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Yaounde: Senators grill 5 Francophone members of government

16, June 2017

Yaounde: Senators grill 5 Francophone members of government 0

Five Francophone government ministers have appeared before members of the Upper House of Parliament to respond to questions on issues concerning their ministerial departments during a question and answer session on Wednesday the 14th of June 2017.

Questions concerning the poor treatment of girls in search of jobs in countries in the Middle East, Water management problem caused by climate change, the problem of land ownership in the Grand North, and Vodafone mobile telephone company in Cameroon were among concerns raised by the so-called Senators.

External Relations minister, Lejeune Mbella Mbella was the first Francophone member of government to mount the rostrum. Senator Eno Emma Lafon addressed the issue of trafficking and poor treatment of youths mostly young girls in the middle East, Asia and Europe who are searching for jobs.

The Minister said that the Biya Francophone government through its embassies, has established contact with authorities in Quatar and Saudi Arabia to control those leaving the country. He also pointed out that most of those who spearheaded trafficking networks have been arrested.

The Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation Magdalene Tchuente presented a submission on water shortage for Agricultural activities caused by climate change; a question that came from Senator V.E. Victor Mukete. She said her Ministry through IRAD has been handling the problem of water shortage and that research on new seeds used for Agriculture has been carried out.

The Vodafone Telecom network issue which some media reports have suggested was operating without a license was addressed to the Minister of Telecommunications, Minette Libom Lilikeng who simply revealed plans to put in place a stronger regulatory system.

The Grand North Region was also on the spot light where it has been reported that people acquire land without land titles. To this, the Minister of State Property and Land Tenure said efforts are being made to tackle the problem. The misappropriation of Public funds by Public accountants and efforts made by government to ensure that money is securely placed in State Treasury was handled by the Minister of Finance Alamine Ousmane Mey.

Culled from CRTV

Kana Biyik says corrupt behaviour has become endemic in Cameroon’s football culture

16, June 2017

Kana Biyik says corrupt behaviour has become endemic in Cameroon’s football culture 0

Jean Armel Kana-Biyik has said that in Africa, footballers need to give bribes to play for their respective national teams. He was reacting to his non-participation with the Lions of Cameroon in the FIFA 2014 World Cup that was held in Brazil.

Guest on a television show Le Vestiaire on Tuesday on the SFR chain, the Cameroonian defender made disturbing revelations about the process of selection of players deep within the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.

“I have always said, I will never be afraid to say it: we charge footballers for places within the national selection, not only in my country, but in Africa. And when I talk about bribes, I know that at the last moment my place was sold to another footballer … two weeks before the world …, “said the Kayserispor player in Turkey.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

Special Criminal Court closing down on the former GM of the Telecom Regulatory Agency

15, June 2017

Special Criminal Court closing down on the former GM of the Telecom Regulatory Agency 0

The Attorney General at the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé has signed an order preventing Jean Louis Beh Mengue, former general manager of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART) who was sacked from his position on the 8th of June from traveling out of the country.

Cameroon Concord News understands Jean Louis Beh Mengue is under a major judicial investigation. The former head of the telecommunication regulatory agency in Cameroon has been accused by the State Supreme Audit, the body responsible for the control, verification and audit of public finances of embezzlement and misappropriation during his time at the head of the company which he led since its creation in 1999.

By Rita Akana

Camcordnews

Burundi: UN details horrible torture, More of President Nkurunziza Opponents are ending up dead

15, June 2017

Burundi: UN details horrible torture, More of President Nkurunziza Opponents are ending up dead 0

The United Nations says the government of the African country of Burundi is condoning the torture and killing of its opponents security forces and government-allied militia. Investigators said state security agencies and the ruling party’s youth wing the Imbonerakure are continuously engaged in torture, rape, disappearances and murder of opponents.

Those crimes are fueled by hate speech” from government officials, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said in a briefing to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday. The investigators said they recorded a “feeling of deep and widespread fear” in the hundreds of testimonies gathered from people who had fled to neighboring countries. “Today we can say that our initial fears concerning the scope and gravity of human rights violations and abuses in Burundi since April 2015 have been confirmed,” they said.

The investigators said they were struck by the cruelty and brutality of the perpetrators. “We most specifically gathered a number of testimonies alleging the use, during torture sessions, of clubs, riffle butts, bayonets, iron bars, metal chains or electric cables, resulting in some cases in the breaking of bones of the victim or making them lose consciousness.

“Long needles stuck into victims’ bodies or unidentified products injected into them; nails ripped out with pliers; burns; and many abuses inflicted on male detainees’ genital organs,” they added. Fatsah Ouguergouz, chairman of the UN commission, said a woman in her fifties was raped by four members allegedly belonging to the Imbonerakure and wearing police uniforms, as a punishment for her children belonging to an opposition party.

The government, which has denied entry to Burundi to the UN officials investigating the allegations, rejected the charges. “We do not accept the content of this report,” said the country’s human rights minister Martin Nivyabandi, claiming the aim of the UN investigators was to discredit the country’s officials.

Burundi was thrown into a political crisis in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term that his opponents said was unconstitutional. Since then at least 500 people have been killed while over 400,000 have fled the country. The UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Burundi was established in September 2016 with the aim of investigating the alleged violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity. The commission’s final report is due to be presented to the Human Rights Council in September.

Source: Presstv

Buea: Ghastly auto crash claims the life of a CPDM Section President

15, June 2017

Buea: Ghastly auto crash claims the life of a CPDM Section President 0

Three persons including the CPDM Section President for Meme 1 have died and a dozen injured following a ghastly motor accident which occurred along the Buea-Ekona highway. John Kingue Lysingue, a chartered member of the ruling CPDM party who moonlighted as Section President and Councilor for the Kumba 1 Council perished en route to Buea on Wednesday June 14, 2017.

Cameroon Info.Net reported that a bike rider whose bike went into flames after the incident died on the spot alongside a passenger he was transporting. The accident happened when a 14 seater bus had a head-on-collision with a red colored Carina E belonging to the CPDM Section president of Meme 1, John Kingue.

John Kingue died from the wounds he sustained. The injured victims were rushed to the Buea regional hospital while the deceased were taken to the mortuary. The accident came just 12 days after 5 other persons were killed on the same highway.

By Eyong Johnson

Cameroon Concord News

Shabab kills 11, takes 20 hostages in Mogadishu

15, June 2017

Shabab kills 11, takes 20 hostages in Mogadishu 0

Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants have taken at least 20 people hostage in a restaurant in the Somali capital of Mogadishu after ramming an explosive-laden car into a hotel next door, claiming the lives of 11 people.

Security officials said the militants first rammed the car into the entrance of the Posh Hotel in the capital on Wednesday and then stormed the Pizza House restaurant, which is adjacent to the hotel and a popular venue for young citizens, according to Reuters.

The gunmen cut off electricity to complicate security forces’ efforts to end the siege, according to officials. Heavy gunfire was also heard. “The fighters are still inside Pizza House and they hold inside over 20 people. We do not know how many of those are dead or alive,” said Ibrahim Hussein, a police major.

Armed security forces and rescue personnel are seen at the scene of an attack outside a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, on June 14, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Witnesses said security forces cordoned off the whole district surrounding the site of the incidents, and that the people inside the hotel had been safely evacuated. Other sources put the number of fatalities from car bomb attack on the hotel at 17. Somalia has been a scene of deadly clashes between government forces and al-Shabab militants since 2006.

The al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-aligned militant group, was forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011 but still controls parts of the countryside and carries out attacks against government, military and civilian targets seemingly at will in Mogadishu and regional towns.

In this file photo, al-Shabab fighters are seen in the Lafofe area, some 18 kilometers south of Mogadishu, Somalia. (By AP)

A particularly deadly Shabab strike on a busy market left 39 people dead in February, while a twin car bomb attack by the group on a popular Mogadishu hotel left 28 dead in January.

The Takfiri militant group is just one of the challenges facing the new Somali government, which is still struggling to expand its authority beyond the capital and other selected areas.

Source: Presstv

Bishop Jean Marie Benoît Balla of Bafia, was “brutally murdered,” the country’s bishops have confirmed

15, June 2017

Bishop Jean Marie Benoît Balla of Bafia, was “brutally murdered,” the country’s bishops have confirmed 0

Cameroon’s episcopal conference calls for full investigation and for justice to prevail after a series of homicides against the country’s clergy and religious which they attribute to “obscure diabolical forces.”

Bishop Jean Marie Benoît Balla of Bafia, was “brutally murdered,” the country’s bishops have confirmed, making him the latest in a number of Cameroonian bishops, clergy and consecrated persons to have been killed over the past 30 years.

In a June 13 statement issued by Cameroon’s episcopal conference and published by the missionary news agency Fides, the bishops called for justice to be done in the face of what they called “obscure diabolical forces.”

They said they were “convinced” that Bishop Balla did not commit suicide as had been initially thought, but that “he was brutally murdered.” Bishop Balla was just 58 years-old and would have celebrated 30 years as a priest next year.

Fisherman discovered the prelate’s body in the River Sanaga, June 2, a few miles away from where his abandoned car was found on a bridge on May 31. Inside the vehicle was a “strange message” together with some personal belongings.

“The body is now at the disposal of the authorities investigating the case to discover the causes and the perpetrators of this hateful, unacceptable crime,” the bishops stated, adding that his tragic death “shocked and upset the People of God, all Cameroonians and international opinion.”

“This is one more murder, and one too many,” the bishops added.  They pointed out “the sad list of bishops, members of the clergy and consecrated persons assassinated in circumstances still not clear today.” In particular, they remembered “Mons. Yves Plumey, archbishop emeritus of Garoua (assassinated in Ngaoundéré – 1991), Fr Joseph Mbassi (Yaoundé – 1988), Fr. Antony Fontegh (Kumbo-1990), Sisters in Djoum (1992), Fr. Engelbert Mveng (Yaoundé – 1995), to mention only a few”.

“We have the impression that the clergy of Cameroon in particular is pursued by obscure diabolical forces,” the Cameroonian bishops declared. They called in their statement for “complete light to be shed on the circumstances and the motivation of the murder of Bishop Balla,” and demanded that “those responsible be identified and handed over to justice to be judged by the law of the land.”

They also urged the government “to assume the noble task of protecting human life,” and asked the media and all who use social media “to renounce defamation, lies, and calumny and to respect the dignity of human persons.”

The bishops appealed to Bishop Balla’s assailants “to strive for urgent and radical conversion,” and encouraged the faithful to “stay courageous” as “Christ has conquered the world.” “Your pastors carry with you the pain of this sad disappearance. Let not your faith fail. Draw the necessary strength from celebration of the Eucharist,” they said, and reminded them that the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patroness of Cameroon, “accompanies us in this hard trial.”

Source: National Catholic Register

 

African champions Cameroon arrive in Moscow

15, June 2017

African champions Cameroon arrive in Moscow 0

African champions Cameroon touched down in Moscow yesterday afternoon ahead of their third appearance in the FIFA Confederations Cup.

The Indomitable Lions will open their campaign against Chile in the Spartak Stadium in the Russian capital on Sunday before facing Australia in Saint Petersburg on 22 June and current world champions Germany in Sochi on 25 June.

Cameroon’s best FIFA Confederations Cup achievement to date was reaching the final of the 2003 edition.

Source: FIFA

Qatar pulls troops from Djibouti-Eritrea border

14, June 2017

Qatar pulls troops from Djibouti-Eritrea border 0

Qatar said Wednesday it has pulled all of its troops from the border of Djibouti and Eritrea, east African nations that have a long-running territorial dispute which Doha had helped mediate.

Qatar offered no explanation for the move, though it comes amid a diplomatic dispute with other Arab nations that have cut diplomatic ties and now are trying to isolate Qatar from the rest of the world.

While the dispute hasn’t escalated to a military confrontation, Qatar’s military is dwarfed by neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of its biggest opponents in the crisis.

The 450 Qatari troops controlled a mountainous border crossing between Eritrea and Djibouti, said Nasredin Ali, a spokesman for Eritrea’s biggest armed group, known as the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization. Eritrean forces moved in after the troops departed, Ali said.

Eritrea’s top diplomat to the African Union, Araya Desta, told The Associated Press the move came after Eritrea cut diplomatic ties to Qatar. However, Desta said his country wanted no confrontation with Djibouti.

“We don’t want to take any of Djibouti’s land,” Araya said. “The last time we had some skirmishes. It was unnecessary.” Doha mediated the conflict between the two countries in 2010. Persian Gulf nations have stationed troops in both African countries, using that as a jumping-off point for the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and severed ties with Doha last week. Qatar denies the allegations, but its ties to Iran and embrace of various extremist groups have put the country under intense scrutiny.

(Source: AP)

Can the Biya regime keep borrowing forever?

14, June 2017

Can the Biya regime keep borrowing forever? 0

The 84 year old Cameroonian dictator, Paul Biya has empowered the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development to sign with the Bank of China, a loan agreement of 123.3 million US dollars. Cameroon Concord News understands the money is intended to finance the second phase of the solar photo-voltaic system of electrification currently going on in 350 localities. This is a project led by the Ministry of Water and Energy (MINEE), which has been underway since 2015 thanks to the technical cooperation of the Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

The Yaoundé regime says the ultimate ambition is to electrify 1000 localities all over the national triangle with solar energy.  The project is a desperate attempt by the drowning CPDM government to address the country’s energy deficit.  According to well-established Cameroon Concord News sources, the first phase involving 166 localities, is well advanced and has recorded an 80% realization rate. To be sure, 112 localities have already benefited from the production of photo-voltaic power plants from which our sources indicated Ngang and Konyambetta in the Center region, Babessi in the Northwest and Doumaintang in the East.

Once a power plant is built, households who wish to subscribe and pay their monthly consumption on the basis of the rates discussed will receive supply and this will help the CPDM regime to repay the debt incurred to carry out the project.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Cameroon Concord News

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