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21, March 2017

SDF announces the holding of a NEC meeting in Yaounde ¹

The National Communication Secretary of the Social Democratic Front, Denis Kemlemo, has announced an ordinary session of the National Executive Committee of the so-called main opposition party in Cameroon. The meeting will hold in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital on March 25^th 2017. The Yaoundé NEC meeting comes after that of Bamenda that took place on January 28, 2017.

Denis Kemlemo did not provide any particular reason for the holding of a NEC meeting in Yaoundé. But other SDF sources say the fact that all MPs and the Senators are currently in Yaoundé obliges the party to hold the NEC forum in Yaoundé. Although the agenda is not yet known, it is a well-established fact that the meeting will be to prepare for the next elections.

According to Denis Kemlemo, the commissions that were set up during the last NEC are functioning and are presently working on the reports that will be presented on March 25th. The different regional presidents will submit to the Secretary General of the SDF the results from the primaries of their respective regions. These lists are important not only for the NEC nominations but also for the scheduling of the delegations that will participate in the next party convention to take place on the 28, 29 and 30 of April 2017 in Bamenda. It should be said that the elective convention of the SDF is planned for the month of April 2017.

By Rita Akana

20, March 2017

How to kill a country: Who will succeed the 84 year old Biya? ⁰

Fitch Ratings, an international financial rating agency has hinted that two factors could affect Cameroon’s public policy. The international rating agency revealed that the two issues include “Who will succeed the 84 year old President of the Republic Paul Biya and the Southern Cameroons Crisis. For the agency, these two factors could affect the country’s public policy. The Fitch Ratings analysis echoed an earlier revelation by the New York Stock Exchange.

Cameroon was also the subject of a meeting of the Citigroup Inc., a major financial institution based in the United States. During the meeting, the financial experts of Citigroup analyzed Cameroon from a political and economic point of view and concluded that the impact of the barbaric acts of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram in the northern part of Cameroon has real implication on the political stability of the country.

The uncertainty of Cameroon has always been around what will happen on the political front after Mr Biya, especially since the country has no post of vice-president. Political commentators have little insight into how any potential political succession could play out. However, on a positive note, there seems to be a little more confidence in Cameroon, and constitutional means to solve the problem of succession are now well in place, even if political issues remain unresolved.

The president of the so-called Senate has 120 days to organize new elections to which he cannot present himself. The Francophone political elites have exploited the Southern Cameroons crisis and reduced Prime Minister Philemon Yang and Senator Peter Mafany Musonge to ordinary politicians not fit to govern after Biya.

Moreover, local political sentiment seems to accept that with more than 300 ethnic and tribal groups in the country there is a strong history of politically negotiated compromise in case the post-Biya elections do not lead to a clear winner. For Fitch Ratings, the International Monetary Fund should focus on the risks posed by post-Biya and the Anglophone crisis that has already lasted for several months with far reaching consequences on the economy of the country.

By Sama Ernest

20, March 2017

Tests show drugs, alcohol in Paris attacker’s blood ⁰

Blood tests have revealed that a man, who was shot dead after taking a soldier hostage at Paris’ Orly Airport, was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Investigators are still trying to understand what motivated Saturday’s assault by 39-year-old Ziyed Ben Belgacem, which led to a major security scare and the temporary closure of the capital’s second-busiest airport.

“Toxicology tests carried out on Sunday showed an alcohol level of 0.93 grams per liter in his blood, and the presence of cannabis and cocaine,” said a judicial source on Sunday. A subsequent police search of Belgacem’s flat found cocaine, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. Ben Belgacem, who was born in France to Tunisian parents, reportedly grabbed a soldier on patrol at Orly’s southern terminal on Saturday morning.

The attacker, who had also fired at police in a northern Paris suburb earlier that morning, was shot dead by two other soldiers after a scuffle. Speaking on Sunday, Ben Belgacem’s father insisted that his son was “not a terrorist” and that his actions were caused by drink and drugs.

“He called me at seven, eight in the morning and said, ‘There you go, Papa.’ He was extremely angry, even his mother couldn’t understand him,” he told Europe 1 radio. “He told me: ‘I ask for your forgiveness. I’ve screwed up with a gendarme.'”

The attack at Orly comes with France still on high alert following a wave of attacks that have claimed more than 230 lives in two years. The violence has made security a key issue in France’s two-round presidential election on April 23 and May 7.

Presstv

20, March 2017

Biya to meet Italian President Mattarella today in Rome ¹

48 hours after his arrival on Italian soil, it is this Monday that Paul Biya will be received at the presidential palace. According to the official program, a state dinner will be organized today Monday in honor of the Cameroonian President who is on a 72-hour state visit.

The exchange between Biya and Mattarella is expected to focus on economic issues. A member of the Biya delegation was quoted as saying that Cameroon wants to enrich itself with the Italian economic model.

The visit of the Cameroonian dictator to Italy takes place one year after that of his Italian counterpart in Yaounde in March 2016.

By Chi Prudence Asong

19, March 2017

Yaounde: Mystery shrouds Minister Martin Belinga’s Health condition ⁰

Francophone media houses in Yaounde have once again questioned the where about of the Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic, Martin Belinga Eboutou. The Biya confidante has disappeared from the public eye of late and he is conspicuously absent from the Biya delegation in Rome.

Presidential press releases published recently such as the one announcing Paul Biya’s trip to Italy carried but the signature of the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and in some occasions, Joseph Le, who is currently deputizing for Martin Belinga Eboutou.

A sister publication, Cameroun Info.Net contacted the State House on the sudden disappearance of Martin Belinga but got a laconic reply from the presidency saying the Minister was “simply unavailable”. Some sources say the Minister Director of Civil Cabinet is absent due to poor health.

77-year-old Martin Belinga Eboutou, took ill last year and was evacuated to Europe. He returned safely in July 2017 and ended a rumor that had announced his death.

Here is the list of personalities who are currently with the Cameroonian dictator in Rome for a three-day state visit.

-Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, Minister of Public Works

-Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development

-Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of Higher Education

– Mbella Mbella, Minister of Foreign Affairs

-Paul Elung Che, Delegate to the Minister of Finance in charge of the Budget

-Hamadou Moustapha, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic

-Mengot Victor Arrey-Nkongho, Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic

-Joseph Le, Deputy Director of the Civil Cabinet

-Luc Sindjoun, Special Adviser

-Joseph Fouda, Special Advisor

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

19, March 2017

Making a mockery of Biya: Post and Telecom Minister says expansion of digital economy cannot be done without internet ²

The Minister of Post and Telecommunication made a fool of herself and President Biya while presenting a paper at the so-called Cameroon Business Forum. Minnette Libom Li Likeng was asked about the suspension of Internet in the English-speaking regions of the country and the Biya acolyte acknowledged that the expansion of the digital economy as requested by President Paul Biya cannot be done without Internet.

“The Head of State has said that the whole Government should mobilize to achieve the expansion of the digital economy. And it cannot be done without the Internet.” The inefficient cabinet minister also observed that internet will be reinstated in Southern Cameroons only when things return to normal.

Since 17 January 2017, the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon have been deprived of Internet services by the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé. Numerous international organizations have denounced the move with little or no results. By the end of February 2017, the NGO Internet Without Borders estimated the losses related to this cut at about 832 million FCFA.

By Rita Akana with files from CIN

19, March 2017

Paris: Flights resume at airport after attempted attack ⁰

Flights have resumed at Paris’ Orly Airport one day after a man was shot and killed while attempting to stage a shooting attack. Officials announced on Sunday that schedules at Orly, which is Paris’ second-biggest airport and serves domestic and international flights, were returning to “normal.”

On Saturday, a 39-year-old French national identified as Ziyed Ben Belgacem, carrying a petrol can in his backpack, grabbed a soldier’s gun and fired shots before he was gunned down by security forces. One soldier was reportedly slightly wounded in the incident, but no one else was harmed. Severe chaos was also caused in flight schedules for several hours following the shooting.

French anti-terror investigators, who took into custody Belgacem’s father, brother, and cousin following the incident, released the father but held the other two as they sought to build a profile of the assailant. An autopsy is to be carried to determine if the attacker was under influence as a small amount of cocaine was found during a search of his apartment in a northern Paris suburb.

Police said Belgacem had had a record of criminal activities and had been known to authorities. Since September last year, he had been under judicial monitoring. He had also shown signs of radicalization, although there was no indication immediately that he had traveled abroad.

The Saturday shooting comes as France remains in a state of emergency over terrorist attacks. The emergency state was initially imposed in November 2015, when terrorist attacks in and around Paris killed 130 people and injured 350 others. The emergency rule has been extended several times because the French government believes the risk of terror attacks remains high.

Presstv

18, March 2017

Anglophone Crisis: 500 arrested!! Francophones residing in West Cameroon urged to help troops with intelligence ²

The Francophone dominated army has raided Bamenda, the main city in the North West province of Southern Cameroons and arrested more than 500 young men suspected of being followers of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium. Cameroon Concord News gathered that the troops from La Republique du Cameroun also seized mobile telephones from hundreds of Southern Cameroonians. During the last ten days, at least 800 Southern Cameroonians have been nabbed in different operations launched by several arms of the Francophone force.

Troops from the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR swung into action at about 4 am today in Bamenda and arrested some 500 people. The Southern Cameroonians arrested were subsequently handed over to a special army unit in the West region for further action.

French speaking Cameroonians residing in Bamenda and Limbe including Buea have been urged to provide useful information to the Francophone troops in order to apprehend Southern Cameroon freedom fighters. A highly placed military official who spoke to our undercover reporter said the operation will continue to ensure conducive environment for legitimate businesses and schools to thrive in Southern Cameroons.

Another military spokesperson was quoted as saying that Francophone troops will henceforth respond to any tip-off from agents of La Republique du Cameroun and arrest suspected Southern Cameroon militants in any hideout. Corruption, the Boko Haram crisis and the current Southern Cameroons uprising have plunged Cameroon into economic recession. The country remains burdened by rapidly declining government revenues due to numerous internal conflicts and low oil prices in the world market.

By Rita Akana

18, March 2017

Namibia: Tribes lodge complaint against Germany for colonial-era genocide ¹

Descendants of two Namibian tribes who suffered one of the most horrific genocides under Germany’s colonial rule more than a century ago have now lodged a complaint against Berlin in a New York court. Lawyers representing Namibia’s Herero and Nama tribes and an American non-profit association on genocide were to appear in the court on Thursday as part of a class-action lawsuit, which seeks reparations from Germany for the mass killing of tens of thousands of people and other crimes by German settlers and troops from 1904 to 1908.

Germany has admitted that genocide took place but it has yet to make an official declaration. Berlin also refuses to pay direct reparations, saying it has generously supported Namibia’s development programs since the country’s independence from South Africa in 1990 through paying hundreds of millions of euro. The original lawsuit was brought against Germany in January under the Alien Tort Statute that allows investigations of international law violations against non-US citizens by American courts. Besides seeking reparations, the plaintiffs also demand that they be represented in negotiations between Germany and Namibia on the genocide. They say their exclusion from the talks is a violation of the UN declaration on the indigenous people.

The lawsuit claims that German colonial authorities explicitly consented to settlers’ seizure of a quarter of Herero and Nama lands — about thousands of square miles — from 1885 to 1903. Historic documents suggest that around 65,000 Herero people were massacred in the bloody Battle of Waterberg in August 1904. Around 10,000 people from the Nama tribe were also killed after they sought to rebel against the Germans during the conflict. Germany and Namibia have been in talks over the massacres but Berlin is yet to release any details of the deal being negotiated.

Presstv

18, March 2017

Largest wave of arrest by BIR in Bamenda ¹⁰

The army has sealed the entire Metta Quarter, Azire and T-Junction in the city of Bamenda and scores of Southern Cameroonian youths have been arrested and are currently being transported in military trucks to an unknown destination.

Our security informant observed that the troops started the operation since 4 am local time. We also gathered that bikes and taxis are not allowed to use the neighborhoods where the soldiers have been stationed.

CAMCORDNEWS DESK