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21, February 2018

Deal Signed To Extend French Cameroun – Chad Railway Network ⁰

The Governments of Cameroon and Chad have signed an aide-memoire with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to extend the railway network linking Ngaoundere in Cameroon and Djamena in Chad.

The signing ceremony was chaired by Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o and conducted in the presence of the Director General of Cooperation and Regional Integration, Charles Assamba Ongondo.

During the ceremony, Ongondo explained that the document was in relation to feasibility studies carried out ahead of the construction of the railway linking both towns. He said the three signatories had earlier on, in consultation with the Cameroon – Chad Railway Commission, agreed to carry out feasibility studies for the railway.

He noted that, after the signing, the board of AfDB’s board will go through the documentation and decided if they will continue financing the project.

Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o also indicated the position paper will be presented in the next board meeting of the Cameroon – Chad Railway Commission.

The railway extension is expected to cover a distance of 900km and add to the transport networks linking both countries. The project will be financed to the tune of approximately 5,000 billion CFAF.

Source: Railways Africa

21, February 2018

US: Lawyer pleads guilty to lying in Robert Mueller’s Russia probe ⁰

A former lawyer at a powerful New York-based law firm pleads guilty to lying to Special Counsel Robert Mueller who is probing the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia.

Alex van der Zwaan was charged on February 16 with “willfully and knowingly making materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements” to both the special counsel’s office and FBI investigators.

On Tuesday, Zwaan admitted in federal court in Washington that he had lied to prosecutors about a September 2016 conversation with Rick Gates, a former Trump aide.

The conversation the 33-year-old Dutch citizen had with Gates was about work they had done together for a Ukrainian political party aligned with Russia.

Zwaan, the son-in-law of a Russia-based billionaire, also confessed that he had deleted records of email exchanges that prosecutors had sought.

Former Trump Aide Rick Gates attends a hearing on his fraud, conspiracy and money-laundering at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse on February 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Zwaan’s decision to plead guilty could also intensify pressure on Paul Manafort, Gates’s longtime business partner and the president’s former campaign chairman.

Mueller’s team had previously accused Manafort and Gates of secretly funneling $4 million through offshore accounts to pay for a report regarding Ukraine.

In fall, both were charged with laundering money and other crimes pertaining to consultations they had with the Ukrainian political party headed by former President Viktor F. Yanukovych, but they have pleaded not guilty.

Experts say the new charge will put more pressure on Manafort and Gates to cooperate with Mueller in his probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in the US 2016 presidential election.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and has condemned the investigations. Russia has also denied the allegations. Trump has labeled Mueller’s probe as a “witch hunt,” and has suggested that Russians might have meddled in favor of Clinton.

On Friday, Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities accused of interfering in elections in the United States.

The indictment alleges the goal of the Russians was to support then-candidate Trump and hurt his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Source: Presstv

21, February 2018

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is in Lagos ⁰

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is in Lagos, Nigeria for a summit of the world football governing body. Infantino arrived in Lagos on Monday and told reporters that the summit is a democratic system where issues concerning football are discussed among stakeholders.

The FIFA FIFA Summit is an initiative of Infantino to give a voice to the member associations, who are in fact FIFA’s bosses, giving them the opportunity to exchange, discuss and listen. These exchanges, according to the FIFA boss, will allow his administration and himself to be able to hear the point of view of the administrations.

Shortly after arriving in Nigeria on Monday, Infantino went to the Lagos government headquarters, along with Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) President Amaju Pinnick. CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura who also made the trip to Nigeria.

Among the topics on the agenda for this summit are the future of youth competitions, women’s competition, how to develop them and the player transfer system.

By Chi Prudence Asong

21, February 2018

Libya rescues 441 refugees off western coast ⁰

Libya’s coastguard rescued 441 refugees in two separate operations as their boats drifted off the western coast, the navy and a doctor said on Tuesday.

Thirty-five women and 16 children were among 324 illegal refugees rescued in one of the operations on Monday with help from a fishing boat, a navy statement said.

The refugees, from countries including Chad, Nigeria, Mali and Libya, were drifting in two inflatable boats about seven nautical miles from Zuwara near the Tunisian border after the engines failed, it said.

The coastguard also rescued 117 refugees, including five women and two babies, off the coast of Zawiya, west of the capital Tripoli, on Monday, doctor Abdel Aziz al-Misrati of the charity International Medical Corps told AFP.

Rocked by lawlessness since the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has become a key transit country for illegal migration across the Mediterranean Sea.

The refugees often try to make the treacherous crossing on unseaworthy boats, hoping to reach Italy and make their way further inland in Europe and start a new life.

(Source: AFP)

20, February 2018

Malawi: Cholera outbreak kills nine ⁰

A cholera outbreak in Malawi described as “very difficult to contain” has claimed nine lives and affected a total of 541 people nationwide, health officials said on Tuesday.

The outbreak began in November near the landlocked southern African nation’s northern border with Tanzania and has since spread to other regions of the country.

UNICEF’s representative to Malawi Johannes Wedenig told local media that “as long as people in Malawi don’t change the behavior of using unsafe water, it’ll be very difficult to contain”.

He urged Malawians to follow strict sanitation rules and stressed the importance of hand-washing before eating or preparing food.

Cholera is a water-borne diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated, but is easily cured with oral rehydration, intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

A woman draws water from an unprotected well at Kawondo in Area 36, in Lilongwen Malawi, on January 25, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Clean water and hygiene standards are critical to controlling transmission.

The country has also received 216,000 oral cholera treatment packs from the World Health Organization which are being distributed in the badly-affected northern region, health ministry spokesman Joshua Malango told AFP.

Another 450,000 doses are expected to arrive soon for distribution in the rest of the country, added Malango, confirming the current toll.

Health officials have begun a media blitz to educate people about the risk of cholera and what steps they can take to avoid contracting it.

(Source: AFP)

20, February 2018

Understanding the Southern Cameroons Struggle ⁰

Separatists in Cameroon’s restive English-speaking regions have faced a violent crackdown since declaring the creation of “Ambazonia”, a self-proclaimed republic independent from the majority French-speaking country.

The violence has helped fuel support for a growing separatist movement, including armed groups, who in turn have carried out a string of attacks on police and the military. Dozens on both sides have died, and tens of thousands have fled into neighbouring Nigeria.

ENGLISH

The political drive for the separatist cause began in 2016 after police broke up demonstrations by English-speaking lawyers and teachers who protested against working in French.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium (CACSC), locally known as “the Consortium”, was formed to campaign against what they viewed as discrimination and marginalisation by the francophone majority.

Although it campaigned for federal ties — not secessionism — the campaign met with unyielding opposition from octogenarian President Paul Biya.

The Consortium was dissolved in January 2017, two of its leaders were arrested, and within the anglophone protest movement, the pendulum began to swing in favour of independence.

On October 1, prominent leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe declared the self-proclaimed republic of “Ambazonia”, named after Ambas Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. The state has not been recognised internationally.

Biya countered with a crackdown and enlisted the help of neighbouring Nigeria in denying a haven to the “terrorists”.

ASYLUM

In January, Ayuk Tabe and 46 of his supporters were extradited by Nigeria to Cameroon despite claims that many of them had lodged asylum applications.

In this climate of spiralling mistrust and revenge, calls for separatism, rather than federalism, are dominant.

The loudest calls have come from the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front (SCACUF), headed by Ayuk Tabe, which advocates peaceful means to advance independence.

Many of its members are activists with a background in teaching, law or farming, but it also counts former leaders of the outlawed Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), which began the campaign for independence back in 1995.

“Negotiations are our best weapon,” said Millan Atam, a SCACUF leader.

But since the crackdown and the roundup of Ayuk Tabe, the peaceful stance is being outflanked by radicals, some of whom advocate taking up arms against “the colonialist occupying forces”.

KIDNAPPING

The International Crisis Group (ICG) estimates that there are likely to be several hundred fighters.

On February 11, these groups and some other separatist movements gathered in an umbrella organisation called the Ambazonia Recognition Collaboration Council (ARCC).

Its most prominent member is a firebrand former student trade unionist, Lucas Cho Ayaba, who heads an armed group that calls itself the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF).

The ADF claimed responsibility for kidnapping a government official on Sunday in Batibo, a town near the Nigerian border.

It says it has “thousands of fighters,” although commentators say the figure more likely to be around a hundred or so.

“We have a bloc defence strategy — every village, every group of young people can fight for Ambazonia, and we are ready to help them,” he told AFP.

FORCE

Another armed group is Southern Cameroons Defence Forces (SOCADEF), led by Ebenezer Akwanga, like Cho Ayaba an ex-student trade unionist.

In the late 1990s, the two were allies in challenging the moderate strand of separatism, taking their slogan about “the force of argument” and reversing it, to “the argument of force.”

The ADF and SOCADEF have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the anglophone areas. Other smaller, armed factions are also engaged in the conflict, such as the Tigers of Ambazonia, Vipers and the Ambaland Forces, but their impact is unclear.

Attempts have been made to unite the various independence groups, with at least four “conclaves” in Nigeria. The groups have so far failed to unite behind a single leader or structure.

“Today, we are divided, it can not work like this,” a leader said via the WhatsApp messenger service.

Source: AFP

20, February 2018

Boko Haram attacks village in Nigeria, fails to abduct girls ⁰

Takfiri Boko Haram militants have attacked a village in northeast Nigeria, unsuccessfully attempting to kidnap girls at a boarding school there.

Eyewitnesses said on Monday that a convoy of pickup trucks belonging to Boko Haram militants descended on Dapchi Village in the Bursari area of Yobe State around 6 pm (1700 GMT).

“When they stormed the village, they began shooting and setting off explosives,” said resident Sheriff Aisami. “This drew the attention of the girls in the Girls Science Secondary School, so the girls and the teachers were able to escape before the attackers got into the school.”

Unable to kidnap the girls, the Boko Haram fighters looted the school before fleeing.

It was not clear whether the violence caused any casualties.

“Obviously, the attack was meant to abduct school girls, but luckily they found none of the girls as they were taken away by teachers before they (the militants) arrived,” said a member of a local civilian militia battling the extremists.

Boko Haram notoriously kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in April 2014.

This video grab, made on January 15, 2018 from a video released the same day by the Boko Haram militant group, shows at least 14 of the schoolgirls abducted from the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok in April 2014. (Via AFP)

Separately, Nigeria’s Justice Ministry announced on Monday that more than 200 people have been convicted in Nigeria on charges related involvement with Boko Haram.

The convictions of 205 people in mass trials marked the conclusion of the second stage of the country’s biggest legal action against Boko Haram, which began a militancy in 2009 aimed at toppling the government.

“Most of them were convicted for professing to belong to the terrorist group, (or) concealing information about the group which they knew or [were] believe[d] to be of material assistance that could lead to the arrest, prosecution or conviction of Boko Haram members,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Jail terms ranged from three to 60 years, said the ministry.

It also said a total of 526 people allegedly affiliated with Boko Haram had been released for rehabilitation during the second stage, and said 73 cases had been adjourned.

Since 2009, the Boko Haram militancy has left at least 20,000 dead and made over 2.6 million others homeless.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former general, came to power in 2015 on a platform of stamping out the Boko Haram militancy. But despite retaking swathes of territory from the group, it continues to stage attacks targeting both civilians and military targets.

Source: Presstv

20, February 2018

Ambazonia Crisis: Medical Doctor shot in Bamenda ⁰

A Southern Cameroons physician in Bamenda the chief city in the North of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dr Veh Dinga-Nyoh of PMI Nkwen , was shot on the back this morning on her way to work by troops loyal to the Biya regime. Giving an account of the incident to our London editorial office, CIR’s Sama Ernest reported that she has been transferred to the regional hospital for urgent surgical intervention.

Dr Veh Dinga-Nyoh was shot on the lower part of the back on the right side. We understand she was in a taxi heading to work this morning when a gendarme opened fire. Dr Veh was alone in the taxi with the driver who was not hurt.

Urgent surgical intervention is to be carried out to remove the bullet and to verify if any damages have been caused in her internal organs especially as the bullet hole is so close to the kidney.

20, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The Akwaya Situation Report ⁰

A slow-moving ground offensive, the assault on Akwaya by French Cameroun government forces threatens to become a protracted standoff, deepening an already dire humanitarian situation. It could also prove costly for the Biya regime, diplomatically and militarily. So far, nearly 250 civilians in Akwaya, according to a sister publication Cameroon Intelligence Report have been killed. Seven children were killed in rocket attacks launched from Egbekaw on the Manyu River on the 10^th of February 2018.

Chief Alana Valentine, Chief Odape Hans of Kajinga, Chief Dan and Chief Adejua Ndumbe of Meyerim villages in the Akwaya sub constituency have all escaped the fighting and are currently seeking refuge at the premises of the Divisional officer in Akwaya town. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the traditional rulers are wanted by the Amba Tigers for actions against the Ambazonia struggle.

We understand Chief Adejua Ndumbe of Meyerim village on the 10th of February escaped beatings and his palace was burnt down. For his part, Chief Odape Hans of Kajinga village who is the current Section President of the ruling CPDM party has been told to stay away from the village.

On the 11^th of February, Ambazonia fighters were able to attacked the grand stand leaving one element of the Rapid Intervention Battalion and the principal of GTHS Akwaya with life threatening injuries. Civil servants in Akwaya have been asking for long term leave as the area has become ungovernable.

Akwaya Sub division is the biggest and oldest in Cameroon. It is made up of 99 villages and a majority of its citizens are now refugees in the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a result of the current socio- political crisis in Southern Cameroons.

By Judith Fon in Mamfe

20, February 2018

17 killed in garbage dump collapse in Mozambique ⁰

At least 17 people have been killed and several others injured in Mozambique’s capital when a 15-meter pile of garbage collapsed due to heavy rain and buried seven houses, officials say.

The collapse happened at around 3 a.m. (0100 GMT) in the impoverished Hulene neighborhood, which is around 10 kilometers from the center of Maputo. The houses were built illegally and authorities had previously asked the residents to leave, officials said.

Torrential rain is thought to have caused the loose waste to shift and crash down on the shacks, trapping the occupants who were sleeping at the time of the incident on Sunday night.

Mozambique’s emergency service warned there could be more victims, trapped under the vast waste pile in Hulene.

“The information we received from local authorities is that the number of people living in those houses exceeds the number of deaths recorded, so work is still ongoing to see if there are any other deaths,” said spokesman Leonilde Pelembe.

The rubbish mound destroyed five homes and rescue teams were still searching through the wreckage to find survivors, he added.

“I live in this neighborhood because I have nowhere to go. Had the government told me to go to another place to live, I would have left here,” said local resident Maria Huo.

Her family home was partially destroyed and her son injured in the landslide, she said.

“It’s been more than 10 years that the dump should have been closed because it’s full — but they still continue to pile trash on the trash. The consequence is this,” said Teresa Mangue, a neighborhood leader.

Heavy rain has been falling on Maputo since Sunday, causing flooding, damaging homes and deluging roads and schools.

(Source: Agencies)