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12, September 2021

La Republique: Western Region Faces Snow ⁰

It has snowed in the western part of Cameroon, according to media reports.

According to the CRTV broadcaster, the hail and snow were registered in the settlements of Bana and Bakou.

The snow damaged several roofs and plantations, as well as disrupted the traffic.

According to the mayor of Bana, the snow, which is a highly rare phenomenon for this part of Africa, is a sign of climate change.

Source: UrduPoint News

12, September 2021

French Cameroun: Atanga Nji condemns rising attacks on police officers ⁰

Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji has condemned a wave of violent attacks on police officers by civilians in the central African nation.

“Insulting or assaulting a police officer on duty or refusing to obey instructions is unacceptable,” Nji told a press conference in the capital, Yaounde on Friday.

His remarks came after videos of civilians brawling with police officers because of misunderstanding at police check points and other places in various parts of the country went viral.

The minister said the police are the backbone of the force safeguarding public security and rule of law.

“Irresponsible” citizens who disrespect or attack security officers shall be sanctioned as provided for by the law, Nji said, adding that the punishment ranges from one year imprisonment to death sentence depending on the offence.

Source: Xinhuanet

12, September 2021

French Cameroun: Opposition detainees face ‘arbitrary’ justice ⁰

A group of lawyers in Cameroon said on Thursday they won’t mount a defence for around 100 detained opposition members, charging that they would face “arbitrary” justice.

The supporters of main opposition figure Maurice Kamto – Head of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) and runner-up to in a 2018 presidential election – have been held for nearly a year.

They were taking part, along with members of other opposition parties, in demonstrations calling for the resignation of long-ruling President Paul Biya.

Biya, 88, has ruled the central African country with an iron fist for nearly 40 years.

More than 500 members of Kamto’s party were arrested in a crackdown on September 22 last year.

Many were released, but 124 remain in detention, according to the MRC.

On Thursday, a group of around 50 lawyers who were defending them said they were abandoning the effort.

“The collective said it cannot associate itself with arbitrariness and illegality, taking the heavy and delicate decision of withdrawing from the (legal) procedures that are under way,” they said in a statement.

They said they could not count on “fair justice from an impartial and independent court”.

Source: AFP

10, September 2021

Football: King Pele in ICU, feeling ‘a little better’ ⁰

Brazilian football legend Pele remains in intensive care but is making a satisfactory recovery after undergoing surgery for a suspected colon tumor, his doctors said Friday.

Pele’s medical team at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo said in a statement that he was “actively conversing and displaying vital signs within normal range.”

Pele, 80, took to Instagram to reassure his fans.

“My friends, with each passing day I feel a little better. I’m looking forward to playing again, but I’m still going to recover for a few more days,” he said.

“While I’m here, I take the opportunity to talk a lot with my family and to rest. Thanks again for all the loving messages. We’ll be together again soon!”

The suspected tumor was detected during routine tests, according to the hospital, where Pele has been undergoing treatment since August 31.

Considered by many the greatest footballer of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele’s real name, has been in poor health in recent years, and has had various stints in the hospital.

The only player in history to win three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970), Pele burst onto the global stage at just 17 with dazzling goals, including two in the final against hosts Sweden, as Brazil won the World Cup for the first time in 1958.

“O Rei” (The King) went on to have one of the most storied careers in sport, scoring more than 1,000 goals before retiring in 1977.

Source: AFP

10, September 2021

Morocco: King names businessman Aziz Akhannouch to lead new government ⁰

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Friday appointed Aziz Akhannouch of the liberal RNI party as prime minister and asked him to form a government, state news agency MAP reported.

The king appointed Akhannouch “head of the government and tasked him with forming a new government”, following Wednesday’s polls, a statement from the palace said.

RNI emerged as the biggest party in Wednesday’s parliamentary election, taking 102 of the 395 seats while the former largest party, the moderate Islamist PJD, collapsed to take only 13 seats.

Akhannouch, a former agriculture minister, is one of Morocco’s richest men with a fortune estimated at about $2 billion. He has led the liberal RNI party since 2016.

Under reforms introduced in 2011, the king picks the prime minister from the largest party in parliament but retains veto power over cabinet members. In recent years he has taken back more powers within the palace walls, analysts say.

RNI is seen as close to the royal establishment and Akhannouch said in a speech after the election results were declared that he would “implement his majesty’s vision.”

Akhannouch, whose holding company operates in the fuel and gas distribution business, and was targeted by a consumer boycott campaign in 2018 over prices, has pushed RNI as a champion of social and economic reforms.

It must now build a governing coalition that can command a parliamentary majority of at least 198 seats.

The next-largest party after Wednesday’s vote was PAM, which is also liberal and pro-establishment, with 86 seats.

The PJD, whose leader Saad Dine El Otmani had been prime minister since 2017, has complained of violations in the election including what it said was vote buying by rivals.

However, after securing only 13 seats compared to 125 in 2016 it has said it will go into opposition and not seek to join the next governing coalition. Otmani and some other senior members have resigned their party posts.

Source: AFP and REUTERS

10, September 2021

Manchester United Eric Djemba-Djemba announces retirement from football ⁰

Manchester United Eric Djemba-Djemba has officially announced his retirement from football at the age of 40.

Djemba-Djemba rose to prominence at French club Nantes with impressive performances which resulted in his dream move to United in 2003.

Sir Alex Ferguson sanctioned a £3.5million move for the Cameroonian with the view of him potentially being Roy Keane’s long-term successor at the club.

It is safe to say things didn’t work out as planned for Djemba-Djemba at Old Trafford and he would only spend two years at the club before leaving for Aston Villa in 2005.

The highlight of his United career came when he scored the winner away against Leeds United in extra-time of a League Cup tie back in 2003.

Djemba-Djemba would go on to play for Burnley and St. Mirren in his later career but has been without a club since last signing for Swiss side Vallorbe-Ballaigues back in 2016.

“I can say to you today, that I’m officially retiring from playing football,” he confirmed to BritishGambler.co.uk. “I have an academy in Cameroon and I am going to focus on trying to help educate the young players there on how to become a footballer, and how to build a successful career as a footballer. “Today, I’m stopping playing football.”

Source: Manchester Evening News

10, September 2021

The Holy Father en route to Budapest and Orban talks, then Slovakia ⁰

Just weeks after major surgery and despite the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis embarks Sunday on his 34th international trip with visits to Slovakia and Budapest, including talks with populist leader Viktor Orban.

The 84-year-old has a typically packed schedule — half a day in Budapest for a religious event and then three days in Slovakia — during which his physical health will be closely scrutinised.

In July, the pontiff spent 10 days in hospital after undergoing an operation for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation in the intestine that required removing part of his colon.

The operation sparked rumours the Argentine might step down, but he laughed these off, insisting resigning never crossed his mind.

However, on his return from a historic visit to Iraq in March, the pope admitted it had been more tiring than other trips. As usual, his doctor will be on board Sunday.

– ‘Christian values’ –

Francis will begin his trip with a short stop in Budapest, presiding over mass at the International Eucharistic Congress, a week-long Catholic event.

It is not a state visit but a spiritual one, the Vatican emphasised, although the pope will have a meeting with Hungarian President Janos Ader and Prime Minister Orban.

Orban came to power on a promise to restore “Christian values” suppressed by years of communism, but many of the nationalist leader’s views are at odds with the pope’s, notably his anti-immigrant stance.

Asked in a recent interview what he would like to say to Orban, the pope appeared to dodge the question by suggesting the meeting was still not confirmed.

“I think he wanted to minimise the importance of the Orban meeting,” noted one observer who knows the pope well, but did not want to be named. Either way, the Vatican has confirmed the meeting.

The pope and the Hungarian leader have shaken hands twice before during events at the Vatican, in 2016 and 2017.

Hungary’s ambassador to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg, said the 2017 meeting during a reception for European Union leaders to mark the bloc’s 60th anniversary was “extremely friendly”.

Before they shook hands, however, the pope had warned that Europe “risks dying” without a new vision of the principles of solidarity on which it was founded — and said this was the “most effective antidote” to modern populism.

Orban, who has a Protestant Calvinist background, opposes migration from Muslims into Europe so as not to destroy what he describes as the continent’s “cultural Christian heritage”.

“Viktor Orban is a straight-talking Hungarian,” said Habsburg, insisting the prime minister’s words were often reported with a negative bias.

He emphasised how much Orban had in common with the pope, such as “religious freedom, or persecuted Christians”.

In the last national census in 2011, only 39 percent of Hungarians identified as Catholics and 11 percent as Protestants. Among adherents, only 15 percent attended religious services.

– Solidarity in Slovakia –

On Sunday afternoon, the pope will fly to Slovakia, for a trip that will include meetings with the Jewish and Roma communities.

Francis has travelled to five continents since his election in 2013, but continues to prioritise smaller nations, especially in Europe. With this trip he will have visited 54 countries as pontiff.

Coronavirus remains a risk, with only half of adults in Slovakia fully vaccinated, compared to the EU average of more than 70 percent.

Initially, the government restricted papal events to those who had been fully vaccinated, but after complaints, expanded participation to those who test negative or have recently recovered from Covid-19.

Slovakia’s ambassador to the Holy See, Marek Lisansky, said the pope’s visit was a “unique moment” and a blessing for the country 5.4 million people, which has recorded 12,500 coronavirus deaths.

“The pope is coming in this incredible moment of pandemic to unite us and offer his solidarity,” he said.

Source: AFP

10, September 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The real PCC Moderator reaches out to Ambazonia fighters in Bali ⁰

Presbyterian pastors of Bali origin have called on Ambazonia Restoration Forces to lift the ban on activities of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC.

The plea is contained in an emotional epistle to the Southern Cameroons Self Defense group in Bali written on behalf of Presbyterian pastors of Bali origin by Rev. Babila George Fochang (President) and Rev. Elvis Voma (Secretary).

On September 4, 2021, Ambazonia Restoration Forces in Bali Subdivision banned all activities of the PCC on grounds that the leadership of the church failed to blame the Francophone dominated Cameroon military for the August 22 incident at PC Ntanfoang which left a Christian death and the parish pastor injured.

On Sunday, September 5, 2021, the PCC Moderator Rt. Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba asked all pastors to leave Bali.

However, Rev. Babila George Fochang and Rev. Elvis Voma in a letter to the separatist fighters said the Church is a Divine institution in the hands of men with errors and flaws.

As such, they prayed that “the Holy Spirit should guide us to be careful that we do not throw the bathwater together with the child. May the Holy Spirit also help those who placed the ban and soften their hearts towards a reversal of their decision.”

Below is the entirety of the letter titled, “The Stance of PCC Bali Pastors on the Recent Happenings in Bali Nyonga”.

“In times like these, we the people of Bali, sharing our identity, culture and feeling the pains of times together, have the challenge to seek God’s face and make our community what we would want posterity to say of us. As the Scripture says:

“We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body…”(II Cor. 4:8-10).

“These words of Paul to the Christians at Corinth kind of comforts us that others have had similar challenges like the ones we are facing today as the Christians of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) in Bali subdivision.

“Our faith is being tested to see how as a people we remain steadfast in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Let us make a difference in the midst of the trials and rise more mature instead of being downcast. We are the ones to make our place better and we should stand tall for that goal as a people of one common ancestry.

“Way back during the First World War, British soldiers entered Bali on October 21, 1915. They captured the Basel missionaries and interned them on October 23rd.

“From then on, the Christians in Bali suffered great persecution.

“The church house was locked and the keys were given to the Divisional Officer in Bamenda. This did not stop the propagation of the gospel. Mr. Hunt, the Divisional Officer eventually handed back the keys, and Church services recommenced.

“Today we are faced with another harsh reality whereby the PCC Christians of Bali cannot worship in their own houses of worship. The land of Bali deserves better and God alone holds the key to chat a new way forward for us all.

“We pray that the Holy Spirit should guide us to be careful that we do not throw the bathwater together with the child. May the Holy Spirit also help those who placed the ban and soften their hearts towards a reversal of their decision as He did to Mr. Hunt. Our people should have the opportunity to worship the Lord in freedom with the opportunity to make intercession for Bali, the PCC, and the world at large plagued with crises.

“The Church is a Divine institution in the hands of men with errors and flaws. May all Bali people focus on making Bali grow in lips and bounds leaving a good legacy for our progeny.

“Let us, therefore, remember the Christian saints of Bali and the founders of Bali Nyonga now resting beneath the earth and live in forgiveness to one another where we have gone wrong in all ways. We should consider the faith of our kin and reason together for God’s Church doors to be opened, that is, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and all her institutions.

“There is no birth without labor pain and Bali is going through labor pain. Though tears may tarry for the night, joy comes in the morning (Cf. Ps 30:5).

“May the innocent blood of Ma Grace bring in greater fruits of righteousness, justice, and peace in Bali. She is thus one of the martyrs of our time and part of History which we cannot deny. Let us as Bali people take our community’s fate into our hands and bring in a rebirth of positive history. The PCC in Bali is for the people living in Bali and we should take it and make it grow despite the stake of time.

“May a new dawn to make peace with God and one another come on Bali Nyonga.

“May God console and speak to all of us in times like these.”

Culled from CIN with additional editing from Camcordnews

10, September 2021

Yaoundé: Biya may lose his right hand man Minister Motaze to Covid-19 ⁰

Minister Louis Paul Motaze has just been evacuated to Switzerland after five days in the VIP pavilion of the Yaoundé Central Hospital.

According to credible sources, the health of Louis Paul Motaze deteriorated on September 4 and the Minister of Finance was then hospitalized and placed on respiratory assistance.

President Biya reportedly ordered an evacuation of his nephew who also moonlights as Finance Minister on September 7, but it was then rescheduled.

Minister Motaze who headed the National Social Insurance Fund left Yaoundé on board a medical plane yesterday at 6:30 am, bound for Switzerland.

By Rita Akana

9, September 2021

Biya regime to hold anti-terrorism simulation exercise ahead of AFCON ⁰

Cameroon will carry out a series of anti-terrorism simulation exercises on September 28 to prepare against any terrorist attacks during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the country’s defense minister Joseph Beti Assomo said.

“This African football festival will be held in a context marked by tension. Because of this atmosphere, Cameroon must be able to ensure the safety of all,” Assomo said on Monday in the capital, Yaoundé during a high level meeting to plan for the simulation exercises which will be open to the public.

As part of the mock exercises, the army will simulate a terrorist attack in a stadium while a football match is in progress and stage a rescue operation, officials said during the meeting.

The army said, the exercises will not be held in response to a specific threat but noted that an armed separatist movement in the country’s Anglophone regions, Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North region and some security challenges in other parts of the Central African nation were reasons enough for the army to prepare for any eventuality.

AFCON, a biennial competition involving 24 African countries is scheduled to take place in Cameroon from January 9 to February 6 next year.

Source: Xinhaunet