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26, October 2017

Garga Haman Adji and the Southern Cameroons Crisis: Consistently inconsistent ⁰

The controversial French Cameroun politician and former minister of public service, Garga Haman Adji revealed to Canal 2 International on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 details of the exchanges he had with President Biya on Friday, January 6, 2017, during a ceremony at the Unity Palace on the Southern Cameroons crisis.

“The president came to me, held my hands. He is used to calling me “Mr. Minister” or “Mr. Garga”. But that day, he said to me, “Garga, you are following what’s going on, you have to do something. Garga bring me Bamenda! “. And it was really pathetic “says the president of the Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD), an opposition political party.

Garga claimed that he embarked on a tour of Southern Cameroons, on Monday following his tête-à-tête with the Head of State. At the end of this tour during which he said he met all the key players, Garga Haman Adji noted that he submitted a report to the President of the Republic in which he stated the measures to be taken for a peaceful end to the crisis.

“He did not send me to extinguish the fire. He knows I do not know how to be a firefighter. But, he told me to study the root of the evil,” hinted Garga who resigned from the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime in 1992.

By Rita Akana with files from Cameroon Info.Net

26, October 2017

US: Trump hits back at Republican critics in Congress ⁰

US President Donald Trump has hit back at critical senators in Congress within his own Republican Party, painting them as outliers.

Trump made the comments on Wednesday hours after meeting Republican senators on Capitol Hill, which he described as a “love fest” between him and allied lawmakers.

A day after Republican senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake condemned Trump for “debasing” the nation and having a “flagrant disregard” for truth and decency, the combative president hit back.

Attempting to prevent a wider backlash from his political party, Trump said that Corker and Flake had decided to leave politics because they could not be reelected to the Senate.

“The reason Flake and Corker dropped out of the Senate race is very simple, they had zero chance of being elected. Now act so hurt & wounded!” Trump tweeted.

“The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!” he continued.

Flake had told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday that he doesn’t see a place for himself in the current Republican Party under Trump’s leadership.

“Jeff Flake, with an 18% approval rating in Arizona, said ‘a lot of my colleagues have spoken out.’ Really, they just gave me a standing O!” Trump shot back.

“The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!” Trump continued, this time adding senator Bob Corker to his attack list.

Corker, who represents the state of Tennessee and chairs the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the president.

The ongoing public dispute between Trump and Corker escalated Tuesday after Trump attacked Corker for his skepticism over a $1.5 trillion tax cut and the senator responding by slamming the president as an “utterly untruthful” leader who “debases” his country.

Earlier this month, Corker condemned Trump for undermining Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, saying the president’s public statements on foreign policy “castrate” his top diplomat and creates “binary” scenarios for the US on the world stage.

Source: Presstv

25, October 2017

Boko Haram leader’s wife killed in Nigeria airstrike ⁰

The Nigerian military says it is investigating reports that one of the wives of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram Takfiri group, has been killed in a recent airstrike.

“Efforts are ongoing to confirm the reported killing of Shekau’s wife, alongside other BHTs (Boko Haram terrorists),” said air force spokesman Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya on Tuesday, six days after an attack on Boko Haram militants near Urga in the Konduga area in Borno state.

Adesanya said the air raid on October 19 targeted “a large gathering of Boko Haram terrorists” at the Durwawa settlement. He added that the attack killed scores of militants on the ground and triggered a fire.

The official said that Shekau’s wife, identified as Fitdasi, was “reported to have been representing her husband in a coordinating meeting with other terrorists at the location of the airstrikes”.

Fitdasi was thought to be one of Shekau’s four wives. Nigerian army arrested another wife, Hassana Yakubu, in a raid in the northeastern city of Damaturu in 2012. She was released a year later along with the wives of several other top commanders of Boko Haram.

One of other wives of Shekau is a widow of Muhammad Yusuf, the founder and former leader of Boko Haram who died in custody in 2009.

Under Shekau’s leadership which began after Yusuf’s death, Boko Haram has led an insurgency in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries that has left around 20,000 people dead. Hundreds of thousands have also been displaced in the violence.

The Nigerian military claims its massive operations which began two years ago has made Boko Haram a spent force as the group has withdrawn from its major strongholds in Borno. However, the government still struggles to contain sporadic attacks that mostly target civilians in crowded places.

Source: Presstv

25, October 2017

Secession Palaver: Madrid resolute on taking control of Catalonia ⁰

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says the “only possible” way to restore legality in Catalonia, which according to him has been liquidated by regional President Carles Puigdemont, is for Madrid to take control of the autonomous region.

Speaking to the parliament on Wednesday, Rajoy said that the government’s plan to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which allows Spain to impose direct rule on Catalonia was “exceptional.”

He said he hoped the measure, which includes the curtailment of the Catalan parliament and sacking the government of Puigdemont, would not take too much time to implement.

Rajoy said his government would hold regional elections in Catalonia as soon as possible, but only once law and order was restored.

He has previously called on Spain’s Senate to trigger the Article 155. The Senate is expected to approve the measures on Friday.

Catalonia has so far been defiant and threatened to unilaterally declare independence if Madrid started the process of suspending the region’s autonomy.

The wealthy region held a banned referendum on secession on October 1. Local officials claimed that 90 percent of the voters in the referendum had backed secession, but the turnout had been put at only 43 percent.

Source: Presstv

25, October 2017

Cardinal Tumi says Southern Cameroons crisis worsening because of “lack of dialogue” ⁰

Cardinal Tumi has published a book in which he makes public his position on the Southern Cameroons crisis. Aged 87, the respected man of God continues to make his voice heard in the hot topics of the nation. On the subject of the Anglophone uprising, the archbishop emeritus of Douala said, ” Everything is possible! If we had accepted the dialogue, if we had not suppressed the federation, and this unilaterally, we would not have provoked the youth who are now fighting for the separation of the English-speaking part of the country. A youth that was not yet born at the time of independence! (…) I would opt for the federation in this country. A federation is not a bad thing. I believe in federalism. Our country was already there. But because of economic interests that do not benefit average Cameroonians at all, we have not given a chance to this political experiment that has proven itself elsewhere.”

The 294 page-document contains interviews that the prelate has given for almost 15 years to local and international media houses including the Catholic weekly and L’Effort Camerounais. The first part comprises of fourteen chapters and deals with Tumi’s social and ecclesial gaze. The second part has six chapters and concerns the political and economic vision of the Cardinal.

Tumi says the crisis continues because of “lack of dialogue, “We have to listen to them and try to find out what they want. We must privilege dialogue. When we talk, we solve a lot of problems. The problem is that we did not create a dialogue forum. It’s hard to admit secession. Federalism is possible! The experience of the federation is interesting throughout the world. The best example is the United States with elected governors, “says the man of God.

By Rita Akana, CCN

25, October 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: UN has much more in common with those making the arrests than those seeking the truth ⁰

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has still not answered questions relating to the hundreds of people killed in Southern Cameroons by the President Biya Francophone regime. On October 19 UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres told him he had not heard anything about the genocide currently going on in Southern Cameroons from Inner City Press. Guterres will be in Yaounde on October 27 — but it’s a mere stop over on an Air France flight from the Central African Republic to Paris, with two hours in Yaounde, from 7 to 9 pm.

Intelligence sources say the 84 year old French Cameroun dictator Paul Biya, in part as a proof of life, may go to the airport. So on October 24 Inner City Press asked Guterres’ deputy spokesman Farhan Haq about this and an imprisoned activist. Inner City Press: some were saying that the Secretary-General, on 27 October, will be in Cameroon for two hours in the evening on an Air France flight that goes from Bangui to Yaoundé and then to Paris and that the President, Paul Biya, might meet him at the airport. And I wanted to know if you could confirm that and also if the UN has done anything regarding the case of Nasako Besingi, who is a high-profile environmental and Anglophone activist who’s been jailed since 25 September, and various groups have now spoken out, and I’m wondering, has the UN done anything to… to have this entirely nonviolent activist released?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, that’s several questions. On the last of those, we have been raising our concerns about all detained activists, and we’ll continue to do so. Regarding the Secretary-General’s travel plans, there’s no other trip to announce at this point. If we have any further announcements down the line, we’ll let you know. But for now, he will be in the Central African Republic through 27 October. And… was there anything else?

Inner City Press: It seems… the Government of Cameroon seems to understand that he’s flying on a flight that goes from Bangui to Yaoundé, but betw… and between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., he’ll be in the airport in Yaoundé, and the President, Paul Biya, may meet with him there. That’s why I’m asking you.

Deputy Spokesman: Well, whenever the Secretary-General is flying, there are sometimes different stopovers, but there’s nothing to announce at present. If we have anything, we’ll let you know at that point.” The Resident Coordinator in Cameroon Allegra Baiocchi is bragging about marching for UN Day in Yaoundé. But in Douala the government had banned an opposition march, and detained two journalists. Today’s UN has much more in common with those making the arrests than those seeking the truth.

Source: Inner City Press

25, October 2017

Kenya: Court ponders election delay ⁰

Kenyan police have clashed with protesters in the capital Nairobi as calls increase on the country’s Supreme Court to delay a controversial rerun of presidential election, which is slated for October 26.

Police officials said on Tuesday that they fired tear gas to disperse a small group of people who were protesting in downtown Nairobi.

The officials said the confrontation, which occurred amid bustling traffic, was not serious and that police officers fired blanks. However, clouds of tear gas forced some city workers and passers-by to hurry away from the area.

There was no report of potential casualties. Rights group say some 67 people have been shot dead by police forces since the results of the August 8 presidential election were declared. President Uhuru Kenyatta won that vote but Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled the results over irregularities in the electronic vote process. Opposition candidate Raila Odinga, who had challenged the original vote, has called on his followers to boycott a rerun set for Thursday, saying irregularities still persist and people who helped the government tamper with the results have not been sacked from the election watchdog.

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga answers journalists after a meeting on October 19, 2017 with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in Nairobi. (AFP photo)

Authorities in the Supreme Court said on Tuesday that they would hear a petition by the opposition and rights groups to postpone the October 26 rerun. The court said it would convene a meeting on Wednesday morning to hear petitioners.

Petitioners say a large number of voters would not be able to vote in the rerun as Odinga has called on them not to turn out. They also cite comments by senior election officials who have expressed doubts that the Thursday vote could be free and fair.

Source: Presstv

25, October 2017

Yaounde: Transport Minister suspends General Travel Agency ⁰

The Francophone Minister of Transport has suspended as a precautionary measure and subject to prosecution, the General Travel Agency following a serious traffic accident that occurred on Tuesday the 24^th of October, 2017 between Boumnyebel and Sombo on the National No. 3 road, commonly known as the Douala-Yaoundé highway.

Cameroon Concord News can now confirm that 15 people died and the death toll is expected to rise. The remains of the 15 were dropped off at the morgue of the Edea Regional Annex Hospital, where many wounded are being cared for.

Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo told state radio and television that his decision was based on the recurrence of traffic accidents involving the travel agency. The driver of the bus who has been involved is also punished with a withdrawal of his driving license for a period of 12 months.

Cameroon ranks among the most underdeveloped countries on the face of the earth despite its natural and human resources. Cameroon is bereft of infrastructure. Its hospitals have been reduced to consultation clinics. Its roads have consumed more lives than HIV and malaria put together.

Cameroonians have lost faith in the government. Years of unemployment have reduced them to sorry spectators of events in their own country. Many have died of preventable illnesses and for many, the shadow of uncertainty is permanently looming large on the horizon.

By Sonne Peter, CCN

24, October 2017

Cameroon: An important notice to UK visa applicants ⁰

From:

British High Commission Yaounde
Part of:: Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and Gabon
Published:: 24 October 2017

The Visa Application Center (TLS) is experiencing some technical challenges.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, please be advised that the UK Visa Application Centre in Yaoundé is currently closed for the remainder of this week. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes to our customers. All those who had an appointment to submit their application this week will be contacted directly to reschedule when the VAC re-opens. We are working hard to resume normal operations as soon as possible. Please monitor this website for further updates

24, October 2017

12 dead and 30 hospitalised in Yaounde-Douala road carnage ⁰

At least 12 people were killed today Tuesday the 24^th of October 2017 in the morning following a traffic accident on the Yaoundé- Douala highway, the two main cities of La Republique du Cameroun.

The colision occurred between a transport vehicle and a truck precisely between Sombo and Boumnyebel two localities in the Central region. The bus was coming from Douala in the Littoral region and had 70 passengers on board.

According to our information, 12 people were killed on the spot after the shock. Thirty people were seriously injured. We gathered that the death toll is expected to rise following the late arrival of first aid.

By Sama Ernest, CCN