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12, June 2016

Italy rescues 1300 refugees at sea in a single day ⁰

Italy says over 1300 stranded refugees have been rescued at sea in a single day of naval operations through the Mediterranean. The Italian Coastguard said in a statement on Saturday that 1,348 asylum seekers of various African nationalities were rescued during 11 rescue operations in the stretch of sea between Sicily, Italy’s largest island to the south and North Africa.

The operations, which were coordinated by the Italian coastguard, involved the European Union naval mission Eunavfor Med, the Malta-based NGO Moas and a private tugboat. The refugees, including men, women, children and even toddlers and babies, were all reportedly transferred to Sicily. The picked-up people on Saturday brought the total number of rescued refugees to over 3,000 in the past three days.

Presstv

12, June 2016

UN Coordinator says Cameroon is a fertile ground for recruitment of jihadists ⁰

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon has warned that the security situation in the country is deteriorating at catastrophic rapidity. In a rare public interview she granted the BBC, Najat Rochdi said Boko Haram jihadists continue to attack villages and agro industrial plants on a daily basis in Cameroon. Najat Rochdi also indicated that the number of displaced Cameroonians has tripled to 190,000, not counting the 60,000 Nigerian refugees and 312,000 Central Africans who have fled violence in their countries.

The UN official stressed that “the impact of the violence is not over”. She made a clarion call on the international community to remain vigilant. For her, Cameroon has eventually become a fertile ground for the recruitment of jihadists. She sounded a note of caution that if humanitarian aid was not channeled to Cameroon, the giant of the Sub Saharan region may witness a radicalization of its youth population.

The atrocities carried out by the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram has claimed the lives of at least 20,000 people since 2009. A multinational force from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Benin and Cameroon, has since last year weakened the group. But attacks from the jihadists are far from over.

CIR

12, June 2016

Prime Minister Philemon Yang announces free distribution of text books ⁰

Ever since the consortium of CPDM crime syndicates took over the running of political affairs in Cameroon, the textbook market has been immersed in a veritable mafia system where education authorities, publishers including school officials come together to enrich themselves at the detriment of parents each school year. Books in the school curriculum are increasing and regularly change and the prices too are exorbitant. This disastrous situation was recently brought to the attention of the Prime Minister and Head of Government by MPs. Correspondingly; Prime Minister Philemon Yang on the 10^th of June 2016 unveiled an action plan in response to concerns regarding textbooks.

Philemon Yang announced an unprecedented free distribution of Mathematics books to the Basic Education sector students. Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the Government has already implemented a number of measures including the creation of school libraries, the construction of multimedia centers and installing digital documents. The operation for the next school year will cost Cameroon, two billion 260 million FCFA.

Ebong Kingsley

12, June 2016

Cameroon’s Higher Education reforms: Minister Fame Ndongo in hot waters ⁰

Cameroon Intelligence Report has learnt that the Universities of Buea and Bamenda have blatantly refused any harmonization of academic programs in state universities in Cameroon. The so called harmonization program was made public on May the 30^th 2016 by the Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo. The two Anglo-Saxon universities have clearly demonstrated their opposition to the move via a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and Head of Government.

In one of the arguments against the harmonization, the signatories of the memorandum told the loud sounding nothing Minister Fame Ndongo that the presidential decree that established the University of Buea indicated that it was created in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. They further added that harmonization is not possible as the Buea University is run by a Vice-Chancellor not a president. Moreover, the unique teaching language is English, unlike other universities, where French and English are used.

Rita Akana

12, June 2016

Douala: Gendarmerie officers force female journalist to undress ⁰

A journalist reporting for Sweet FM, a private radio station based in Douala was forced to undress by gendarmerie officers at the entrance to the Douala Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital. The reporter, revealed Clarence Yongo who runs the FM radio was on an intelligence mission surveying babies held in incubators at the hospital for non-payment of hospital fees. Cameroon Intelligence Report was reliably informed that a female nurse alerted her superiors of the unlawful presence of the journalist in the hospital.

Our correspondent in Douala who contributed to this report hinted the hospital authorities got the intervention of the Yassa gendarmerie brigade who forced the journalist, Jacky Tchamko to undress. A spokesperson for the hospital was quoted as saying Jacky Tchamko had no authority to investigate inside the hospital structure. The National Union of Cameroon Journalists protested against what it called human rights violation and has threaten to sue.

Sama Ernest

12, June 2016

Kick tribalism out of African political and religious establishments ⁰

Education and tribalism are two words, each having its own meaning and existing as a unique entity.On account of the special configurations of many societies in terms of ethnic groups and languages,very extra care should and must be taken in every African country’s educational enterprise for the inculcation of more practicable attitudes and values in this direction. Many African countries have demonstrated a penchant for excessive emotional attachment to their respective tribes or ethnic groups in such a manner as to generate ethnic consolidations and inter-ethnic competition, which tends to put in jeopardy valid aspirations towards national unity.

If ethnic consolidations served the old primitive systems and the struggle for independence, they should not be given much future in today’s African political and religious settings.Through the educational machinery, there should and must be a conscious effort to de-emphasise ethnic bondings, but instead to accentuate the necessity to build tribal bridges. Tribal hostility must be replaced by inter-tribal co-operation and understanding. Local expressions such as “Anglo”, “Biafra”, “Nkwah” and “Come-no-go” in the case of Cameroon should be discarded.Hence, Africans can eliminate permanently that phenomenon which constantly manifest its ugly head now and again in different parts of Africa. Consequently, Africa would never again have for instance Sawas against Bamileke, Igbos against Yourubas, Kimbundus versus Kikongos, Kikuyus against Luo, Luhya versus Kalenjin etc.

Like Uhuru Kenyatta and Goodluck Jonathan including Koffi Anan have always noted, it is not anti-developmental per se to identify racially, tribal, religiously, since communities, of necessity,define themselves around a class, a creed or a race precisely because it distinguishes them from other community groups. What should be eschewed from the national framework of every African country is the penchant for inter-tribal hostility and the exclusion of other tribes or ethnic groups from compassion, equity and affection. Globalization has globalized every aspect of the human race, so Africa should not be left behind.Integration must reign at all cost.

In order to build a progressive, cohesive national systems that will better serve the African continent, there must be an inculcation of free competition which is not a cut-throat in an open society; so that the aspirations of individuals can soar; so that our men and women can discover their hidden talents and, within the bounds of reason, be untrammeled actors in the drama of life. In this way, Africans will rely on success, not because of their origin in terms of tribe, but the content of his character and productivity.

Furthermore, education should not only re-orient the national population towards inter-ethnic, inter-tribal bridges, but also towards inter-state understanding and cooperation. Policies geared towards the enhancement of mutual trust must be encouraged and demonstrated in action. Cameroon Concord’s contributing editor Dr. Joachim Arrey has always reminded us of the adage that “together we stand and divided we fall”. Let Africans, Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, Paul Biya and John Fru Ndi, Goodluck and Buhari work hand-in-hand and develop our people to better standard of living for the sake of humanity.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11, June 2016

Cameroon says identification of mobile phone customers will “enhance efficiency” ⁰

This is obviously not the first time that the issue is coming up. About five years ago, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications issued directives calling on all mobile telephone companies in Cameron to ensure that their customers were identified and registered. After much feet-dragging, the process finally took place and all subscribers to mobile telephone in the country were supposed to have been identified and their data placed in a server somewhere.

In September 2015, a text signed by the Prime Minister gave new modalities for the identification of all subscribers to mobile telephones in the country. One remarkable innovation in the decision was that no individual could have more than three numbers per mobile company. Most observers expected that the mobile telephone companies were going to follow suit and launch other identification campaigns in conformity with the new regulations. Almost one year after, the process has finally taken off, but with many irregularities.

During the initial operation, there were wanton cases of abuse and neglect both on the side of the mobile operators and the regulatory structure that is expected to protect the rights of the client and the State. People had to queue up for hours on end and there were even cases of deaths as users waited in hot sun to have their numbers registered. Several formulae were experimented before any user-friendly procedure could be put in place to make the exercise easier for subscribers.

Regrettably, the recent resumption of the identification process is still fraught with problems and unanswered questions. Nothing exists to show that anyone has been identified, at least for those who have gone through the long queues to perform the ritual. Mobile telephone companies still seem to negatively exploit the excitement that their products offer by treating customers as helpless citizens. People are made to line up as early as 7 A.M. to wait for the exercise and no one bothers if it rains on them or not. What of those with busy schedules who have to be at their jobs so often?

The multiplication of identification sites at road junctions could have been a salutary move. Yet, no one bothers to communicate on the existence of such places. People only stumble on them or meet some young men and women on street corners and public places offering to identify them. Worse still, messages being sent to subscribers hardly distinguish between those who have gone through the process and those who are still to do so. What happens to the data earlier collected by the mobile companies from subscribers?

Curiously, those who have had security problems posed by con men using fake mobile telephone companies can better tell the story of how difficult it is to identify such contacts. Some of the mobile telephone companies take weeks and even more to produce information on their subscribers. That is if they ever do so! Such a pattern of operation is perplexing and keeps ordinary users wondering if no possibilities exist to know if A or B has already been identified. Could the obstacle be the lack of regulatory framework, complicity between the various operators and the regulators or simply an act of negligence?Whatever the situation, the repetitive nature of the mobile telephone identification process is disturbing and requires more attention than is actually the case. There should certainly be possibilities to avoid users the trouble of having to line up every now and then for the same exercise as if they lacked something to do.

Cameroon Tribune

11, June 2016

US bombs Pentagon-trained militants in Syria ⁰

The US military has acknowledged bombing a Syrian militant unit it had trained and armed purportedly to fight Daesh terrorists in the country, a report says. The incident was the most serious setback for a controversial Pentagon program that is angling to find new recruits for training after last efforts ended in disaster, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Pentagon carried out a series of airstrikes in and around Syria’s northern town of Mare’ on May 27 and May 28. The Mutasim Brigade, a force of US-trained militants, said one of the airstrikes hit the brigade.

The US military said at the time that three strikes had targeted “two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL tactical vehicles and an ISIL vehicle” near Mare’. But Mutasim Brigade’s leaders told The Journal that one of the airstrikes hit the brigade’s fighters while they were battling Daesh terrorists. Ten US-backed militants were killed in the “friendly-fire incident.” Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, said an investigation had been launched into the incident. “We will continue our support to counter-ISIL forces and will apply any lessons learned derived from the investigation to improve our operations in the future,” Col. Ryder added.

It is unclear why the US military chose not to disclose the errant airstrike earlier. Col. Ryder told the Journal that the “dynamic and complex nature of the battlefield” led to a lag time in reporting.The US military acknowledged last year that a $500 million program to train and equip militants for Syria had managed to produce only a handful of fighters. The mission was halted under mounting pressure from members of Congress. However, new training efforts were launched this year for more “vetted” recruits. Daesh terrorists, who were among the militants initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control parts of Iraq and Syria. They are engaged in heinous crimes against humanity in territories under their control.

Presstv

11, June 2016

Ali buried in home city of Louisville ⁰

Rousing tributes have been paid to boxing legend Muhammad Ali at a memorial service in his home city of Louisville, Kentucky. Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other speakers spoke of his fight for civil rights, while a message from President Barack Obama praised his originality.

The interfaith event took place hours after thousands said farewell as his coffin passed through city streets. Ali was buried in a private ceremony attended by friends and family.

BBC

10, June 2016

Euro 2016: How prepared was the French Republic? ⁰

Riot police in France have used tear gas to halt clashes between British soccer fans and locals in the French port city of Marseilles ahead of a European soccer event. Police said on Friday that two British fans were injured and four police officers slightly hurt in a string of incidents overnight involving British soccer fans and locals. Euro 2016 is now more of a problem to the EU political nation. The issues are too many!! UK Hooligans, industrial action, train drivers strike, Takfiri attacks and like CPDM Cameroon, over flowing rubbish bins littered everywhere in Paris.

Witnesses said the fight between the fans and the locals, outside a pub in the Mediterranean city’s Old Port district, was stopped by police, who quickly restored order by separating the two groups from one another. It is not clear how the brawl began. Police said that two British hooligans were arrested.

France is already in the grip of industrial action, mainly over reforms to labor law. President Francois Hollande warned against attempts to disrupt Euro 2016 with strike action. Train drivers are threatening to strike on a line serving the Stade de France in St Denis just outside Paris, where France play Romania in the first match. France is also on high alert since Takfiri attacks on Paris in November, one which took place at the Stade de France, and is still reeling from floods in central and northern regions. “I appeal to everyone’s sense of responsibility because if the state must do its duty – and it will, it will take all the measures that are necessary,” Hollande said on Thursday.

Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said Friday France may order striking rail employees back to work. Vidalies told Europe 1 radio that the government would use “every tool available” to get fans to the match and “if we have to issue orders tomorrow (for trains to be driven), we will do so.” He also ruled out any new negotiations with workers who have been striking for 10 days and warned the authorities would show “no tolerance of actions that threaten the big celebration.” “The strike has no meaning anymore,” he added.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo meanwhile announced that rubbish which has been piling up in the capital over the past few days would be cleared. Pictures of overflowing rubbish bins have dominated front pages since unions began blockading incineration plants a few days ago and rubbish truck drivers walked off the job. “All the rubbish will be collected,” Hidalgo told BFMTV channel, adding that dozens of extra garbage trucks had been deployed as part of the cleanup.

Presstv/CIR