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21, September 2020

Football: Eto’o Beats World Cup Winners In FIFA 21 Ranking ⁰

Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o has one of the highest ratings of the new FUT Icons added to FIFA 21.

The African superstar was not only a devastating finisher, but gifted with pace and trickery. He used all of his assets to win three UEFA Champions League titles, while scoring in two finals himself.

The former FC Barcelona star joined some elite company in FIFA 21, with the likes of Manchester United legend, Eric Cantona, and former Real Madrid star Ferenc Puskas.

The two stars mentioned above have a slightly higher overall score than Eto’o, with Cantona at 93 overall, while Puskas has the highest of all the newcomers at 94.

The only other player of all the new icons that has a higher score than Eto’o is Xavi, while the Cameroonian beats a number of other World Cup-winning stars such as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Fernando Torres.

Source: Soccerladuna

20, September 2020

Amba fighters know no red lines in war with ELECAM officers ⁰

A statement from the Ambazonia Interim Government says Ground Zero-based resistance groups are fully prepared to respond to any act of provocation by French Cameroun electoral officers, warning that there are no red lines in dealing with enablers.

In the press release that was made public late on Saturday and signed by Vice President Dabney Yerima, the Southern Cameroons Interim Government said “soon and very soon, Ambazonia Restoration Forces will be targeting the French Cameroun military with resistance rockets.”

“There are no red lines in Ambazonian actions taken against the French Cameroun occupying electoral officers and the military” the statement noted.

Yerima called on Southern Cameroons frontline leaders to formulate a unified resistance program in the face of the continuous French Cameroun occupation and to bear in mind that peace with French Cameroun is an illusion.

Yerima furthered that Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero have fought alone from the beginning till now and deserve unflinching material, financial and moral support from the diaspora.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

20, September 2020

Francophone Crisis: Massive Anti-Biya Outpouring in Europe, Canada and the US ⁰

Hundreds of French speaking Cameroonians in the diaspora have responded to calls from the main opposition leader Prof Maurice Kamto to express their rejection of the 87 year old President Biya.

Huge demonstrations were staged yesterday Saturday 19 September 2020, in Europe and America calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

The largest of all the demonstrations was recorded in the French capital of Paris and led by Wilfried Claude Ekanga of the MRC party.

Similar atmosphere was also witnessed on the streets of Milan (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Washington DC and Ottawa in Canada where French Cameroonians displayed banners calling on their Head of State to step down.

These rallies are being held under the direct supervision of Maurice Kamto who recently urged French speaking Cameroonians to take to the streets to put an end to the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime that has been in power for 38 years.

Cameroon Concord News Group understands similar demonstrations are planned in La Republique du Cameroun on 22 September 2020.

The German and the US embassies in Yaoundé have both painted Tuesday the 22^nd as high-risk day, since the authorities have already threatened to call on the security forces to prevent the said gatherings.

By Chi Prudence Asong

20, September 2020

Yaounde Seeking to Build $3 Billion Dam to Export Electricity ⁰

Cameroon will build a $3 billion hydro-power plant as part of an ambitious plan to make the central African nation an exporter of electricity by 2035.

The 810-megawatt Grand Eweng project on the Sanaga River, a joint venture between the government and the U.S.-based energy company Hydromine Inc., is the fifth hydro-project on the river.

The new installation will start generating power by 2028 and capacity will increase to over 1 gigawatt several years after that, according to Lucas Briger, vice president of development and operations at the New York-based project developer.

“The Grand Eweng was initially intended to supply the aluminum sector,” Briger said in an interview. Rising demand in the nation of 25 million people has since positioned the project to supply the general public.

Cameroon, which currently has about 1.5 gigawatts of installed power, could see demand grow to 3 gigawatts by 2035, according to its Energy Ministry.

President Paul Biya’s government has pledged to generate 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035, with a plan to export power to neighbors such as Chad, the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Small hydro- and solar-power sources accounted for just 4.5% of Cameroon’s installed capacity in 2019, according to BloombergNEF data.

A draft law meant to draw investment to the renewable energy sector is still being worked on, said Valerie Nkue, a director at the Energy Ministry.

The company plans to announce equity co-shareholders by the end of the year, Briger said, with the expectation the project would be financed 20-25% from equity and as much as 80% from debt.

Single Offtaker

While the government of Cameroon hasn’t so far committed to invest, the monopoly utility ENEO will be the sole buyer of the power. The additional output will likely be sold to companies like Alucam, an aluminum smelter that has lacked electricity to meet its production capacity of 100,000 tons a year. A World Bank-supported interconnection project, once completed, will also allow Cameroon to sell energy to Chad, which has one of the lowest electrification rates in the world.

The Grand Eweng dam would follow the 420-megawatt Nachtigal project, which also harnesses the Sanaga River, and to which the Bank provided $784.5 million of financing in 2018.

“The Nachtigal project provides a template on how financially a project can be developed in a way that acceptable to all parties involved,” said Briger.

Hydro-power has been a cheap, reliable source of renewable energy around the world for decades but the large-scale infrastructure projects have come under fire for the environmental damage they cause to rivers and the ecosystems they support.

The Sanaga River basin “is an important source of life for Cameroon’s flora and fauna,” said Sakah Mathias, the managing director of Sanys Global Consulting, a Yaounde-based consultancy that does sustainability studies. “The construction of five dams along the river is a serious threat,” he said.

Briger said the project complies with international and Cameroon environmental standards.

The plant could allow the country to “fully eliminate its polluting thermal power capacity,” he said.

Source: Bloomberg.com

20, September 2020

Central African Republic: Biya regime deploys Peacekeeping Troops for election stability ⁰

Cameroon is sending hundreds of troops and police to the Central African Republic to protect civilians and build peace ahead of December elections.

The troops, under the U.N.’s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA), finished training this week in the border village of Motcheboum.

Cameroon’s defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, says the troops would foster peace by protecting civilians, election staff, their materials, international observers and refugees returning to the C.A.R.

Years of political instability and fighting between armed groups have displaced nearly a quarter of the Central African Republic’s people.

The U.N. has asked Cameroon’s troops to help the C.A.R. address its security and sociopolitical turmoil by enabling citizens to rebuild destroyed institutions.

Assomo says Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, has made available logistical support for the blue beret battalions and two trained police units, which will serve for one year within MINUSCA.

Since 2014, there have been more than 11,000 U.N. peacekeepers in the C.A.R. — over 1,000 of them from Cameroon.

While U.N.-led troops have helped establish a degree of stability, armed groups control much of the country and continue to acquire weapons, despite an arms embargo.

Upcoming elections

Albert Nseke, a conflict resolution specialist at the University of Bangui, said the rebel groups intend to disrupt the December elections in order to maintain their control of positions within the Central African Republic.

The C.A.R.’s former president, Francois Bozize, who last year returned from exile in Uganda, challenged President Faustin-Archange Touadera in July for the top office.

Bozize took power in a 2003 coup, only to be overthrown in 2013 by Seleka rebels.

French troops helped to defeat the rebels and ushered in the Central African Republic’s last elections in 2016.

But the U.N. says at least a dozen armed groups continue to fight over territory and resources throughout the country.

Source: VOA

19, September 2020

Ex-Defense Minister, wife on trial in French Cameroun corruption case ⁰

Former French Cameroun Defense Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o has been notified of the charges against him after 18 months of detention at the Kondengui Central prison in the nation’s capital Yaoundé.

The once chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate is being prosecuted for financial crimes estimated at 20.37 billion CFA francs or a little over 30502084 euros. He and his wife reportedly awarded several contracts to the Chinese firm Poly Technologies Inc.

He is also accused of illicit enrichment within the framework of the contract with MAG Force International that was to equip the Francophone dominated army and “aggravated” money laundering of about 20 billion CFA francs.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands his dossier includes acts of corruption and bribes. His wife Véronique Mebe Ngo’o is prosecuted in the same framework for complicity in embezzlement and money laundering of more than FCFA 5 billion.

The French Cameroun couple withdrew billions FCFA from the state coffers. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, was taken into custody on 5 March 2019 as part of Operation “Sparrowhawk”, launched to clean up the management of public finances.

Feared and dreaded deep within the governing gang, this close friend of President Paul Biya held very high positions in the French Cameroun administration for about twenty years.

He was successively Senior Divisional Officer, Director of the Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic, Delegate-General for National Security), then Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defense. Before leaving the government in March 2018, he was Minister of State for Transport. He held this post for 29 months.

By Rita Akana

19, September 2020

Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 8-0 Schalke ⁰

Bayern Munich have totally shocked Schalke by thrashing them 8-nil in their league opener.

Bayern started their fireworks as early as the 4th minute, as Serge Gnabry found the net with a fine shot. Leon Goretzka made it 2-nil with a low shot in the 19th minute.

The Bavarians added a 3rd through Robert Lewandowski, who scored a 31st-minute penalty. Gnabry then scored twice to get his hat-trick, before Thomas Muller bagged the 6th.

Leroy Sane capped his superb Bayern debut with a wonderful finish, as Jamal Musiala drilled-in the 8th to complete the rout.

Source: Presstv

19, September 2020

South Africa: No evidence of alleged Iranian plot to kill US envoy ⁰

South Africa’s State Security Agency says it has found no evidence to support US media claims that Iran was planning to assassinate American Ambassador to Pretoria Lana Marks.

In a statement released on Friday, the agency spokesman Mava Scott said that South African officials had met with their US counterparts to request additional information.

“At present, the information provided is not sufficient to sustain the allegation that there is a credible threat against the United States Ambassador to South Africa,” Scott said.

The remarks came days after the Politico news magazine alleged that Tehran was planning to kill Marks before the US presidential election to avenge Washington’s assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq early this year.

The article claimed to be based on US intelligence reports, purportedly seen by a US government official and another official familiar with the documents, noting that Marks had likely been chosen due to her closeness to US President Donald Trump.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry categorically rejected the “baseless” allegations as part of American officials’ “hackneyed and outworn methods to create Iranophobic atmosphere on the international arena.”

Trump, however, cited the report to threaten an attack “1,000 times greater in magnitude” against Iran.

Scott stressed that South Africa had heightened security to protect the US diplomatic mission and personnel, saying, “Such plots of assassination against diplomats are viewed in a very serious light and Her Excellency, Ambassador Marks has been assured of our commitment in this regard.”

Additionally on Friday, South African Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor said her country is “as surprised as its Iranian friends” after learning about the alleged assassination plot.

“I find it surprising, why would Iran being a very good friend of South Africa come and commit a horrendous act in a country which has been a good friend to Iran, and of such a nature?” she said in an interview with SABC News. “I can only describe it as bizarre and let me stop there.”

Tensions have been running high between Tehran and Washington since May 2018, when Trump pulled the US out of a multilateral nuclear deal and unleashed a tough campaign of sanctions as part of his ‘maximum pressure’ policy and military threats against the Islamic Republic.

The two sides appeared to be on the brink of direct confrontation after General Soleimani was assassinated in the US drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

Source: Presstv

19, September 2020

East Cameroon Crisis: The hour has come! ⁰

For many decades, many people around the world have been doubting why French-speaking Cameroonians have been indifferent to their own suffering. Many have been seeking to know if the French-speaking Cameroonian is a sado-masochist who is enjoying his excruciating pain.

Experts around the world have put the indifference down to alcohol and the government’s high-handed approach to life.

The typical French-speaking Cameroonian loves food and drinks and has a diminished view of the future because he has been made to think that the short term is more important than the long-term.

But the last two decades have ushered in a new mentality and the scales are gradually falling off. French-speaking Cameroonians are now traveling to English-speaking countries and they are noticing the difference.

Even on the African continent, English-speaking countries are making giant economic strides while their French-speaking counterparts are turning in circles, hoping that France will come to clean up their political, economic and financial mess.

Besides, the country’s English-speaking minority has brought down the wall of fear and over the last four years, the country’s government has been battling an insurgency that will not be rolled back anytime soon.

Despite repressive measures taken by the government, the fighters in the country’s two English-speaking regions have stood their ground and they will not yield to anything short of total independence, though some English-speaking Cameroonians hold that a well-designed federation might calm down tempers and lay a solid foundation for a peaceful coexistence between the two linguistic blocs.

Besides the armed conflict, the country is also dealing with terrorism in its northern regions where Islam is predominant. Soldiers and civilians are being blown up everyday by suicide bombers affiliated to Boko Haram, a feared religious sect that has its tentacles in Niger, Nigeria and Chad.

Boko Haram has become a real nightmare to the Yaoundé government that lacks the resources to deal with such a man-made catastrophe.

The Yaoundé government is corrupt and its legendary arrogance has made it hard for ordinary citizens to live a normal life. Unemployment is at its highest level while the number of young unemployed graduates is growing exponentially.

Corruption that has become the government’s hallmark has paralyzed government services and sent many to an early grave. The country’s hospitals have been reduced to consultation clinics while government offices have become places where bribery has taken up residence.

Senior government officials, soldiers, police officers, medical doctors, nurses, court clerks, university professors, high school teachers and other civil servants have simply transformed their offices into money-making endeavors.

The most disturbing thing is that French-speaking Cameroonians have always felt that genuine change will come through the ballot box.

Strangely, the ruling party, which considers itself as the state, has won every election since 1992 when the country’s so-called advanced democracy started, with the country’s president, Paul Biya, ruling for 38 years without campaigning and with nothing to show for his long stay in power.

With the system finally falling apart, the docile French-speaking Cameroonian understands that change will not come through the ballot box.

Biya and his collaborators have held the country hostage and they are determined to hang on to power even if all Cameroonians have to die.

All attempts to let the government see beyond its nose have failed. The country is disintegrating and Mr. Biya, who is bed-ridden due to age and poor health, has held onto old strategies which have outlived their usefulness.

But the hour of change is around the corner and East Cameroonians are pumped up and are determined to flush the regime out on September 22, 2020.

The regime is the worst disaster that has ever befallen the country. The regime is worse than the Coronavirus and it has consumed millions of its own citizens.

Support for the government has been crumbling for years, but it is the eroding military support that is causing the ailing regime to lose sleep.

Many army soldiers have been deserting, with hundreds calling on their fellow soldiers to understand that the real enemy is the regime which has looted state coffers, fostered corruption and ruined the country’s economy, and not the population which is crumbling under the weight of mismanagement and arrogance.

Burkina Faso, Algeria, Mali, Sudan, Tunisia and Egypt have all chased their dictators away from power and this seems to be the road to peace, stability and economic prosperity that the French-speaking Cameroonian is prepared to walk.

The hour has come and every Cameroonian must join in to ensure Mr. Biya and his regime becomes a distant memory.

The Cameroon Concord News Group shareholders and staff endorse Prof. Kamto’s call for a national demonstration that must lead to the departure of the incompetent and corrupt Yaoundé regime that has brought untold hardship to the hardworking and peace-loving people of Cameroon.

The military is on the people’s side and all Cameroonians, especially those in Yaoundé and Douala, must come out on September 22, 2020, to see off Biya and his corrupt collaborators.

Bye bye, Biya!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Germany

19, September 2020

Football: FIFA head visits White House amid corruption investigation in Switzerland ⁰

FIFA president Gianni Infantino met President Donald Trump at the White House this week to discuss preparations for the 2026 World Cup in his third visit since the US was named co-host and amid an ongoing probe by the Swiss into corruption allegations in international football.

Infantino attended Tuesday’s signing ceremony for a diplomatic deal to improve relations between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, FIFA said Thursday.

Infantino also met Trump the following day at the White House, the federation said. It was their first meeting since a special prosecutor in Switzerland opened a criminal proceeding against the FIFA president in July as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in international football.

Infantino is a suspect in regard to meetings he had with Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber, who has since resigned in the fallout from the case.

The Swiss proceeding relates to Infantino potentially inciting Lauber to commit abuse of public office and breach of official secrecy. Infantino has denied wrongdoing and called the allegations absurd.

Also while in Washington, Infantino spoke with US Attorney General William Barr, FIFA said in a statement.

Their meeting on Wednesday appeared to seek the effect of normalising the right of FIFA officials to meet prosecutors overseeing investigations of soccer.

“I have had similar meetings in Switzerland, and FIFA’s lawyers are also in regular contact with prosecutors and law enforcement agencies wherever and whenever needed,” Infantino said in the FIFA statement. “In this way, I am fully convinced that the credibility and reputation of FIFA is being restored at the highest level.”

The Infantino-Barr meeting at the Department of Justice offices was “using the opportunity to personally thank the US authorities, and especially the DoJ, for their work in the fight against corruption in football,” FIFA said.

More than 40 soccer and marketing officials have been indicted, made guilty pleas or have been convicted in a sprawling US case unsealed in 2015 under the leadership of one of Barr’s predecessors, Loretta Lynch.

The fallout from the American and Swiss cases rocked FIFA and removed a swath of soccer leaders, including its then-president Sepp Blatter. It opened a path for Infantino to win election in February 2016.

Infantino’s visit to the US came ahead of hosting FIFA’s online annual meeting of 211 member federations on Friday. He previously first visited the White House in August 2018 — two months after the US, Canada and Mexico were picked as the 2026 World Cup co-hosts — and again last September.

He and Trump also had lunch together in Davos, Switzerland, in January at this year’s World Economic Forum.

Former FIFA officials on trial

Infantino’s US visit came just after former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and the chairman of Qatar-based media group BeIN Sports, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, went on trial in Switzerland over the awarding of television rights for the World Cup and Confederations Cup.

The 59-year-old Valcke, already banned by FIFA’s ethics committee for 10 years for ethics violations, has been charged with accepting bribes, aggravated criminal mismanagement and falsification of documents.

Al-Khelaifi, who is also president of French champions Paris St Germain and sits on the executive committee of European soccer body UEFA, has been charged with inciting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement.

The trial in Switzerland, which is where FIFA is based, began on Monday, September 14, and is expected to last until September 25. Three Swiss federal judges are expected to deliver a verdict by the end of October.

Also on Monday, FIFA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at fighting crime and corruption in sport.

Infantino and UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly signed the agreement during an event dubbed ‘Tackling Corruption and Crime in and through Sport’ in Vienna where the UNODC is headquartered.

A FIFA press release said the agreement was to foster cooperation to “address threats posed by crime to sport”.

FIFA also said the agreement meant the two bodies would “fight against corruption and crime in and through sport” while also providing a positive influence for youth.

(FRANCE 24 with AP and REUTERS)