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3, June 2020

Southern Cameroons War: 5 Cameroon gov’t soldiers killed in Manyu County ⁰

Five Cameroon government army soldiers were killed on Monday in an attack reportedly staged by Ambazonia Restoration Forces, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from defense sources in Yaounde.

The ambush occurred in Otu village in Eyumojock Sub constituency bordering the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A senior Cameroon army Commander was quoted as saying that the remains of the soldiers have been recovered.

The soldiers were deployed to Otu to provide security during a football match organized by pro French Cameroun ruling CPDM barons of the area to ascertain the return to normalcy in the locality that has been controlled by the Ambazonia Self Defense Forces since 2018.

Several other soldiers were wounded in the attack. The victims are currently receiving treatment at a military facility in Mamfe.

As usual, the corrupt separatist leader Ayaba Cho immediately claimed responsibility for the attack he knew nothing about on social media.

Government forces and armed Ambazonia Self Defense Gropus have been clashing since 2017 in Southern Cameroons where Ambazonians have established an independent nation known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

By Fon Lawrence in Mamfe

3, June 2020

Cameroon records highest number of Covid-19 deaths in central Africa ⁰

Cameroon has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours compared to other central African countries, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Monday.

Cameroon recorded 197 deaths, the DRC 72, Chad 65, the Republic of the Congo 20, Gabon 17, Equatorial Guinea 12, while Sao Tome and Principe each recorded 12.

At least 5,564 more people in Africa tested positive for the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, according to the health agency of the African Union.

The total number of infections on the continent reached 147,099, said the organisation, with the death toll currently standing at 4,228.

The total number of recoveries climbed to 61,808 as 2,596 patients recovered over the past 24 hours.

North Africa recorded a total of 43,900 Covid-19 cases; west Africa 35,100, southern Africa 34,900, East Africa 17,000 and Central Africa 16,100.

In terms of the death toll, North Africa had 1,900 fatalities, west Africa 717, southern Africa 707, east Africa 513 and Central Africa 398.

The worst-hit country in terms of number of infections was South Africa, currently sitting on 32,700 cases. Egypt follows with 25,000.

In terms of Covid-19-related deaths, Egypt recorded 959 cases and South Africa 683.

In West Africa, Nigeria registered 287 deaths, Mali 77, Niger 64, Burkina Faso 53, Sierra Leone 46, Senegal 42, Ghana 36, Cote d’Ivoire 33, Liberia 27, Guinea 23 and Togo 13.

In East Africa, Sudan had recorded 286 fatalities, Somalia 78, Kenya 64, Djibouti 24, Tanzania 21, Ethiopia 11 and South Sudan and Mauritius 10 each.

In Central Africa, Cameroon reported 197 deaths, the DRC 72, Chad 65, and Republic of the Congo 20; Gabon reported 17 fatalities, Equatorial Guinea 12, while Sao Tome and Principe also reported 12 each.

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

African News Agency (ANA)

2, June 2020

Yaounde: In two months, MPs have received more than 28.5 million CFA francs each ⁰

The Biya regime has disbursed more than 5 billion FCFA to the so-called newly elected members of the one and indivisible Cameroon national assembly in Yaounde.

The 180 representatives of the 10th legislature, who have only been in office for two months, to be more accurate between the election in February and May 31, 2020 have received more than 28.5 million CFA francs.

Here is breakdown of what the ruling CPDM crime syndicate paid to the MPs:

– Transport for the full session: 86 000 FCFA

– Telephone and fuel for the full session: 1 075 000 FCFA

-Participation Fee: 2 250 000 FCFA.

– Transport for the March session: 86 000 FCFA

– Telephone + fuel for March: 1 075 000 FCFA

– March session participation fee: 2 250 000 FCFA

– March salary: 1 225 000 FCFA

– April salary: 1 225 000 FCFA

– May salary 1 225 000 FCFA

– Microprojects: 8 000 000 FCFA

– Vehicle purchase premium: 10 000 000 FCFA (not yet paid, but budgeted).

The total sum amounts to more than 5.1 billion FCFA already paid to the representatives in a country that is seeking help from international donors to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cameroon Concord News Group understands the MPs will be voting soonest on a diabolic project to prepare the stage for Franck Biya to succeed the father as head of state.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde with files Cameroon Info.Net

2, June 2020

UN chief urges investigation into police violence against US protesters ⁰

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged restraint by US authorities toward protesters and called for probe into allegations of police violence, his spokesperson said Monday.

Protests should remain peaceful, while “authorities must show restraint in responding to demonstrators in US as in any other country in the world,” Guterres believes, according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“We have seen over the last few days cases of police violence,” Dujarric told reporters at the United Nations in New York, where protests have been held every night since Wednesday over the death of an African American, George Floyd, in police hands last week in Minneapolis.

“All cases obviously need to be investigated. Police forces around the world need to have adequate human rights training,” he told reporters.

Floyd’s death on May 25 in Minneapolis has reignited protests across the US that have flared repeatedly in recent years over police killings of black Americans.

Dujarric said that Gutteres is also concerned about police attacks on journalists during the protests which have hit dozens of US cities, in many cases turning violent and resulting in arson and looting.

“When journalists are attacked, societies are attacked. No democracy can function without press freedom,” he said.

In recent days, many journalists have had tense encounters with the police during the nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality.

Linda Tirado, a freelance photographer, activist and author, was shot in the left eye Friday while covering the street protests in Minneapolis.

Minnesota State Patrol officers arrested a CNN reporting team live on the air on Friday. That same day, a TV reporter in Louisville, Ky., was hit by a pepper ball by an officer who appeared to be aiming at her while she covered the protest on live television.

The arrest of the CNN team drew criticism from First Amendment advocates and an apology from Minnesota’s governor, but there have been dozens of other instances of journalists receiving rough treatment at the hands of police officers while covering the protests. In interviews, reporters said they had identified themselves as members of the press before police fired projectiles, drew their weapons or pepper-sprayed them.

Many reporters, photographers and press advocates said the treatment of journalists by police officers in recent days reflected an erosion of trust in the news media that has seeped into law enforcement under President Trump, who has deemed critical coverage of his administration “fake news” and has frequently labeled some news organizations and journalists with variants of the phrase “enemies of the people.”

Source: Presstv

2, June 2020

Wuhan doctor at whistleblower’s hospital dies from coronavirus ⁰

A Wuhan doctor who worked with coronavirus whistleblower Li Wenliang died of the virus last week, state media reported Tuesday, becoming China’s first COVID-19 fatality in weeks.

Hu Weifeng, a urologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, died on Friday after being treated for COVID-19 and allied issues for more than four months, state broadcaster CCTV said.

He is the sixth doctor from Wuhan Central Hospital to have died from the virus, which emerged in the central Chinese city late last year.

Cases have dwindled dramatically from the peak in mid-February as the country appears to have brought the outbreak largely under control.

The official death toll in the country of 1.4 billion people stands at 4,634 — well below the number of fatalities in less populous nations.

Wuhan Central Hospital has yet to give a formal statement on Hu’s death. In early February it said some 68 staff members had contracted coronavirus.

Hu’s condition became a national concern after Chinese media showed images of him with his skin turned black due to liver damage.

Fellow doctor Yi Fan showed similar symptoms, but recovered and has since been discharged from hospital.

The death of their colleague Li Wenliang in February triggered a national outpouring of grief and rage against the government as he documented his final days on social media.

The 34-year-old ophthalmologist was reprimanded by authorities after he warned colleagues about the virus in late December.

Beijing has since named him a national martyr, but suppressed much of the dissent and criticism sparked by his death.

Other medical whistleblowers at Wuhan Central Hospital — including emergency unit director Ai Fen — have told Chinese media they were punished by authorities for speaking out.

China has not released a complete figure of the number of medical worker deaths from Covid-19, but at least 34 medics have been awarded posthumous honours by health authorities.

In February the National Health Commission said some 3,387 health workers had been infected.

Source: AFP

2, June 2020

COVID-19 Outbreak: Interim Gov’t says Yaoundé backed CPDM gangs exploiting vulnerable Ambazonians ⁰

A Southern Cameroons CPDM gang sponsored by the French Cameroun regime is exploiting helpless Ambazonia Self Defense Forces during this difficult coronavirus pandemic period, Vice President Dabney Yerima has told Cameroon Concord News Group.

Dabney Yerima also said that the Ambazonia Interim Government is doing its best so far in managing to prevent a criminal infiltration of the Restoration Forces by the French Cameroun consortium of CPDM crime syndicates and organised crime networks.

However, Vice President Yerima’s warning comes amid growing reports Ambazonia Self Defense Forces were dropping their weapons and getting financial support from French Cameroun CPDM surrogates in Southern Cameroons. These fighters are reportedly struggling financially in the lockdown.

Exploiting the vulnerable Ambazonia fighters is a primitive and cheap tactics designed by Minister Paul Atanga Nji to help the Biya Francophone government recruit support and increase their power in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

Yerima said: “Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora should invest in the Amba bonds and be ready to counter French Cameroun violence with violence. By donating to self defense efforts and the Bank of Ambazonia Bonds Project, you are providing the Interim Government the resources to defend your homeland. We must stop these Southern Cameroons enablers from providing toxic food and blood money to those in need in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.”

The exiled Ambazonian leader pointed out that “the French Cameroun government is a mafia group that has money, have no bureaucracy and operates far beyond its French Cameroun borders. The poor Southern Cameroons fighters are growing more vulnerable in this lockdown.”

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

2, June 2020

COVID-19 and its effect on Cameroon’s conflict ⁰

One of the most interesting developments during the COVID-19 pandemic took place on March 23rd of this year. UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a call for a global ceasefire to deal with the crisis.

The UN General Assembly actually took this request to heart. Twice during the month of May, the body attempted to support the call of the secretary-general by passing resolutions calling for a global ceasefire. On May 3rd the first effort in the Security Council was vetoed by the United States. A little more than a week later a second resolution drafted by the European members of the council was introduced as well.

Although these calls have mostly gone unheeded there is one part of the world where the UN is attempting to double down on this effort and to ensure that a ceasefire takes place. On March 26th the regional office for Central Africa also issued a statement that supported the call for a ceasefire.

One of the countries that was covered in these calls was Cameroon. Over the last three years, the country has been the scene of an insurgency that, for the most part, has avoided coverage by most major media outlets. Libya, Syria, and Yemen have all overshadowed what has been taking place in Cameroon.

The African nation has been embroiled in an internal conflict since 2017, as members of the English-speaking population fight to create an independent state separate from the French-speaking majority. The new country would be called Ambazonia.

However, the separatists are not united. While some commanders have respected the government’s ceasefire request to deal with COVID-19, other rebels have continued to fight. For example, a commentary in African Arguments explains how, “On 14 April, separatists executed a traditional leader and his assistant in Bambili in the northwest for cooperating with the government. In Bamenda, the capital of the northwest region, they kidnapped and killed a police officer. On 10 May, fighters killed the recently-elected mayor of Mamfe, Ashu Prisley, one of the youngest and most dynamic figures in the ruling CPDM party.”

Some rebels have also attacked government-backed distribution centers of sanitary equipment to fight coronavirus.

A report by Human Rights Watch that was released in late March 2019 found that government forces were equally culpable in launching attacks and killing civilians in the strife-torn northwest/southwest region. Several members of the government forces were taken into custody in recent weeks for their actions in the region as well.

The entry for Cameroon in the 2019 Human Rights Report compiled by the U.S. State Department catalogues a list of sins committed by the government. The documented abuses include torture, arbitrary and even extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and even limiting access to the Internet, which lasted more than a year.

Cameroon also has to deal with other types of violence, stemming from radical fundamentalists. “Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed and several others injured in an attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists early Tuesday, May 26 on a military base in the north region of Cameroon,” the Journal du Cameroun explains. The faction responsible seems to be the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, a splinter group of Boko Haram.

There are reports that the Cameroonian military is building a base in the northwestern village of Ngarr-buh, where 13 civilians were massacred in February. The military argues that the base is needed to cut re-supply lines between rebels and Nigeria, while various NGOs accuse government forces of human rights abuses.

Overall, once coronavirus is somewhat under control, operations by all sides of this complex conflict will start once again.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to take a toll on Cameroonian society, though the government re-opened schools on June 1. Educational facilities have been disinfected to protect students and teachers.

The UN Security Council has not totally ignored the crisis. During the month of June, the UN Security Council will hear a briefing on the situation in Cameroon. There is concern that this meeting could be a whitewash of the incident as France will hold the presidency of the Security Council for the Month of June. France is the former colonial power and has strong ties with President Paul Biya.

Not to be outdone by the UN, several NGOs have drafted a resolution that would encourage the United States to take over as the mediator in this crisis replacing Switzerland. There has been a lukewarm response to this effort however negotiations are always better than open conflict. There is some work that needs to be done to the resolution so that Russia, China, and other members of the Security Council can support this effort.

Coronavirus comes at a bad time for Cameroon, as it is battling secessionist groups as well as Islamic fundamentalists. The virus has prompted the establishment of a ceasefire, which has not been respected by all insurgents. There is some hope that the upcoming briefing to the UN Security Council could breathe new life into the talks. However, the details have yet to be worked out.

Culled from International Policy Digest

2, June 2020

Yaoundé: Biya regime opens schools amid COVID-19 spike ⁰

Schools and universities in Cameroon have opened Monday with hundreds of thousands going to class, despite the number of COVID-19 infections continuing to increase. Cameroon so far has 6,380 confirmed cases of the virus with 273 deaths. But officials say the increasing number of recoveries from the virus and health measures taken at schools makes them confident that they can handle the pandemic.

Speaking on Cameroon state media CRTV on Sunday, Cameroon prime minister Joseph Dion Ngute said president Paul Biya ordered schools that he closed last March 17 as part of measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus to reopen on June 1st because 3, 630 of the 6, 380 COVID-19 patients in the central African state have recovered from the killer disease indicating that the strategy put in place by the government to protect its citizens from the coronavirus is yielding posotive results.

FILE – A health worker wearing protective equipment, disinfects a member of medical staff amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at an hospital in Douala, Cameroon, April 27, 2020.

The prime minister said a majority of the 2, 300 active COVID-19 patients were responding to treatment and that enough measures have been taken to reduce the risk of contamination at school.

“Let us not give into panic,” he said. “The ministers concerned have been instructed to ensure that protective masks are worn and that social distancing is respected. They should also make available the required sanitary kits such as hand sanitizers and hand washing buckets in each establishment.”

Ngute said all schools will be disinfected at least three times a week and that schools that lack water will be provided with the liquid daily by the government. Ngute said not more than 24 children will be admitted in classrooms and that only one will sit on a bench instead of four or five as has been the practice.

But 19-year-old Velma Soli says the government did not respect its promises and she decided to return home.

“I went to school and I discovered that the face masks and hand sanitizers were not available as the government said so I decided to come back to the house and wait. When the hand sanitizers and face masks are ready, I will go back to school,” she said.

Teachers and university lecturers complained that some classes and lecture halls were congested and there was lack of water and soap to wash hands in some establishments.

Schoolchildren smile as they walk out of school, on the outskirts of Yaounde, Cameroon October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra — FILE – Schoolchildren smile as they walk out of school, on the outskirts of Yaounde, Cameroon, Oct. 9, 2018.

Naloca Lyonga, Cameroon minister of secondary education says while the government is struggling to provide what is needed to protect children and teachers at school, parents should also make an effort to provide their kids with what is needed to reduce COVID-19 spread and make sure children have their rights to be educated in spite of coronavirus threats.

“Do we want to stay at home for ever because there is a virus? No. So this is the time when we should support the leadership of Cameroon,” said Lyonga. “We have made sure that everybody who is involved is going to be covered as far as masks are concerned, as far as the water in the schools are concerned.”

Lyonga said after Monday’s return of high school students who will be writing their General Certificate of Education and those of primary school age who will sit the First School Leaving Certificate Examination, the government will for three days observe if the students and teachers are behaving well to stop COVID-19 spread before allowing their peers of other classes to start school on Thursday.

The government said although schools and universities reopened effectively in spite of the coronavirus spread, hundreds of parents especially in the towns of Yaounde, Douala and Bafoussam, that have recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Cameroon, did not send their children to school.

The French Embassy in Yaounde asked its citizens not to allow their children to go to school because, according to them, Cameroon’s capacity to take care of COVID-19 cases continue to reduce as the number of positive cases increase.

Source: VOA

1, June 2020

UN agency recommends health guidelines for airlines ⁰

Mask wearing, temperature controls, disinfection of aircraft: the International Civil Aviation Organization on Monday published a series of health recommendations for a pandemic-hit airline industry as it relaunches air travel.

The protocol was drawn up by an international task force formed by the Montreal-based ICAO with the help of other UN agencies like the World Health Organization and the powerful International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Its report on relaunching aviation in the wake of COVID-19 was expected to be approved Monday by the ICAO’s executive committee.

The changes being suggested are the most important for air travel since the massive security measures put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

IATA’s director general, Alexandre de Juniac, unveiled the main measures proposed in the “best practices” guide at the end of last week.

The recommendations are intended to serve as a “framework” for assuring the safety of passengers and workers on planes and at airports.

On their arrival at airports, travelers should present a health certificate and undergo an initial temperature check, under the guidelines.

Online check-in before arriving at the airport should be given priority, and passages through security should be re-thought to limit physical contact and waiting in lines.

The wearing of a mask or face covering should be obligatory inside aircraft and terminals, where physical distancing of at least three feet (one meter) should be respected.

Aboard planes, passengers should wear masks, move as little as possible within the cabin, and not line up outside toilets to lessen the risk of infecting other passengers.

– ‘Global reference’ –

But the ICAO does not advocate leaving every other seat open to assure physical distancing, a restriction that the airline industry industry sees as a threat to its profitability.

The organization, nevertheless, asks passengers to remain as far from one another as possible, to the extent occupancy rates allow it.

It also advocates that food on board be pre-packaged and that aircraft be regularly disinfected.

Temperature checks should also be taken on a flight’s arrival, according to the recommendations.

The measures aren’t obligatory but they are the product of a broad consensus that imparts “an authority that will make them a global reference for the first time on this issue since the start of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Philippe Bertoux, France’s representative on ICAO’s board, which led the “task force” debate.

“These measures will facilitate a safe and sustainable return of the air travel,” Bertoux told AFP.

To reopen after having been grounded for months and brought to its knees financially, the airline industry is pressing for rules to be harmonized to reassure passengers and states that have closed their borders in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

The ICAO estimates that the pandemic will reduce the number of air passengers by 1.5 billion by the end of the year.

Source: AFP

1, June 2020

France: Ligue 1 presidents slam ‘brutal’ move to end season ⁰

Some of the French Ligue 1’s club presidents joined forces on Monday to criticise the decision in April to declare the season over due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said five week ago the campaign could not restart but Germany’s Bundesliga has resumed while Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A and England’s Premier League are set to follow suit by the end of this month.

“Start of April, we were the only league among Europe’s big five to propose the restart of the season,” Nantes’ Waldemar Kita said in a statement by Premiere Ligue, a union of the league’s chiefs.

“We were ahead of time, we were mocked. We were the motor and the other countries followed us later. But unfortunately, we stayed in the same spot,” Kita added.

Lille’s Gerard Lopez said the move was “pretty brutal”.

“We keep saying that we’re trying to catch up on the other four big leagues and then we make a rod for our own backs at a key moment.

“We’re all alone. It might be in France that football is not at the same level as other countries,” he added.

Saint-Etienne’s Bernard Caiazzo, who is the head of the body, pointed the finger solely at politicians.

“We’re not responsible, those who are responsible are the Prime Minister and the government. They have information we don’t have,” Caiazzo said.

“You could ask if the government decided too quickly. Was there a discussion with the clubs? No. Was there a discussion with other countries? No,” he added.

Lyon, whose chief Jean-Michel Aulas has been vociferous since the April 30 decision with his side set to miss out on Europe next season, and relegated Amiens will challenge the decision at France’s highest administrative court on June 4.

Bottom side Toulouse are among other clubs expected to appeal.

Source: AFP