Measures to combat the novel coronavirus in Cameroon are triggering an avalanche of criticism in one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

With late border closures, no containment period, bars, restaurants and discotheques remaining open, masks imposed late, schools and universities reopening prematurely, Yaoundé seemed to stall and then sail on sight, suggesting that its authorities did not take the danger of the Covid-19 seriously when many other African countries imposed radical measures very early on.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power for nearly four decades, only appeared publicly on television on 19 May, pressured by the opposition and even the WHO, after more than two months of deafening silence. Meanwhile, all his African peers very early on, publicly at least, took up the torch of the fight against the virus.

We are seeing a particularly serious progression of the epidemic. It’s extremely serious

In less than three months, the number of reported cases rose from one to more than 6,500 in early June, with more than 200 deaths out of a population of more than 25 million.

“We are seeing a particularly serious progression of the epidemic. It’s extremely serious,” Professor Eugène Sobngwi, vice-president of the scientific council at the health ministry, told the press on 24 May, brandishing the risk that Cameroon could become “the laughing stock of the world”.

The assessments “should not alarm us because so far the government has been in control of the situation,” Health Minister Manaouda Malachie replied on state radio on 1 June, also in response to countless worries and criticisms on social networks.

This progress is the result of the government’s “calamitous management” of the pandemic, although Albert Ze, a Cameroonian economist specialising in health issues, told AFP that, “we missed the opportunity to contain the virus from the outset.

Cameroon did not close its land, air and sea borders until 18 March, 12 days after the first “imported” case and weeks after many other African countries. It limited the number of people allowed in the gatherings to 50, while others set it at 10.

Other restrictive measures, such as distancing on public transport and closing bars and restaurants, had to wait until mid-March as well, but only after 6 pm.

To date, no general containment has been imposed, as in countless countries across the continent and around the world.

The impact of these measures was however “immediate, and Cameroonians understood that the problem was major,” said Professor Yap Boum II, epidemiologist and head of a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) research centre in Yaoundé.

“The compulsory wearing of masks reinforced this approach,” but more than a month after the start of the pandemic. Although the spread of the virus was progressing, it was “controlled” at the time, the epidemiologist added.

Nightclubs open

Until 30 April, when the government unexpectedly eased these restrictions, bars, restaurants and discos were allowed to reopen after 6 p.m., and measures to distance public transport were eased.

This “led to an almost total relaxation of the population, as if this announcement sounded the end of the epidemic,” laments the scientist.

“Fewer and fewer people were seen wearing masks and more and more people were seen in bars, and a month later we have more than tripled “the number of reported cases and deaths”, he notes, establishing a “direct link between this relaxation of measures, the ensuing indiscipline and the current situation”.

Against all expectations, the government also reopened doors of schools, colleges, high schools and universities on June 1, even though it anticipates the epidemic’s peak “in June.” A premature resumption according to the country’s teachers’ unions.

“The state has made available a ridiculously low number of materials, 3,000 masks for example,” not even one per teacher in secondary schools and colleges, vexed Roger Kaffo, general secretary of the National Autonomous Union of Secondary Education (SNAES).

But according to Daniel Claude Abate, president of a local group of small and medium-sized businesses, “we cannot afford to stop our countries, with fragile economies, as in others.”

“But it should have been accompanied by police surveillance measures,” he admits, conceding “a few mistakes”, “negligence” and “clumsiness”.

Source: AFP

Cameroonian authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts and the health and legal status of imprisoned journalist Samuel Wazizi, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

“Samuel Wazizi’s friends, family, colleagues, and lawyers have unsuccessfully sought answers about his arrest from the Cameroonian government for far too long,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal. “We are extremely disturbed by recent reports of the journalist’s death in government custody, and demand that authorities immediately and publicly account for his status.”

News reports and a tweet by Denis Nkwebo, the president of the Cameroon Trade Union of Journalists, published yesterday and today, allege that Wazizi died at a military hospital at an unspecified date after being tortured by security forces.

The Cameroonian government has not commented on those reports. CPJ called and texted representatives of Cameroon’s Justice Ministry, Communications Ministry, and prime minister’s office for comment, but did not receive any replies.

Wazizi, whose legal name is Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, was arrested on August 2, 2019, was transferred to military custody on August 7, and has not been seen since, according to CPJ research. Until his arrest, he worked as an anchor for privately owned broadcaster Chillen Muzik and TV.

Source: Premium Times Ng

Journalists and activists in Cameroon are calling on the government to respond to media reports this week that the military has killed in detention journalist Samuel Wazizi. The military detained Wazizi about a year ago for allegedly supporting anglophone separatists and he has not been seen in public since.

Lawyer and rights defender Christopher Ndong says he has reliable information that Cameroonian journalist Samuel Wazizi died in a military hospital in Yaoundé of wounds inflicted on him by the military.

“The brutal torture that was exerted on Wazizi by military officers is a condemnable act,” said Ndong. “He was arrested and badly tortured and when he fell ill, they took him to a military hospital in Yaoundé, where he finally died.  And so, we are asking for an independent investigation to detect all the culprits so that they should be brought to book and punished.”

Ndong says does not know when Wazizi died but most local media have this week been reporting his death as confirmed and that military officials are refusing to release his body.

Cameroonian activists and journalists are calling on the government to respond to the reports and explain the circumstances, if Wazizi is in fact dead. 

Ambe Macmillan Awah is president of Cameroon’s Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ). 

He says Wazizi’s death in prison would prove how officials continue to abuse the media. 

“Cameroon is a state of law and our laws provide for journalists to be tried.  So, we keep asking, why was the law not applied?  We are calling on the competent authorities to investigate and bring all the perpetrators to book,” said Awah. “Nobody is above the law.”

Samuel Wazizi, whose legal name is Samuel Ajiekah Abuwe, worked for Chillen Music Television. 

Police arrested Wazizi last August for allegedly supporting anglophone separatists in Cameroon’s English-speaking western regions and turned him over to the military.  He hasn’t been seen since.  The military claims Wazizi was hosting rebels on his farm. 

After Wazizi’s disappearance, authorities threatened to go after any journalists reporting on alleged military abuses or giving a voice to the rebels. 

Yaoundé-based freelance journalist Ndi Eugene Ndi says it is becoming impossible to report in Cameroon’s English-speaking west regions under such pressure. 

“If you do a report which seems like giving some little credit to the separatists, you should be sure of meeting a military court,” said Ndi. “It is not easy.  We are not safe.”

Cameroon’s Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) says Wazizi was being held in a prison in the capital, Yaounde. 

Both a military spokesman and a government spokesman refused to comment on Wazizi and the reports of his death. 

Source: VOA

Interim Government of Ambazonia Statement on Samuel Wazizi

On the 2^nd of August 2019, Samuel Wazizi, a Southern Cameroons journalist with CMTV, was abducted by police in Buea, Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia). He was handed over to the French Cameroun military five days later. Since then, his family and lawyers have not been granted access to him nor has any information about his whereabouts been made public. Several attempts by his lawyers and international organisations to make contact were declined. He was not charged for any crime or brought before any competent law court.

Yesterday, the Interim Government of Ambazonia was informed that he has been murdered in custody. This, we find unacceptable and a flagrant disregard of international law, norms and conventions. The deliberate attack on journalists and the press as a mechanism to prevent the dissemination of information by the regime in Yaoundé is unacceptable and unlawful.  The French Cameroun authorities must be cognizant of their international obligations to protect the rights of journalists and civilians without prejudice.

French Cameroun has rapidly earned an unenviable reputation as one of the worst countries in the world on press freedom. The international community must act now.

The Interim Government of Ambazonia is hereby calling on the government La Republique du Cameroun to make public vital information on the whereabouts of Mr Samuel Wazizi without any further delay.

Sincerely,

DabneyYerima

Vice President, The Federal Republic of Ambazonia

CC

The United Nations

USA State Department

The African Union

The EU Commission

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland

Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s northwest region, has been at the heart of a three-year conflict between Cameroon government troops and armed groups that are fighting to create a state they call Ambazonia.

Frequent gun battles, lockdowns, road blocks and now the COVID-19 pandemic have made life difficult for the majority English-speaking population. The Anglophone crisis and the coronavirus pandemic have two things in common: lockdowns, hospitalizations and an ever-increasing number of deaths.

The Anglophone crisis has been raging for four years with no end in sight

Scot, a resident in Bamenda said at least with the Anglophone crisis, one knows how to respect some rules like getting home early and avoiding no go areas.

“But for coronavirus, the risk is just so high. You might get into a public space and contract the disease,” Scot, who did not wish to give his second name for fear of reprisal, told DW.

“For the crisis, you know that there are some places that you are not supposed to go and certain things to do and not to do to avoid getting into trouble.”

One treatment center

The region is experiencing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. Health officials are warning that if people do not observe preventive measures — such as washing of hands, wearing masks and maintaining physical distance — the number of infections could rise further. Cameroon now has more than 6,300 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Nearly 200 have lost their lives.

The northwest region’s only COVID-19 treatment center is housed in a government-run hospital. It has a pre-isolation ward, quarantine center, diagnostic laboratory and other facilities for people infected with the coronavirus. Bamenda, Cameroon’s third-largest city, has more than 500,000 inhabitants.

“Since we have more intense cases which are moderate or severe, the doctors see patients as often as need be,” Mercy Fundoh, head of the solidarity ward, told DW. “We try to do a clinical evaluation of these intense cases at least on a daily basis and sometimes twice a day.”

Patient care

As the health of the patients improves, they are transferred to the isolation center where they complete treatment and their number of days of isolation before they are retested.

According to Denis Same, the hospital director, a suspected case of COVID-19 is directed to the pre-isolation ward for investigation and sample collection. “If it is positive then you are taken to the solidarity ward or Azam Hotel meant for those who are asymptomatic, meaning that they do not have or have mild symptoms,” Same told DW.

Coronavirus, an extra burden

Before the coronavirus, Cameroon’s three-year Anglophone crisis had already made life difficult for people. Roadblocks, set up by separatist fighters, often block transport five days a week. They restrict movement between divisions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We are faced with two monsters, the Anglophone crisis and coronavirus as we try to avoid those who call the shots, military or separatists,” Thomas Mokum, another resident said.

“For coronavirus, somebody like myself without a job, I put food on the table with the menial things I do around. If you are to respect the social distancing, if you quarantine yourself, if you stay at home, if you do not go out to make money. This is how the two monsters affect my family.”

Battling the coronavirus while trying to stay alive in a conflict zone may result in the people of northwest Cameroon becoming simply too desperate to care about health and safety measures. That could make the grim situation even worse.

Culled from DW

The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cameroon continues to rise.  According to Johns Hopkins University, there are 5,904 confirmed cases and 191 deaths as of June 1, 2020.

 Although some restrictions have been lifted to alleviate economic hardship, the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health reminded all residents on May 31 to redouble efforts to practice good hygiene, maintain physical distancing, only leave home when necessary, and always wear a mask in public.

Culled from the US Embassy Yaounde