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8, July 2024

Liberian president cuts his salary by 40% ⁰

Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai has announced that he will slash his salary by 40%.

His office said he hoped to set a precedent for “responsible governance” and demonstrate “solidarity” with Liberians.

Government salaries have been under intense scrutiny recently as Liberians complain about the rising cost of living. Around one in five people live on less than $2 (£1.70) a day in the West African state.

Mr Boakai revealed in February that his annual salary was $13,400. The cut will bring it down to $8,000.

Mr Boakai’s move echoes that of his predecessor, George Weah, who took a 25% cut in his salary.

Some in the West African nation have hailed Mr Boakai’s decision, but others wonder whether it is truly a sacrifice given that he also receives benefits like a daily allowance and medical cover.

The presidential office’s budget is almost $3m this year.

Anderson D Miamen, from non-profit organisation the Centre of Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, said the president’s pay cut is “welcoming”.

“We just hope that the public will clearly see where the deductions will go and how they will be used to positively impact the lives of the people,” he told the BBC.

W Lawrence Yealue II, whose organisation also campaigns for government transparency, described the president’s decision as “very commendable” and said that “leadership has to be provided from the top”.

He added that hoped Mr Boakai’s benefits would be reviewed in the budget for the next financial year.

As well as reducing his salary, Mr Boakai has pledged to “empower” Liberia’s Civil Service Agency to make sure public servants “receive fair compensation for their contributions to the country”.

Last week a group of lawmakers complained they had not received their official cars, which they needed to perform their duties.

As a form of protest, they turned up to parliament in tuk-tuks, known locally as keh keh, a common mode of transport for ordinary Liberians.

Mr Boakai took office in January after defeating Mr Weah in a run-off election.

He vowed to tackle corruption and financial mismanagement.

As well as declaring his assets since taking office, Mr Boakai has ordered an audit of the presidential office. The results have not yet been released.

Mr Boakai has also beefed up the General Auditing Commission and the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.

Mr Weah’s government was plagued by allegations of corruption, and lavish spending, which triggered mass protests as the cost of living spiralled for ordinary people.

Source: BBC

7, July 2024

ECOWAS summit undermined by Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso forming confederation ⁰

The military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso military have formed a new confederation, undermining the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government for validation summit is scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria on Sunday.

However, the traditional regional bloc linked to Western countries is facing an unprecedented challenge.

The bloc had suspended Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali after their respective military takeovers, which occurred in July 2023, September 2022 and August 2021.

On January 27, 2024, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced their plan to withdraw from membership of ECOWAS after reconciliation efforts with the bloc failed to return the trio.

The three military-led West African nations blame ECOWAS for their withdrawal, saying the Western-led group is becoming a threat to its members, accusing former colonial powers France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of interference in their affairs

In an undermining move, the military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger held a joint summit in Niamey, the capital of Niger on Saturday.

The event marked the first joint summit between Niger’s General Abdourahmane Tchiani, Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traore, and Mali’s Colonel Assimi Goita since the trio came to power in their countries in successive coups.

Speaking at the summit, Tchiani called the 50-year-old ECOWAS “a threat to our states”, declaring the formation of a new confederation of three Sahel states.

“We are going to create an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa,” Tchiani said.

Traore accused foreign powers of seeking to exploit African countries. The trio has regularly accused the West of meddling in ECOWAS.

“This summit marks a decisive step for the future of our common space. Together, we will consolidate the foundations of our true independence, a guarantee of true peace and sustainable development through the creation of the ‘Alliance of Sahel States’ Confederation,’” Traore wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“The AES (Alliance of Sahel States) is full of enormous natural potential which, if properly exploited, will guarantee a better future for the people of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.”

The three countries, with a combined population of 72 million, are not only expected to form closer economic ties, but also, to cooperate on the security issues affecting them.

Source: Presstv

7, July 2024

Biya seeks to extend mandate of legislature: Can democracy survive 2025 in Cameroon? ⁰

Cameroon will be holding elections in 2025 — a tribute, it could be argued, to the power of an idea, democracy, and to the spread of political freedom.

Political commentators in the nation’s capital Yaoundé will see 2025 as a milestone in democracy’s long journey from the rowdy town square debates of classical Athens, through the thinking of 18th-century philosophers and beyond to an ever more just and equitable world.

But that seems unlikely in Cameroon-a nation run by a regime that has successfully weakened all independent institutions including the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

There is a spirit pushing Yaoundé to hold elections in 2025 but it is not a democratic one.

The CPDM government on Saturday submitted to parliament a draft bill aimed at extending the mandate for the country’s lawmakers for a year. This is not the first time Biya and his acolytes are using this vicious tactics. But Saturday’s draft bill is an indication that democracy in Cameroon is in recession.

The bill, which concerns lawmakers of the National Assembly or the so-called lower house of the parliament, seeks to extend the term of office to March 30, 2026 from March 10, 2025.

The Etoudi statement in a typical CPDM crime syndicate style noted that the extension seeks “to lighten the electoral calendar,” which includes presidential, parliamentary, municipal and regional council elections in Cameroon next year.

“In this regard, and apart from the election of regional councilors, the other elections, which involve direct voting, require the deployment of substantial human, material and financial resources. Accordingly, it is judicious to spread the above-mentioned elections over the years 2025 and 2026, so as to ensure better organization,” The Biya regime statement added.

With a creeping disillusionment among younger people in Cameroon about the very point of elections, it is completely impossible for the fragmented opposition to defeat President Biya’s rigour and moralization party, the CPDM which has spent years undermining the rule of law and turning the state broadcaster CRTV into a government mouthpiece.

It is now abundantly clear that democracy in Cameroon is in crisis. President Biya’s tricks of always telling the world that state institutions and spirit needed time to develop no longer make sense to any Cameroonian citizen.

Biya’s shameful and disgraceful end will play out in 2025. For 42 years as head of state, he has jailed opponents and run a charade of an election culminating in 90-per cent majorities or higher. To be accurate, he simply allows the opposition to compete — but not to win.

But it is his re-election in 2025 that will finally disintegrate the Republic of Cameroon. The world in 2025 will no longer turn a blind eye to the excesses of Biya and his gang.

Biya is frail and there is a huge vacuum. The Unity Palace is now filled with bad actors that steal, steal, steal and govern as bad as they want.

Biya has weakened all anti-corruption bodies in the country and the recent emergence of his elder son Franck Biya as a frontrunner to succeed him, suggests that he has a dynasty in mind.

Southern Cameroonians no longer have faith in the La Republique system. The new alarming, growing Anglophone population is becoming indifferent because they don’t see the Francophone political system working for them.

Can democracy survive 2025 in Cameroon?

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

5, July 2024

Eto’o fined $200,000 but escapes match-fixing charge ⁰

African football’s governing body has fined Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot), $200,000 for an ethics breach, but found insufficient evidence to pursue a charge related to allegations of match-fixing.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) opened an investigation into Eto’o’s conduct in August last year after receiving “written statements from several Cameroonian football stakeholders”.

A disciplinary panel found, external that the four-time African Footballer of the Year had “seriously violated the principles of ethics, integrity and sportsmanship” of Caf by signing a contract to be an ambassador for betting company 1XBET.

Eto’o’s lawyers have said they will appeal against the verdict.

1XBET sponsors the top two divisions of men’s professional football in Cameroon and both the men’s and women’s international sides, while the regulations of Fifa, football’s global governing body, state that people bound by its code are not allowed any involvement in betting related to football.

Last July, a group representing amateur clubs in Cameroon called on Eto’o to resign, highlighting their concern over the 43-year-old’s relationship with 1XBET and citing “grave irregularities” at Fecafoot.

Match-fixing allegations

While Eto’o has been found guilty of breaching Caf statutes when it comes to ethics, he has escaped a sanction related to match-fixing, with the disciplinary panel ruling that “as it stands, there is insufficient proof”.

The former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker was being investigated alongside Valentine Nkwain, president of newly promoted club side Victoria United, following a leaked phone conversation said to be of the pair discussing Victoria’s return to the top flight before promotion had been guaranteed.

Both have previously denied involvement in any conspiracy to manipulate results.

The latest judgement by Caf is unlikely to quell dissent in Cameroon related to Eto’o’s running of football in the country.

Earlier this week a group of administrators, including former members of Fecafoot and the president of the country’s Professional Football League, wrote an open letter to Caf president Patrice Motsepe and Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, urging them to speed up their investigations and pointing out that possible sanctions included a lifetime ban.

The letter said “many stakeholders who have been in the game for several decades are leaving because of the abuses that have taken place over the past two years.”

Source: BBC

5, July 2024

Cameroon in 2025: Biya regime warns against pre-election disorder ⁰

Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji said on Thursday that the government will “not tolerate” any pre-election disorder in the country.

“Any act to destabilize the elections will not be tolerated. The political leader who tries to disrupt the elections will regret having joined the political game,” Nji told reporters at the end of a two-day conference which brought together governors of the 10 regions of the country to deliberate on how best to organize general elections scheduled for next year.

The warning came barely a month after opposition leader Maurice Kamto of Cameroon Renaissance Movement granted a press conference and threatened that “if people want the country to fall into violence, then it will fall into violence”.

Nji said such a declaration was “unacceptable” in a democratic country.

“These people in the opposition, you must be humble and speak in measured tones,” he said, adding that the 10 governors have been instructed to “stop” any pre-election disorder.

Legislative, municipal and council elections are scheduled to take place in Cameroon next year.

Source: Xinhuanet

5, July 2024

Vatican excommunicates major Pope Francis critic for ‘schism’ ⁰

The Vatican has excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, one of Pope Francis’s most virulent critics, after judging him guilty of splitting the Church, the dicastery in charge of doctrine said Friday.

The 83-year-old ultra conservative, who has called in the past for Francis to resign as pope, has been on trial since last month after being accused by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of the crime of schism, or splitting the Catholic Church.

“His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognise and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council are well known,” wrote the dicastery in a statement.

“At the conclusion of the penal process, the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of the reserved delict of schism,” it wrote, adding that his punishment was “excommunication” in accordance with canon law.

An excommunicated Catholic is prohibited from administering and receiving the sacraments and from exercising ecclesiastical functions, according to canon law.

Vigano — who served as the Vatican’s papal envoy to the United States from 2011 to 2016 and who is backed by an ultra-conservative US church faction — has been an outspoken critic of Francis, going so far as accusing him of heresy.

In announcing last month that he had been summoned to appear before the powerful dicastery, which is charged with defending Catholic doctrine, the retired archbishop wrote on X: “I regard the accusations against me as an honour.”

He did not appear before the tribunal, which judged him in absentia.

– ‘Judged as a heretic’-

In a pages-long declaration, Vigano railed against Francis’s welcome for undocumented migrants, his “delirious encyclicals” about climate change and authorisation of blessings for same-sex couples, and accused him of promoting his allies.

“I accuse Jorge Mario Bergoglio of heresy and schism, and I ask that he be judged as a heretic and schismatic and removed from the Throne which he has unworthily occupied for over eleven years,” he wrote last month, using the Argentine pope’s given name.

Vigano is allied with staunch traditionalists within the Church, especially in the United States, who have battled Francis’s more progressive moves on liturgical or social issues, such as the Latin Mass or welcoming LGBTQ people into the Church.

Accusing him of sowing confusion and failing to uphold key Catholic beliefs, they have sometimes called into question the legitimacy of Francis as leader of the world’s 1.3 million Catholics — raising fears of a rupture within the Church.

In 2018, Vigano made headlines by calling for Francis’s resignation, publishing a scathing list of accusations over the pope’s management of sexual abuse cases within the Church.

In particular, Vigano accused Francis of having long protected former American cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked a year later for sexual abuse against a minor.

Vigano again caused a major scandal in 2019 by publishing a long letter of unconditional support for then-US President Donald Trump, criticizing confinement measures during the Covid pandemic and defending a crackdown on rioters in the United States.

In November, in a rare move, Francis dismissed US bishop Joseph Strickland, a prominent conservative who had repeatedly criticised his papacy from his Tyler, Texas diocese.

Source: AFP

5, July 2024

Aviation executives call on tourism boards to boost Africa air routes ⁰

Africa’s vast tourism potential remains untapped due to a lack of air connectivity, with Africa currently accounting for just 1.9% of global passenger and cargo traffic. However, aviation experts believe national tourism boards have a unique opportunity to drive new airline routes and spur economic growth.

At a recent AviaDev Africa workshop, which was hosted in collaboration with the SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance, airline executives stressed tourism boards’ power lies in leveraging market data and industry relationships to convince sceptical carriers of new routes’ long-term viability.

“Tourism is more than just leisure; it’s a critical economic activity that requires strategic thinking and collaboration across sectors,” said Kojo Bentum-Williams, UN Tourism’s Senior Africa Communications Expert.

Sylvain Bosc, former Chief Commercial Officer of SAA and Fastjet, stressed the importance of demonstrating sustained profitability. “Destination marketing organisations (DMOs) must sell a long-term vision highlighting the destination’s growth prospects and economic impact,” he said. “Creative incentives like co-marketing, reducing airline costs, and quantifying passenger volumes can be more powerful than direct subsidies.”

Bosc noted DMOs need to “bring new light” to data airlines already have by offering insights into upcoming local economic developments like new mines or infrastructure projects that could drive corporate traffic. “Local insights can provide airlines with the confidence they need to invest in new routes,” he said.

Natalia Rosa, Project Lead of the SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance, underscored the critical role of aviation in regional development: “Aviation is not a luxury, it’s the lifeblood of a modern regional economy. Improved air connectivity unlocks a range of benefits: it streamlines travel, opens doors for new tourism markets, and strengthens regional economic ties.”

Gavin Eccles, Head of Vertical at BAE Ventures, emphasised tourism boards must be “at the table” with compelling cases backed by local market insights, travel trade ties and unique selling points that airlines often lack.

“Tourism boards should not only provide data but also offer a local perspective that airlines may not have,” Eccles said, citing India’s successful “Incredible India” branding undermined by poor connectivity.

Regional coordination like aligned visa policies, joint itinerary promotion and tapping conservation funds can also help finance route development. But Tim Harris of Helm Growth Advisors cautioned: “Retaining and expanding existing airline services should be the priority before attracting new routes.”

While direct subsidies face sustainability questions, Bentum-Williams said other incentives enable an “environment of trust” for profit-focused airlines.

“There’s a need to change the narrative from just paying airlines to fly routes to creating an environment of trust and confidence,” he said.

Jillian Blackbeard, CEO of Africa’s Eden Tourism Association, highlighted successful collaboration with Proflight through local stakeholder and trade backing, building airline confidence without major incentives.

“We worked closely with Proflight and local stakeholders to ensure that routes were supported by the trade and the private sector, which helped build confidence in the airline and led to successful route development without significant financial incentives,” Blackbeard shared.

Coordinated efforts leveraging DMOs’ destination expertise can unlock increased connectivity – a lifeline for Africa’s tourism economies long grounded by poor air links.

The AviaDev Africa workshop was designed as a platform for action to address the challenges of the aviation industry and collaborate on solutions. The intention from the outset was to examine how tourism stakeholders, including national tourism organisations and private sector tourism associations, can become involved in route development and assist airlines with route promotion. The success of the workshop and has now secured it a place at AviaDev 2025 in Zanzibar. Scheduled for the welcome reception day before the main conference, it will equip tourism delegates with essential route development building blocks and comprise two days of networking and collaboration focused on reshaping African aviation’s future.

5, July 2024

New British Prime Minister poised to bring a low profile to 10 Downing Street ⁰

The Labour Party won a landslide victory in the UK general election on Thursday, making Keir Starmer the country’s first Labour prime minister in 14 years. Starmer’s victory caps a remarkable political rise for the former human rights lawyer and chief prosecutor, first elected an MP in 2015.

Always neat in appearance, with his well-combed greying hair, stern expression and dispassionate voice, 61-year-old Starmer is an outlier in UK politics compared to his peers and Conservative predecessors.

Far removed from the antics of the likes of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage – whose careers have been peppered with controversy and scandal – the Labour Party leader stands out for his ability to keep a low profile.

So much so, in fact, that little is known about 10 Downing Street’s new occupant.

A knight with humble origins

Sir Keir – he rarely uses the honorific title himself – was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for his services to “law and criminal justice”.

Starmer comes from a modest background. Born to blue-collar parents in 1962, Starmer was named after Keir Hardie, founder of the Labour Party of which his parents were staunch supporters, and grew up in a small town in Surrey.

“My dad was a toolmaker and worked in a factory all his life, and my mum was a nurse,” Starmer often noted in speeches.

The first among four siblings to receive higher education, Starmer attended the University of Leeds from where he graduated with honours and a law degree before heading to Oxford for postgraduate studies.

Starmer then became a barrister in 1987, specialising in human rights law and represented death row inmates in Africa and the Caribbean.

Often providing legal advice for free, Starmer also worked on several high profile cases including the defence of environmental activists against McDonald’s and Shell.

Nicknamed “lefty lawyer” by opponents, Starmer took legal action against human rights violations in the context of the Northern Ireland conflict and helped set up the Northern Ireland Police Board following the Good Friday agreement that ended decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

In 2008, Starmer was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions where he oversaw the prosecution of MPs charged with embezzlement and journalists accused of phone hacking.

A late start in politics

Starmer’s entry into politics came fairly late in life, at the age of 52.

He was first elected to parliament in 2015, serving as the member for his London constituency where he lived with his wife and their two children.

Quickly climbing the ranks of the Labour Party, Starmer soon became shadow Home Office minister before quitting the role in protest of former party head Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of leadership during the Brexit campaign.

Starmer went on to become the party’s spokesman on Brexit-related issues and eventually took over the party’s leadership when Corbyn stood down following Labour’s crushing defeat in the 2019 general elections against Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.

‘Conspiracy of silence’: Why Brexit has been largely absent from UK election campaign

It was from that point on that Starmer firmly established himself as a politician, said Thibaud Harrois, lecturer in contemporary British civilisation at Sorbonne-Nouvelle University.

“Keir Starmer made it his mission to turn the page on Jeremy Corbyn,” Harrois said, adding that “he started by dismissing all those accused of anti-Semitism from within the party, including Jeremy Corbyn himself.”

In May, Starmer expelled Corbyn from the party after suspending him over a row on anti-Semitism.

Intent on winning the popular vote, Starmer also started aligning Labour’s policies with the centre by preventing left-wing candidates from standing for the party.

Recentering Labour

“He really reshaped the then very left-leaning Labour Party in an attempt to appeal to a more centrist, even centre-right electorate,” Harrois said.

Politically, Starmer favours economic interventionism and social policies, while remaining firm on immigration and security, he said.

“But he always remains measured, refusing to make big promises and constantly reminds people that the state coffers are empty”, he added.

Harrois also highlighted Starmer’s “cautious” posture, often denounced by Tories and the hard left as “lacking in courage” and “prevents people from seeing his true position”.

While he has promised to repeal laws restricting the right to strike, he has backpeddled on his proposal to increase welfare benefits.

Starmer also watered down what was seen as his flagship policy: investing up to 28 billion pounds (€33 billion) a year in renewable energies.

Despite attracting criticism from both ends of the political spectrum for his ideas, Starmer sought to court the public’s favour by calling attention to his modest upbringing.

“Unlike Tony Blair, for example, Keir Starmer is well aware that he is not charismatic,” said Harrois. “By emphasising his background, he plays on the image of a man who is above all serious, straightforward and methodical,” he said, adding that Starmer’s cultivated image has become an asset “after years of scandals” in UK politics.

But Starmer’s arrival at number 10 is mostly “contextual”, driven by “the population’s desire for change”, Harrois said.

“In the current political landscape and in this particular context, he has succeeded in establishing himself as the serious alternative”, he said.

A position perfectly illustrated by Starmer’s campaign slogan, chanted at every meeting: “It’s time for change”.

Source: France 24

4, July 2024

IMF completes reviews of Cameroon’s Extended Credit Facility ⁰

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed today the sixth reviews under Cameroon’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangements. The completion of the ECF-EFF reviews allows for an immediate disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$ 72.7 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangements to SDR 483 million (US$ 644.6 million). The Executive Board also completed the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement. Completion of this review makes available SDR 34.5 million (US$ 45.4 million).

The Executive Board approved waivers of nonobservance of two performance criteria on the floor on the non-oil primary fiscal balance at end-December 2023 and the continuous zero ceiling on the accumulation of new external payment arrears on the ground that the nonobservance was minor and temporary. In addition, the Executive Board approved a waiver of applicability for four end-June 2024 performance criteria, for which data are not yet available and there is no evidence that they were not observed.

Cameroon’s three-year ECF-EFF arrangements were originally approved by the IMF Executive Board for a total amount of SDR 483 million (US$ 689.5 million, or 175 percent of quota) in July 2021. An extension of these arrangements of 12 months was approved in December 2023 to allow more time to implement the policies and reforms, and access was augmented by SDR 110.4 million (US$ 145.4 million, or 40 percent of quota). The 18-month RSF was approved by the Executive Board in January 2024 in the amount of SDR 138 million (US$ 181.7 million, or 50 percent of quota).

Cameroon’s ECF-EFF-supported program continues to provide a strong anchor for the authorities’ economic program, notably efforts to achieve post-COVID-19 recovery, restore the country’s fiscal and external sustainability and unlock inclusive and private sector-driven growth. The RSF supports Cameroon’s efforts to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change, reinforce the growing engagement of development partners and other stakeholders in climate-resilient development and catalyze additional climate financing.

Preliminary data indicate that Cameroon’s post-COVID-19 recovery continued last year, with overall economic growth estimated at 3.3 percent, slightly below expectations due to external and domestic factors, including supply chain and energy disruptions and a contraction of oil production. Growth is expected to pick up to 3.9 percent in 2024 and remain above 4 percent in the medium term as domestic demand strengthens and the external environment stabilizes. Inflation moderated to 5.9 percent at end-2023. A continued decline to 5.5 percent is expected by end-2024.

At the conclusion of the Executive Board’s discussion, Mr. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, made the following statement:

“Cameroon’s economic growth continues despite the challenging domestic and external environment. Moreover, while the balance of risks remains tilted to the downside, the country’s medium-term outlook is favorable. Although performance under the Fund-supported program has been mixed, the ECF-EFF arrangements are supporting the authorities’ efforts to maintain macroeconomic stability and implement priority reforms to promote inclusive growth. Moreover, the authorities are committed to implementing corrective measures to improve program performance and accelerate reforms.

“To preserve macroeconomic stability, it is important to maintain a fiscal path in line with program objectives. This implies strengthening domestic non-oil revenue mobilization and public financial management. Limiting spending done through exceptional procedures is essential to achieve budget discipline and integrity.

“Cameroon’s financial soundness indicators have generally improved, but vulnerabilities remain. The commitment by the authorities to advance bank recapitalization in compliance with the COBAC regulations and Basel capital adequacy framework is welcome.

“To improve the business environment and support private sector-led inclusive growth, it is critical to implement governance reforms, address corruption vulnerabilities, and strengthen the AML/CFT regime.

“The authorities have made commendable progress under the RSF, which is helping Cameroon integrate climate considerations into its institutional and regulatory frameworks and enhance its capacity to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. It is essential to maintain the reform momentum to further strengthen the institutional framework for climate policies, build resilience to climate shocks, and catalyze new investments from donors and the private sector.”

Source: IMF

4, July 2024

Switzerland: Cameroonian who smuggled compatriots under guise of fake handball team expelled ⁰

A man who posed as the coach of Cameroon’s national handball team has been given a two year suspended sentence and barred from Switzerland for six years.

The Cameroonian national had arrived in January at Zurich airport along with 19 compatriots without visas. Upon arrival, the 45-year-old declared that he was traveling with his team to participate in the African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

All false, according to prosecutors. The man acknowledged the charges and the penalty demands and was therefore tried today by the District Court of Bülach in canton Zurich under the fast-track procedure.

The Cameroonian national was found guilty of qualified promotion of illegal entry and stay. The man, who has been in preventive detention since his arrival in Switzerland, will now be released and handed over to the Immigration Office, which will handle deportation.

Of the 19 Cameroonians who arrived with him in Switzerland, 17 later traveled to France to live a clandestine existence. Two remained in Switzerland, applied for asylum and in turn became untraceable.

The defendant said in court that he received 2,500 euros for his service. The man, a sports teacher, is actually employed by the Cameroonian handball association.

“We are in the realm of highly professional migration crime,” the single judge said in presenting the ruling. Real passports were used and many efforts were made to make the group look like a real national handball team. “In light of the confession, however, a two-year sentence seems appropriate,” the judge added.

In addition to the suspended sentence and expulsion from Switzerland, the sentence also includes the confiscation of 22 passports. These will be handed over to the cantonal police, who will use them to train officers at the document examination center.

Source: Swissinfo