger longtime allies. Trump risked China’s wrath on Friday, when he talked to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a move that made him the first US president or president-elect to hold a conversation with Taiwan’s leader since severing ties with the territory in 1979.

The Republican president-elect also called Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif an “amazing” leader during a phone conversation on Wednesday, a praise that was looked unfavorably by India, Pakistan’s arch-rival. “I do think there’s a value, obviously, on having at least the recommendations, whether you choose to follow them or not is a different issue, but I think it’s valuable to ask people, who’ve worked the desk and have worked it for a long period of time, their input on what’s the current state, is there some particular issue at the moment,” Kerry said. “I think that’s valuable and I would certainly recommend it, but obviously that hasn’t happened in a few cases.” Unlike Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence has been using the State Department’s recommendations regularly, Kerry said.

The outgoing secretary of state noted that he was trying to stay “a thousand miles away from the Trump transition process” and hoped that communications with the team would improve once Trump picked his secretary of state. “I think it’s important for me to be able to brief whoever the final nominee is going to be for secretary of state and I don’t want to come at it with any engagements, with any of the choices they are making publicly,” he added. According to Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway, the New York billionaire was considering at least four candidates for the job. Kerry’s comments underscore Trump’s reluctance to receive advice from the Obama administration.

Presstv