Politics

19, May 2020

Defections rob France’s Macron party of parliamentary majority ⁰

Left-leaning lawmakers defected Tuesday to rob President Emmanuel Macron’s party of its outright majority in France’s National Assembly in a symbolic but non-paralyzing setback for the embattled reformist leader.

Seventeen members of Macron’s La Republique En Marche (LREM) party said they had formed a new political grouping named “Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity” (EDS) to pursue greener policies, “modernize” the political system, and reduce social inequalities.

“After COVID-19, nothing will be like before,” they said in a statement. “We can do more and better in the National Assembly.”

The 577-member assembly is the lower house of parliament, but has the final say on most legislation over the upper house or Senate.

Macron’s then-brand-new LREM took 308 seats in 2017 elections that saw the centrist leader sweep to power from relative obscurity.

Lawmakers have quit the party at a trickle since then, and it was finally left with 288 seats on Tuesday — one fewer than the 289 required for an outright majority.

The governing party insisted that Tuesday’s loss was not “cataclysmic,” as it could continue to rely on smaller, allied parties for a voting majority in the assembly.

Macron’s popularity has zigzagged as he has fought a succession of political battles starting with the so-called “yellow vest” rebellion of 2018-2019 that was sparked by widespread anger against a leader seen by critics as the president of the rich and out of touch with ordinary people.

That was followed early this year by France’s longest continuous transport strike over the former investment banker’s plans to reform the country’s pension system.

This month, an opinion poll showed only about a third of French people had confidence in Macron to manage the country’s problems.

This came as the country looked to Macron to spearhead the fight against the coronavirus outbreak that has seen the economy tank in spite of several billions of euros in government interventions to prop up businesses and save jobs.

One of the vice-presidents of the new EDS grouping is Cedric Villani, who opted to stand as an independent candidate for Paris mayor in the March local elections after Macron chose someone else to represent the party.

Villani denied Tuesday that any “rebellion” was at play.

In its declaration, the EDS listed 15 priorities that included “industrializing” the economy, seeking “real transparency” in politics, and boosting a public health system caught ill-prepared for the coronavirus crisis.

Two-thirds of the group’s members are women.

(Source: AFP)

16, May 2020

French Cameroun Politics: Six opposition figures arrested for distributing face masks ⁰

Six opposition activists have been arrested in Cameroon for distributing face masks and disinfectant gel, their lawyers and Human Rights Watch said Friday.

The six were arrested on Monday in a busy market in the capital Yaounde. They are all supporters of main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who lost the 2018 presidential election to veteran leader Paul Biya.

Cameroon’s government has banned an initiative by Kamto to collect funds to fight the novel coronavirus, ordering banks to close its accounts and freeze the money.

Communication companies have also been told to close mobile accounts opened to support the fund.

There have been 3,000 coronavirus infections and 139 deaths in Cameroon, which ranks among the worst affected African countries.

Hippolyte Meli, one of the lawyers for the six detainees, told AFP that they were being held for “the illegal distribution of masks and hydroalcoholic gel.”

Cameroonian authorities contacted by AFP have not commented so far.

HRW said the six were accused of “rebellion” — an act that could fetch them up to four years in jail, if convicted.

“Earlier in May, the health minister rejected a donation by Kamto’s initiative of 16,000 protective and surgical masks and 950 COVID-19 screening tests, claiming the initiative had not been legally established,” the rights monitor said.

“Distributing free masks to those who need them is not rebellion and it certainly should not land people in jail. Cameroonian authorities appear to be more concerned with defeating the opposition than protecting public health.”

Biya, 87, has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and he has not appeared on television since the pandemic broke out.

Source: AFP

15, May 2020

More Americans disapprove Trump’s handling of coronavirus ⁰

More Americans say they think President Donald Trump is doing a “bad job” handling the coronavirus pandemic and don’t trust him to provide accurate data about the outbreak, according to a new poll.

The CBS News poll found that 57 percent of respondents said they believe Trump is doing a “bad job” handling the public health crisis and 43 percent said the president is doing a “good job.”

Views of Trump’s handling of the outbreak are now 10 points lower than in March, the lowest rating he has received.

The poll also shows 62 percent Americans don’t trust Trump to provide accurate information about the coronavirus or what to do during the outbreak.

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, receives similar numbers.

Trump worsening approval rating comes as the number of confirmed infections and deaths from COVID-19 mount.

The pandemic has infected over 1.4 million people in the United States, killed more than 85,000 and devastated the economy.

A whistleblower told a congressional hearing on Thursday that the United States could face “the darkest winter” of recent times if it does not improve its response to the pandemic.

Rick Bright says he was removed by the White House as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for raising concerns about the government’s coronavirus preparedness.

BARDA is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services responsible for developing drugs to fight the coronavirus.

Trump, who has been pushing for the US economy to reopen quickly, dismissed Bright as a “disgruntled employee” on Twitter on Thursday morning before the hearing begun.

Source: Presstv

15, May 2020

Readout of Swiss President’s phone call with Paul Biya ⁰

The President of the Swiss Confederation, Mrs Simonetta Sommaruga has said on her Twitter account that she had a telephone conversation with the French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya on the 14^th of May 2020 on the crisis in Southern Cameroons and the coronavirus pandemic.

She reiterated to the 88 year-old leader, her country’s willingness to accompany Cameroon in the search for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

“Happy to have had an exchange of views today with President @PR_Paul_BIYA on health and humanitarian cooperation in Cameroon and on Switzerland’s commitment to finding solutions in the North-West and South-West,” the Swiss official tweeted.

Correspondingly, the Swiss government reportedly tried in the past to initiate negotiations between the Cameroonian government and the English-speaking separatists. But the initiative has met with a stone wall from both sides, who are sticking to their positions.

According to NGOs, the war in Southern Cameroons has caused at least 3,000 deaths and more than 700,000 displaced persons and refugees.

By Chi Prudence Asong

12, May 2020

Coronavirus pandemic politics costing lives in Brazil ⁰

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro keeps saying coronavirus fears are overblown. Other officials at the federal, state and local levels insist the danger is all too real.

Brazil is torn by a deep political divide over how to respond to the pandemic, and it is taking a heavy human toll.

On Saturday, even as the death toll in Brazil crossed the threshold of 10,000, Bolsonaro continued pressing to get the country back to work.

“The army of unemployed keeps growing,” he tweeted.

“Is chaos coming?” added the far-right leader, who has compared the virus to a “little flu” and condemned the “hysteria” surrounding it.

Some argue the “chaos” is already here — at least as far as the Brazilian government’s response goes.

Bolsonaro’s criticism of stay-at-home measures to fight the virus has put him at odds with state and local authorities across Brazil, not to mention his own former health minister.

The president sacked the latter, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, last month after a long series of public spats.

Meanwhile, Brazil has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America, with 11,519 deaths so far.

Experts say under-testing means the real figure is likely far higher, and that things stand to get a lot worse.

“We know from history that anytime there’s such a cacophony in a situation like this, such huge disagreement on public policy among leaders, tragedy ensues,” said Brazilian historian Sidney Chalhoub, a professor at Harvard University.

As an example, he cited the last major cholera outbreak in Europe, in the late 19th century, that killed more than 10,000 people in Hamburg, Germany.

“It was largely caused by divisions between the local political elite and dominant economic interests, which trumped public health concerns. And the result was an even bigger economic catastrophe,” he said.

– Polarizing disease –

Bolsonaro supporters have held a series of anti-confinement protests in recent weeks.

Sometimes the president himself has joined in, hitting the street, shaking hands and giving fiery speeches, all while refusing to wear a face mask.

The protests have included virulent attacks on Congress and the Supreme Court, which have moved to counter Bolsonaro’s anti-confinement measures.

At times, they have erupted into violence, including against journalists and even nurses.

But a recent poll by the Datafolha institute found that 67 percent of Brazilians believe stay-at-home measures are needed to contain the virus, even if they hurt the economy.

Even in his own camp, Bolsonaro’s support is far from universal.

Another poll found that while 56 percent of those who call themselves right-wing or center-right supported the president’s handling of the pandemic, 40 percent did not.

“The more closely related people are to someone who has been infected or died, the more they distance themselves from Bolsonaro,” said political scientist Carlos Pereira of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, who conducted the latter poll.

– ‘Anti-knowledge’ –

Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, whom he admires, Bolsonaro has touted the medication chloroquine as a wonder drug against COVID-19.

Scientists at Brazil’s leading public health research institute, Fiocruz, have stated that preliminary studies do not indicate chloroquine is an effective treatment for the disease.

Perceived to be attacking the president, they have received threats on social media in response.

“We’re talking about a far-right, anti-democratic government,” some of whose supporters have “fascist” tendencies, said sociologist Debora Messenberg, of the University of Brasilia.

“We can’t even talk about society being ‘polarized’ in the usual sense. It’s not a democratic polarization. Right now, the debate is between democracy and authoritarianism,” she said.

Brazil, like the United States, is facing the pandemic “with a government that is anti-knowledge,” said Chalhoub.

The Bolsonaro administration “is depicting this as a public health catastrophe versus an economic catastrophe. But that’s a harmful view that will drive us toward both,” he said.

Source: AFP

9, May 2020

US withdraws support for UN Security Council global ceasefire resolution ⁰

The United States on Friday stunned other members of the UN Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said.

Washington’s reversal came a day after it agreed to the text, negotiators said under cover of anonymity.

“The United States cannot support the current draft,” the country’s delegation declared, without further detail, to the 14 other Security Council members, after nearly two months of difficult negotiation over the text.

The latest stalemate continues to leave the global peace and security body largely mute in the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic that has killed more than 270,000 people and raised further fears for the world’s most vulnerable.

When asked for an explanation of the US move, a State Department official told AFP that China had “repeatedly blocked compromises that would have allowed the Council to move forward.”

Diplomats told AFP that the language used in the draft to describe the World Health Organization was behind the US move to prevent the vote.

But other sources said Washington wanted the Council to return to an initial draft of the resolution which highlighted the need for “transparency” in global cooperation in tackling the pandemic.

“In our view, the Council should either proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or a broadened resolution that fully addresses the need for renewed member state commitment to transparency and accountability in the context of COVID-19,” the State Department official said.

Compromise had implicit WHO reference

US President Donald Trump has accused the WHO of downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak in China.

The procedure blocked by the United States would have allowed the sponsors of the resolution, France and Tunisia, to put it to a vote.

The latest version of the text — obtained by AFP — called for a cessation of hostilities in conflict zones and a 90-day “humanitarian pause” to allow governments to better address the pandemic among those most suffering.

It called on all nations to “enhance coordination” in the virus fight and highlighted the “urgent need to support all countries, as well as all relevant entities of the United Nations system, including specialized health agencies, and other relevant international, regional, and sub-regional organization.”

This wording, which implicitly refers to the WHO without explicitly mentioning it, was the compromise obtained from US and China on Thursday night, according to diplomats

‘Very bad news’

Washington had threatened to use its veto if there were any explicit reference to the WHO, while Beijing brandished its own veto if the global health body were not mentioned, before in the end accepting that it would not be.

Diplomats said the US had let go more than a week ago of its demand for mention of transparency in the French-Tunisian text. The “ball was in the Chinese camp” now, one of them said previously.

The US turnaround “is a very, very bad news for United Nations, the Security Council and multilateralism,” said one ambassador from a Security Council member.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been pushing for a cessation of hostilities around the world since March 23, urging all sides in conflict to lay down arms and allow war-torn nations to combat the coronavirus.

French Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere told AFP that he would like “of course to continue to try to reach an agreement, if there is room for that.”

His Tunisian counterpart Kais Kabtani said discussions are continuing “to convince the Americans.” He vowed that the procedure for going to a vote would be taken up again.

Ironically, the Security Council was also engaged Friday in a major videoconference organized by Estonia, which holds the body’s rotating presidency this month, on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

More than 50 ministers from around the world participated, most of them issuing a “plea for multilateralism.”

Source: AFP

9, May 2020

Biya is no longer in control of his CPDM government ⁰

A prominent baron of the political bureau of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate has told Cameroon Intelligence Report that President Biya 88 is no longer in charge of his government.

Speaking to our chief political correspondent Rita Akana in Yaoundé, the French Cameroun political elite who sued for anonymity claimed President Biya knows only 4 of his sea of ministers. Our source furthered that Biya only talks to Gregoire Owona, Laurent Esso, Atanga Nji and Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

“President Biya does not know the people he has been appointing as most of the several members of government came into cabinet through private connections with some close family relatives to Biya” he added.

According to another well-placed source in Yaoundé, Biya’s lack of control over his government is now a major concern among his Beti Ewondo supporters. A lot of people who had access to him in the yesteryears are now being prevented from informing him on the poor state of the country by a selected few.

Biya recently betrayed his ignorance when he questioned the actions of the Minister for National Education. We gathered that he wondered aloud why Dr Dorothy Njeuma was not coming out strong on the fight against COVID-19 in schools and colleges but was reminded that it was Prof Nalova who was now at the head not Njeuma.

By Fon Lawrence in Yaoundé

9, May 2020

France-Afrique: Macron running out of patience with Biya ⁰

French Cameroun dictator, Paul Biya whose last two public appearances at Etoudi were on March 11, and April 16^th 2020 with the United States Ambassador, Peter Henri Barlerin and the French Ambassador Christophe Guilhou has been told by his French masters in Paris to end his COVID-19 self isolation and get back to Yaoundé, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from reliable sources in the French capital.

The Coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc throughout the country and ever since the announcement of Cameroon’s first case on March 6, 2020, the 88 year old Monarch has still not expressed himself in a televised message as several of his counterparts the world over have done.

Our source in Paris also hinted that French President Macron compelled the dictator to come out of his confinement when rumors about the bill of his health started gaining grounds in Yaoundé.

A retired French diplomat was quoted recently by newspapers in French Cameroun as saying that Macron was running out of patience with the frail leader and has again directed Biya to seek a lasting solution to the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

Biya is expected to travel back to Yaoundé this coming week amid pressure exerted surreptitiously by French President Macron and opposition leader Prof. Maurice Kamto.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow

7, May 2020

Barrister Agbor Balla, UNIBU, Federalism and FECAFOOT: Going, going, gone ⁰

The contract of Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor alias Agbor Balla, Instructor at the English Law Department of the University of Buea, UB, has been terminated on grounds that he breached university guidelines when he set an exam question on the socio-political situation in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions.

Decision No. 2020/0326/UB/DVC/TIC/AcA/AA to terminate the contract of Agbor Balla is dated Wednesday, May 6, 2020 and signed by the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ngomo Horace Manga.

Members of a disciplinary panel set up through service note no. 2020/071/UB/VC/DVC/TIC/AcA/TTSD/AA on April 3, 2020 are said to have unanimously agreed that Agbor Balla’s contract be terminated at the end of a Disciplinary Hearing Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at the Board Room of the Central Administrative Block despite Agbor Nkongho’s “boycott”.

The rights activist is said to have breached professional obligations when he set an exam question on the Anglophone Crisis in a first semester level one course titled “Political and Constitutional History of Cameroon”. The question read: “The Anglophone crisis since 2016 was caused by lawyers’ and teachers’ strikes. Assess the validity of this statement. (40 marks).”

The Disciplinary Panel resolved that the question violates Article 40 and 42 (paragraph 1) of decree no. 93/027 of 19 January 1993, modified and completed by decree no. 2005/342 of 10 September 2005, to define provisions common to all university institutions.

Expected to enter appearance in defense, Agbor Balla rather sought the services of Sheriff-Bailiff Tapa Justin Lebrin to serve the Vice-Chancellor his “Appearance Under Protest”. The four-page document was received on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor by his private secretary early Wednesday morning. In the “protest”, Agbor Balla picked holes in the disciplinary hearing, positing that it fell short of due process.

Based on the outcome of the Disciplinary Panel, Vice-Chancellor Professor Ngomo Horace Manga decided to terminate with immediate effect the Contract of Mr. Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla recruited as Instructor in the Department of Law through decision No. 2015/0514/UB/AcA/TTSD/TSS of June 2, 2015.

“The Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Teaching, Professionalization and Development of Information and Communication Technologies, the Registrar, the Director of Academic Affairs, the Director Of Finance, the Dean of the Faculty of Laws and Political Science, each in their areas of competence, are charged with the implementation of this decision, which shall be registered and communicated wherever necessary,” said Professor Ngomo.

Agbor Balla took to Facebook and Twitter Wednesday night with the following words: “They celebrated when I was arrested; wished me death whilst I was in jail; prayed that I should never leave jail; jubilated when the minister wrote to the university; rejoiced when I was summoned but unfortunately for them they are not God. I have forgiven all of them.”

It would be recalled that the Minister of State for Higher Education and Chancellor of Academic Orders, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo had on April 20, 2020 instructed the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buea ,Professor Horace Ngomo Manga to put a definite end to all on-campus activities of Agbor Balla which breach the “ethics and deontology” of the University. Sources at UB say the Minister of State’s letter followed complaints from parents sent to his office.

Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that when the crisis in the North West and South West regions started in October 2016 with the Lawyers’ and later Teachers’ strike, Agbor Balla was President of the Fako Lawyer’s Association (FAKLA) as well as President of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium, CACSC.

When pressure came to bear on government, the CACSC was banned on January 17, 2017 and Agbor Balla arrested same day along with Dr. Fontem Neba who served as Secretary General of the Consortium.

Brought before the Yaoundé military court for promoting terrorism among other charges that carry the maximum sentence, Agbor Balla was freed when President Biya ordered the discontinuance of proceedings against him and others on August 30, 2017.

Human Rights Lawyer Agbor Balla’s trouble at the University of Buea may not be unconnected to his civil society activities and his recent indictment of government for the February 14, 2020 killings in Ngarbuh, pundits say.

Source: Cameroon-Info.Net

6, May 2020

Success Nkongho: the poison among Southern Cameroonians ⁰

The dust about Nkongho Success’ betrayal of the Southern Cameroonian cause seems to be settling, especially as the fight against the Coronavirus seems to have overshadowed the struggle for the independence of Southern Cameroons.

While Southern Cameroonians are observing a ceasefire to enable the international community battle an insidious and disruptive virus, Nkongho Success has been at work, betraying more Southern Cameroonians and hurting those he considers as his sworn enemy.

Today, he has sent Paul Ayah Abine, the illustrious judge and once-upon-a-time presidential candidate who helped him to grow politically, to the SED where he will face some tough questions about his political and financial activities.

Nkongho Success has been talking with the country’s Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji, and Prime Minister, Joseph Dion Ngute, both of whom are in support of a sinister plot to silence the retired judge forever.

Mr. Nkongho claims he has evidence that Mr. Ayah Abine had sinister a plan to buy arms and destabilize the country.

He claims the learned judge wanted to use his church to raise money for his 2018 presidential campaign, some of which would have been channeled into an arms purchase deal.

He alleges that Judge Ayah had asked him to charge his faithful in his fake church CFAF 5,000 each which could have made the learned judge an instant billionaire and a huge threat to the government.

Judge Ayah is not a stranger to SED and his sound knowledge of the law will be the largest tool in his tool box in his effort to deal with this massive mess Mr. Nkongho has created for him and his family.

Mr Nkongho, who now lives in Yaoundé, is now enjoying some form of protection and immunity and these will last for as long as he continues to betray many Southern Cameroonians.

His family has been set up in Yaoundé by the government. All of his brothers have left Mamfe and his cousins who sympathize with the Southern Cameroonian cause have completely disconnected from him.

Speaking over the phone to a friend in Mamfe, Mr. Nkongho said he would never regret his decision, although Amba fighters had seized all of their farms and allocated them to other people.

He has sworn to destroy Judge Ayah, claiming that it was Mr. Ayah who attacked him first.

More will be yours as Cameroon Concord News Group gathers more details.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde