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30, May 2017

Senate committees engaged in information fight amid probe into Trump-Russia ties ⁰

US Senators engaged in investigating President Donald Trump’s possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign and transition are locked in a battle for more information.

US Senate’s Judiciary and Intelligence committees are conducting separate probes to also investigate Russia’s alleged interference in the November vote as well as Trump’s dismissal of James Comey as he was heading a probe into the matter at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

With more revelations and leaks coming out on a daily basis, the senators are fighting for the same information.

So far, they have even failed to bring Comey (pictured below) in for a hearing.

“We’re trying to get [Comey] before the Senate Judiciary Committee but we haven’t had any luck,” the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, told reporters during a conference call. “Of course we could subpoena him but we don’t want to make that move until we have to.”

The committee, which oversees the FBI investigation, has called on the bureau to hand over Comey’s memos regarding the matter but to no avail this far.

“I think we perhaps need to do more than just invite [Comey]. I think it’s important that he come before the oversight committee … and at least do us the courtesy of appearing and that we should be able to look at his material and ask questions about them,” said the committee’s ranking member, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein (pictured below).

According to Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the US House Oversight Committee, “the FBI is withholding those documents, citing to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special prosecutor.”

After dismissing Comey, Trump assigned the former head of the FBI as special prosecutor earlier this month. Both the president and the Kremlin have denied allegations of collusion and interference.

Source: Presstv

30, May 2017

SDF to participate in French Cameroun presidential elections ⁰

The long awaited congress of the so-called main opposition party in Cameroon has been announced for October 2017. It is at the end of the October meeting of the Social Democratic Front that French Cameroonians would know the name of the candidate invested to challenge the 84 year Biya during the elections of 2018 that has been banned in Southern Cameroon territory.

The National Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Front met last Saturday in Bamenda under the direct supervision of its chairman, John Fru Ndi. Among the resolutions that stem from this meeting was the announcement of the party congress for the month of October 2017. A congress scheduled for last April was postponed.

Many other resolutions were taken during the Bamenda session, including the setting up of a special commission to report exhaustively on the killings and human rights violations in Southern Cameroons since the beginning of the Anglophone uprising.

In this regard, the SDF stated that Mr. Biya’s regime was waging an undeclared war against the Anglophones in Southern Cameroons. The SDF condemned with the strongest terms, the proceedings brought by the forces of darkness fully controlled by Mr. Biya’s regime against the Christian religious leaders in Southern Cameroon.

The SDF think tank also pointed out that the ruling CPDM crime syndicate regularly negotiates with known terrorists of the Boko haram sect, disbursing large sums of money for the release of hostages while arresting the members of the Cameron Anglophone Civil Society Consortium with which it was negotiating.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

29, May 2017

German FM says Trump has ‘weakened the West’, hurt EU interests ⁰

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has harshly criticized Donald Trump, saying the US president’s actions have “weakened the West” and his “short-sighted” policies have hurt European Union interests.

Gabriel made the scathing remarks on the sidelines of the third round-table discussion on refugees in Berlin on Monday, after Trump concluded his first official tour abroad, which took him to Saudi Arabia, Israeli-occupied territories, Belgium and then Italy for a G7 summit.

The highlight of his multi-faceted trip was a 110-billion-dollar arms deal between Washington and Riyadh, which included the sale of ships, tanks and anti-missile systems to the kingdom.

“Anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk,” the German foreign minister said.

“The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union,” he said, adding that, “The West has become smaller; at least it has become weaker.”

US President Donald Trump (L) and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud pose for a group photo during the Arabic Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Gabriel also called on Europe to stand up to the new US administration and not shy away from making criticism. “The Trump administration wants to terminate climate agreements, wants to enforce military action in crisis regions and won’t allow people from certain religious circles to enter the US,” he said.

“If the Europeans are not resolutely opposing to this right now, the migration flow to Europe will continue to grow. Those who do not oppose this US policy are guilty,” Gabriel noted. Days earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed frustration at the way Trump handled a debate on climate change in the G7 summit by refusing to sign up to upholding the 2015 Paris climate accord.

During his presidential campaign, Trump had vowed to revise US commitments under the Paris Agreement, saying the deal, which he had branded as a Chinese hoax, would seriously harm jobs inside the United States while it hugely benefits countries like China. Trump and European governments have clashed on other issues, including Trump’s criticism that NATO allies have repeatedly failed to meet the alliance’s military spending commitment of 2.0 percent of GDP.

Source: Presstv

29, May 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: SDF announces the creation of a Special Committee to investigate abuses and extra judicial killings ⁰

The Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Front, SDF decided over the weekend to set up a special committee to investigate the abuses and extra judicial killings in Southern Cameroons. Following the SDF National Executive Committee meeting of Saturday the 28^th in Bamenda, the SDF announced its decision to set up a special committee to investigate the rapes, arbitrary arrests and detention of Southern Cameroonians in Francophone jails attributed to the forces of law and order.

Southern Cameroon has recorded several cases of rape, disappearances, kidnappings and deaths, attributed to the police and the Francophone dominated elite force known as BIR. A video highlighting abuses against students was widely circulated on social media. The said exactions are attributed to the forces of law and order from La Republique du Cameroun.

Several leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium banned by the Biya Francophone government were arrested and detained at the Kondengui central prison in Yaoundé. The English-speaking leaders are currently being prosecuted by the Yaounde military court.

The creation of a special commission of inquiry comes after the SDF’s criticism against the 84 year old dictator Paul Biya and his government, for their silence on the demands made by the Cameroon Common Law Layers and teachers trade unions which plunged the country into a deep crisis.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Cameroon Concord News

29, May 2017

Yaounde: Soldiers attack sports journalist ⁰

The general manager of Afrik 2 Radio, Polycarpe Essomba has announced that he will sue the Biya regime following a violent act perpetrated against one of his collaborators, Bertrand Mvondo. According to the management of the Yaounde based radio station, Bertrand Mvondo, a sports columnist “was the object of a wild aggression on the afternoon of May 26, 2017.

The journalist was attacked by dozen of soldiers as he was covering a Division 2 football encounter at the Yaoundé Military Stadium. Cameroon Concord News learnt that he took pictures when an altercation involving a civilian, a club president and a soldier broke out and was spotted by another soldier who summoned and ordered him to destroy the said images.

The reporter objected to these injunctions which eventually prompted the soldier to call on his colleagues in reinforcement. Bertrand Mvondo was seriously beaten and forcefully dragged to the ground and taken to a nearby army camp with life threatening injuries. We of this publication aggressively condemn the aggression and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Afrik 2 Radio and its collaborator.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon Concord News

28, May 2017

Congo Kinshasa: Frenchman, 3 Congolese hostages freed ⁰

Militiamen have freed a French national and three Congolese who were kidnapped in March in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Interior Ministry says. They were among five workers, including a Tanzanian, who had been kidnapped from Banro, a Canadian gold mining corporation that runs two mines in DR Congo and is exploring for the mineral elsewhere in the vast, resource-rich country.

The Tanzanian had already been freed. The remaining four hostages were all freed on Saturday, the Congolese Interior Ministry said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated those involved in the release, “in particular Congo authorities for their mobilization and the effectiveness of their action,” according to a brief statement from his office. The French foreign ministry said it had no information on the identity of the attackers.

New York and Toronto-listed Banro’s four gold mines in eastern Congo have faced hazards both from illegal miners squatting on site and by armed groups that are a legacy of a regional conflict which officially ended in 2003. Armed robbers attacked Banro’s Twangiza gold mine in neighboring South Kivu province in February, killing three police officers.

Kidnappings are frequent in DR Congo’s east, which has suffered nearly two decades of brutal conflict, with neighboring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa’s authority, and roaming armed militia triggering the mass flight of terrorized civilians. The United Nations has 19,000 soldiers, police and military observers deployed in the DR Congo, its biggest and costliest peacekeeping mission, with an annual budget of $1.2 billion.

28, May 2017

Special Criminal Court: 3 facing trial on corruption charges ⁰

Three civil servants in the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform (MINFOPRA) will stand trial on June the 1^st 2017 at the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé. The Court recently revealed that it now has evidence of corruption and embezzlement of public funds against the trio.

Elisabeth Abogda, deputy director of the budget, as well as her two collaborators, Serge Mbang Zogo and Mvogo Mvogo have been sued before the Special Criminal Court for an alleged misappropriation of 100 million CFA francs relating to an operation launched in 2011 for the recruitment of 25,000 contractors in the civil service.

Prosecutors at the court hinted that the amount indicated represents the damage suffered by the State of Cameroon following the mysterious disappearance of 1213 cash vouchers during the operation of recruitment. The said vouchers were kept inside Room 607 of MINFOPRA where the three officials involved were working during that period.

To substantiate the accusation, the Ministry has reportedly produced 26 exhibits that were admitted into the procedural file and the testimony of the witnesses of the accusation received in court during the proceedings. Cameroon Concord News understands the exhibits include inter alia, the various notes appointing the members of the various teams responsible for the distribution of cash certificates, the coordinator, the persons in charge of distribution, requests for explanations addressed to certain agents.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as the President’s court is no misnomer. We call it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit. An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused. A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence. A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility. It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world. This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon. There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court. Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

By Rita Akana and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

28, May 2017

US: Trump considers major staff shakeup over Russia controversy ⁰

US President Donald Trump and his advisers are considering a major shakeup of senior White House staff in an attempt to contain the growing political and legal threat from the escalating Russia controversy.

Trump returned home on Saturday from a nine-day foreign trip that provided a respite from the crisis in Washington. As the president met with leaders and diplomats in the Middle East and Europe, senior aides met in the White House to discuss damage control.

The White House now plans to more aggressively combat the revelations about contacts between people involved in the Trump presidential campaign and Russia, including his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, The Washington Post reported.

Kushner has recently become the focus of federal investigations into possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s campaign and transition teams.

The 36-year-old has reportedly played an active role in the effort to reshape the president’s communications team and develop an internal group to respond to the flurry of negative stories over the Russia inquiry.

Led by New York attorney, Marc E. Kasowitz, the president’s private legal team is preparing to meet in Washington to discuss new revelations about contacts between Kushner and representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Washington Post reported separately that Kushner tried to establish secret and secure communications with the Kremlin during Trump’s transition.

According to The New York Times, the channel was meant to allow then-national security adviser Michael Flynn to communicate with Moscow directly about Syria and other security issues.

This file photo taken on February 13, 2017 shows Michael Flynn (L) and Jared Kushner before a joint press conference.

Trump might personally meet with Kasowitz as early as Sunday, and his aides have recruited a number of prominent lawyers for the president to interview in hopes that they could join the legal team.

White House ‘war room’

Aides are also considering creating a White House “war room” to more aggressively push back against the Russia controversy as well as the fallout of Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey earlier this month. Comey has authored a memo that suggested Trump asked him to drop an inquiry about Flynn’s ties to Moscow.

The damage-control plan also includes the return of some of Trump’s more combative campaign advisers, including Corey Lewandowski, who was fired as campaign manager nearly a year ago, and David N. Bossie, a former deputy campaign manager.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, has contacted people from Trump’s campaign team, asking them to be more involved in supporting the president.

The US intelligence community concluded in January that Russia tried to influence the presidential election in favor of Trump, including through an aggressive hacking campaign against senior Democrats.

The Kremlin has categorically denied the allegation. Trump has also rejected the accusation as “baseless” and has called the FBI probe a “witch hunt.”

Culled from Presstv

28, May 2017

French Cameroun: CPDM Muslims belief in the Quran is very superficial ⁰

It can truly be said that incompetent Muslims political elites from the Far North and North regions believe in the Quran only in appearance but act in contravention of its teachings. The situation is the same unfortunately today with many secular Islamic societies including Christian communities all over the world.

Part of the numerous problems faced by Cameroonians under the Biya regime is that a large segment of the population in the Far North and North regions rely on incompetent individuals like [those] in the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo government.

These highly placed government officials such as the Vice Prime Minister, Amadou Ali, House Speaker, Cavaye Djibril, Ayang Luc, Issa Tchiroma, Amadou Mustapha and the Hayatou family in Garoua believe in the Quran in appearance and even distribute thousands of copies of the Quran to their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters but they are in practice intimate with infidels like Paul Biya and Martin Belinga Eboutou contrary to Quran’s stipulations.

Amadou Ali is directly responsible for the ongoing anti-religious acts in Southern Cameroons and it is important to state here that those Muslim soldiers serving with the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR who are carrying out such measures against Southern Cameroon Muslims and non Muslims communities will certainly face failure and doom.

One of the main recommendations of the Quran that these CPDM Muslims follow strictly is that of having many wives. Some of them even fly first class to Mecca with their mistresses pretending to be going for pilgrimage. The time of their collapse depends on the actions of genuine Muslims throughout La Republique du Cameroun. If the Muslims in the Far North and in the North act correctly, the collapse of these CPDM infidels would be accelerated.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

28, May 2017

Ramadan 2017: Cameroonian Muslims begin 30 days of fasting ⁰

Muslims in Cameroon have started the 30 day period of fasting Cameroon state radio and television reported that the 30 days fast observed each year in accordance with the Islam calendar in preparation for the spiritual journey has been very visible.

At the Briqueterie neighborhood which is predominantly Muslim, provision stores have been stocked with food items consumed during the period of fasting such as rice, sugar flour, milk, date fruits, Corn and Groundnut.

Also, items to facilitate the retreat such as prayer beats, copies of the Koran, kettles and mats have also been displayed. Ramadan is one of the holiest periods in the Islam calendar- a period when Muslims are expected to humble themselves in prayer to Alah. It is a period of spiritual cleansing, abstinence and solidarity.

Camcordnews Desk