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21, May 2020

Russia: Putin bestows birthday medal on defence chief ⁰

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday bestowed a 65th birthday honour on Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, in the Syria conflict and companion on wilderness trips.

Putin sent Shoigu birthday greetings and signed a decree awarding him one of Russia’s highest decorations, the “For Merit to the Fatherland” medal in the first degree.

Previous recipients of the medal include Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Oscar-winning film director Nikita Mikhalkov and the late cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

Shoigu, an engineer by training who led the emergency ministry before heading the armed forces, already has a chestfull of medals that he wears on occasions such as the Victory Day parade on Red Square.

These include the very prestigious Hero of Russia star.

One of Russia’s most popular officials who first came to public attention fighting fires and floods, Shoigu rarely makes political statements.

He comes from Siberian Tuva region close to the border with Mongolia, and is one of the few representatives of Russia’s ethnic minorities in top politics.

As defence chief since 2012, he has presided over a massive modernisation of the armed forces with latest-generation weaponry including hypersonic missiles and reinforced troop presence from the Arctic to the Pacific.

He has also overseen Russia’s military intervention in Syria since 2015 in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Known for unshakeable loyalty to the Russian Federation, Shoigu has often accompanied the president on macho fishing and wildlife-spotting trips.

These included one in 2008 where Putin shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquiliser dart and then kissed it.

On their most recent trip in October, they picked mushrooms by the banks of the Yenisei River in Siberia.

Source: AFP

21, May 2020

Football legend says games without fans ‘sadder than dancing with your sister’ ⁰

Spain coach Luis Enrique says playing behind closed doors is “sadder than dancing with your own sister”, as football faces the prospect of games without supporters for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume last weekend following the two-month shutdown, with strict hygiene measures enforced at all matches across the country.

“(Playing without fans) is sadder than dancing with your own sister. It’s not attractive,” Luis Enrique told the “Colgados del aro” (“Hanging from the hoop”) basketball show on Wednesday.

“I watched the German football and it’s a sad sight. You hear the voices, you even hear the insults… you lose the intimacy of the better moments.

“But you also have to understand it’s a business that generates lots of money, and even if the spectacle is a long way from that when there’s fans it can help in dealing with the confinement.

“Watching football again or any other sport, as a fan it’s interesting,” he added.

Luis Enrique returned to his job as Spain coach in November after resigning last June to take care of his daughter, Xana, who died in August of cancer.

“(As a player), I would have liked to get back playing as soon as possible. I have no fear,” he said.

“I was a bit scared at one moment for my parents, my in-laws and the elderly people I cherish and above all for the people who may suffer. But on a personal level, I have zero fear.”

Euro 2020 has been postponed by a year due to the health crisis and Luis Enrique admitted the uncertainty was affecting everyone involved.

“We’re going day by day. We’re waiting for football to return and later down the line we will restart with some friendlies.

“In theory, the national team should play friendly matches in September as usual. But there are more important things right now so we need to be patient.”

Source AFP

21, May 2020

Cameroon COVID-19 survivor battles stigma via social media ⁰

In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, surviving COVID-19 also means fighting stigma. A number of countries from Ghana to Kenya and Nigeria have recorded incidents of survivors being stigmatized.

Over in Cameroon, one such survivor is on a mission to lead the fight against stigma. Ekane Anicet has decided to share his experience to spread awareness about the illness.

“People are scared; people didn’t think COVID-19 could touch them. In fact, what frightens people is the images from the West where they line up corpses, figures like ’8,000 dead’, it’s television that has created this panic among Africans,” he stressed.

Ekane is using social media to try and de-dramatize the pandemic and is at the head of an association for COVID-19 survivors.

A clinical psychologist also explains that the way COVID-19 victims are dramatically handled in the public adds to the stigma.

Dr Erero Njiengwé explained: “The way in which the teams arrive in the homes is a way that adds to the personal drama that people are experiencing, and creates – by attracting the attention of those around them – a further dramatisation of the problem.

“And it confirms or reinforces in the thoughts and minds of those around them the dangerousness of the coronavirus – which before was far away and almost theoretical.”

Source: Africa News

21, May 2020

Ambazonia: Vice President Yerima speaks of the coronavirus, Barrister Shufai’s health and the killing of the Mamfe mayor ⁰

The exiled leader of the people of Southern Cameroons Vice President Dabney Yerima has told the Voice newspaper in Yaounde that the government of La Republique du Cameroun will bear full responsibility for any negative aftermath if coronavirus claims the life of any Ambazonian in their detention facilities. Below is the full conversation the Ambazonian Vice President had with the Voice

The Voice: The coronavirus pandemic is devastating communities in the Southern Cameroons, why have you as the Vice President of Ambazonia, not called for a ceasefire so the people can get the aid and resources they need from the government?

Vice President DabneyYerima The global ceasefire that was called by the United Nations in March after the coronavirus became a global pandemic was a great opportunity for the government of La Republique du Cameroun to show responsibility and a respect for international norms but it failed. While the Interim Government heeded to that call and was making preparations, La Republique du Cameroun government sent more troops to our communities like they did in Bafut recently to murder our people indiscriminately. They have used this period of a global pandemic to unleash more terror on a defenceless people.

The Voice: What are you doing as the Vice President to help the people in Southern Cameroons during this pandemic?

Vice President Dabney Yerima: Educating the population on the dos and don’ts concerning this global killer is of paramount importance so we communicated short videos and audios to our people. We supplied over 150,000 masks and over 100,000 sanitisers. We sent packages to the refugees in Nigeria and Ghana too. But more has to be done and we are leaving no stones unturn in our fight against this global killer.

The Voice: Are you satisfied with the measures that the government has taken to curb the spread of Covid-19?

Vice President Dabney Yerima: It is unbelievable that the government of La Republique du Cameroun doesn’t quite appreciate the gravity and deadliness of this pandemic. Ambazonia intelligence officers have informed me that La Republique du Cameroun airports and borders remain sealed as I speak except for a few chattered flights but the bars and off-licences are open.

The Voice: Barrister Blaise Shufai was rushed to the military hospital in Yaoundé on Saturday the 16^th of May. What are your thoughts?

Vice President DabneyYerima: It is a disturbing situation because the man of law has been ill for some weeks now. My attention was drawn to a covert infection in the principal detention facility in Yaoundé which is spreading disturbingly. We are alarmed that many of our prisoners of conscience have been down with this mysterious infection. Our major concern is that despite the global pandemic, the government of La Republique du Cameroun and the prison officials have refused to carry out any COVID-19 tests in the detention facility. This is unacceptable and a continuous violation of the human rights of our political detainees and the government of La Republique du Cameroun will bear full responsibility for any negative aftermath if this virus claims the life of any Ambazonians in their detention facilities. Ambazonian intelligence sources have informed me that Barrister Shufai’s condition is stable but the regime of La Republique du Cameroun has to make public vital information on the bill of health of the Ambazonian leader.

The Voice: Last Sunday the 10^th of May, the mayor of Mamfe was assassinated by Ambazonian gunmen. On Saturday, the people of Mamfe protested against terror. What is your take on that?

Vice President DabneyYerima: The Interim Government of Ambazonia is on record that it banned elections in Southern Cameroons organised by the regime in Yaoundé. So, the people of Southern Cameroons do not recognise the said individual as the legitimate mayor of Mamfe, the chief town in the Manyu County. However, the Ambazonia interim government is aware that the La Republique du Cameroun imposed mayor was assassinated by heavily armed gunmen loyal to some barons of the ruling CPDM regime in Yaoundé.

The Voice: Many fighters are heeding the government’s call to drop arms, is a continuation of your cause now not futile?

Vice President DabneyYerima: Our cause has never been linked to arms. We took up arms as a policy of self-defence after La Republique du Cameroun declared war against our people. For your information, Ambazonia restoration forces are not dropping down their weapons. We understand that the government of La Republique du Cameroun has its Militias that pose as our self-defence forces that have dropped arms. Our Genuine fighters are resolute in ensuring independence or resistance forever.

The Voice: How confident are you that your cause will be successful?

Vice President DabneyYerima One of the things I’ll underscore for your readers is that when the US was fighting for independence against the mighty British; the first country to recognise them was the Kingdom of the Morocco. At the time Morocco was considered an obscured nation in international politics.Correspondingly, the people of Ambazonia will keep fighting until our own Morocco recognises us. Also, the experiences of South Africa, East Timor, South Sudan, Namibia and Eretria are practical examples that Ambazonia’s determination and resilience to restore its independence and total freedom will never be an exception. History is on our side and we have all what it takes to make our journey back to Buea a reality.

The Voice: Thanks for talking to us.

Vice President DabneyYerima, Thanks for having me.

20, May 2020

Southern Cameroons: Concerns increase over Barrister Shufai’s health ⁰

OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE FOR THE DEFENSE TEAM OF SISIKU AYUK TABE & THE REST OF SOUTHERN CAMEROONIANS IN DETENTION

PRESS RELEASE

We are reaching out this May 20th 2020, to the entire defense team of Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the rest of southern Cameroonian detainees consequential to the ongoing struggle for the restoration of the statehood of the former British Trust Territory now popularly (the Anglophone Struggle) , National and International Press, Foreign Embassies and International Organizations accredited to Yaoundé, local and International Human Rights organizations, Minister of State Minister of Justice and keeper of the seals, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice in charge of Penitentiary Administration.

That on the night of May 19th, 2020, the superintendent of Prison Principale Kondengui Yaoundé ordered four prison guards to chain the two hands of our client and colleague Shu Fai Blaise Esq to his sick bed at Yaoundé Military Hospital throughout the night. We received a late night distress call about the brutal act from one of his family members who was chased out shabbily amid dramatic commotion and warned not to approach the ward as they overpowered the patient to chain his two hands to his sick bed with a drip on one of them.

At about 08:30 this May 20th, 2020 some counsel visited Shu Fai Esq to gauge the veracity of the news and effectively we met Shu Fai Esq in a gloomy state as he narrates that he had one the longest painful nights in his lifetime because he slept in chains. That he struggled not to be chained until the drip was dripping out of his veins but the prison guards went ahead to subdue him in chains.

Shu Fai Blaise Esqwas critically sick for ten days in prison and was deprived of adequate medical attention until when he collapsed under the watchful eyes of the superintendent of prison Principale Kondengui Yaoundé before being rushed to the Military Hospital in the early hours of May, 16th, 2020.

The superintendent has visited him twice at the Military Hospital and disturbingly, during his visits, he has been pressing hard that Shu Fai Blaise Esq should be discharged back to prison whereas the results of the clinical tests done on him at the Military Hospital are pending in laboratories. After the prison guards threw out his family members last evening, the superintendent issued firm instructions that his lawyers should not be allowed access to him. At the time we arrived the Military Hospital today, the chains were removed.

Done in Buea

This May 20th, 2020 Communication and Media Chairman

For the defense team

20, May 2020

Yaounde: Biya delivers first coronavirus address ⁰

Cameroon’s 87-year-old President Paul Biya has made a televised address to his people ending more than two months of silence as the central African nation dealt with a burgeoning coronavirus crisis.

Biya’s long silence was for supporters a sign of gravitas but for critics one of failure. “Like most countries in the world Cameroon is suffering from COVID-19,” Biya said Tuesday night on state channel CRTV.

“The number of people infected rises day after day, bringing proof that the fight against the pandemic is complex and difficult.”

Biya urged people to respect “measures taken by the government, such as the obligatory wearing of masks”. He also asked them “not to give in to panic and not to believe false information put out on social networks.”

He last spoke to the nation on March 5, although Cameroon had counted by Monday 3,500 cases including 140 deaths, and has been hit harder by the virus than most sub-Saharan African countries.

Speculation about his death even circulated on the internet in late April and the government was moved to put out a denial. In his 37 years in power, Cameroonians have become accustomed to Biya’s long absences, mainly because of poor health.

But his silence over the pandemic raised numerous questions for a leader who has overseen many crises since he took power in 1982.

He posed for the cameras after talks with the US ambassador on March 11 and again after meeting the French envoy. His subsequent absence from public view saw the opposition question his role.

Main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, the runner-up to Biya in 2018 elections, said he had launched proceedings for the Constitutional Council to declare the presidency vacant.

Six opposition activists were arrested last week in Cameroon for “illegally” distributing face masks and disinfectant gel. All are supporters of Kamto whose initiative to collect funds to fight the virus has been banned by government. They were released after five days.

Biya reappeared finally on the eve of national day. “Most of you have fully understood that faced with the silent danger that COVID-19 represents it was time to set aside political quarrels and form a united front,” he said.

Source: AFP

20, May 2020

UN chief warns Covid-19 could cause poverty, hunger for millions in Africa ⁰

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that millions of people could be pushed into extreme poverty in Africa due to the coronavirus pandemic and called for “global solidarity” with the continent.

“The pandemic threatens African progress. It will aggravate long-standing inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease,” Guterres said in a statement accompanying a UN study with recommendations for the African continent.

While he congratulated Africa for responding swiftly to the pandemic, which has claimed more than 2,500 lives across the continent, Guterres noted that “as of now, reported cases are lower than feared.”

“African countries should also have quick, equal and affordable access to any eventual vaccine and treatment, that must be considered global public goods,” he said in his statement.

Since the pandemic is still in its “early days” in Africa, Guterres stressed that “disruption could escalate quickly.”

“Global solidarity with Africa is an imperative – now and for recovering better,” he said.

Call for more than $200 billion in aid

Among his recommendations, Guterres urged “international action to strengthen Africa’s health systems, maintain food supplies, avoid a financial crisis.”

It is also necessary, he added, to “support education, protect jobs, keep households and businesses afloat, and cushion the continent against lost income and export earnings.”

Guterres called for “more than $200 billion as additional support from the international community” to help Africa recover from the pandemic.

He said he was also advocating “a comprehensive debt framework – starting with an across-the-board debt standstill for countries unable to service their debt.”

Source: AFP

20, May 2020

How Roger Milla confounded the sceptics ⁰

When Cameroon’s president demanded a soon-to-be 38-year-old striker’s inclusion in the World Cup squad it was seen as a new low for African football.

The game on the continent had long been dogged by the fatuous interventions of powerful politicians, but messing with selection for the sport’s global showpiece event seemed harebrained in the extreme.

President Paul Biya had watched Roger Milla, who celebrates his 68th birthday on May 20, play a charity game a few weeks before and insisted his inclusion in the squad for the 1990 finals in Italy.

Milla was days away from turning 38, earning retirement money playing on the French island of Reunion and long past his heyday, which included competing at the 1982 World Cup, playing in three Africa Cup of Nations finals and scoring more than 100 Ligue 1 goals for Bastia, St Etienne and Montpellier.

“I got a call from the president who said he thought I should play. I was in no position to argue,” Milla said.

Biya’s order turned out to be a fortuitous masterstroke, even though Milla himself was unsure whether he would cut it.

“I knew that if I got into shape I’d have a chance to make an impact,” he said. “When I returned to the national side I got a warm welcome from the younger players. But the older ones had ganged up against me and were not so happy to see me.”

Just weeks later, however, that had all changed as the veteran forward captured international imagination, no more so than when wiggling his hips in a provocative assault on the corner flag as he celebrated a goal in Cameroon’s unlikely march to the World Cup quarterfinals.

The dance is better remembered than the breakaway goal against Colombia as Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions went further at the tournament than any African team had been before, eventually losing to England in extra time in a tense quarterfinal.

“We just really wanted to have fun, but that we achieved new things for African football made it special,” Milla added.

In all, he scored four goals at Italia 90 and extended his record as the tournament’s oldest goalscorer when he netted one more at the World Cup in the US four years later.

By then Milla had become a symbol for a continent, with his exploits after emerging from semiretirement earning him the accolade as the best African footballer of the 20th century.

Source: Reuters

20, May 2020

Confirmed COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing in Cameroon, Biya revealing some of his movements ⁰

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads around the world, many national leaders have become more present in their citizens’ lives. They announce new emergency measures, hold regular press briefings and attempt to reassure the population. Not so in Cameroon.

President Paul Biya only addressed the public since the first confirmed coronavirus case in early March yesterday the 19^th of May in a speech described by many commentators as “empty”. The outbreak is spreading, lockdown restrictions have been announced and then eased but the 87-year-old leader has only been notable for his absence. Amid rumours of his death, Cameroonians have taken to twitter with hashtags such as #WhereisBiya and #LetsFindBiya.

The president has revealed some of his movements. On 16 April, he posted a picture of his meeting with the French Ambassador to Cameroon at the presidential palace in Yaoundé. A month later, he tweeted similar photos with UN Special Representative François Louncény Fall.

Despite speculation they were photoshopped, these images and yesterday’s televised address seem to confirm that Biya is well and in the capital. Nonetheless, they have done little to allay frustrations at his lack of public presence.

“If Biya can receive the French Ambassador why can’t he address the people?” asked Cameroon’s main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, speaking to African Arguments. “Why can’t he say a few words to Cameroonians?”

Containing the coronavirus

The government has taken various measures to reduce the spread of the virus, with most official messages coming from Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and Health Minister Malachie Manaouda. On 18 March, Cameroon closed its borders, shut down schools, and ordered restaurants and bars to cease operations after 6pm. It increased testing, banned large gatherings and non-essential travel, and required people to wear face masks in public.

While these measures may have helped reduce the disease’s spread, Cameroon has become one of the worst affected countries in Africa. To date, it has recorded 3,529 cases and 140 deaths. Moreover, a Reuters survey found that Cameroon has just 40 ventilators, a tiny fraction of the 2,422 that might be needed if the virus peaks according to estimates by Imperial College of London.

Despite the worsening crisis, however, the government eased some restrictions in early May, including allowing eateries to remain open past 6pm. This may have reduced the economic impact on many Cameroonians, some eight million of whom live in poverty, but has drawn criticism from the opposition.

“It’s extremely confusing,” says Kah Walla, President of the Cameroon People’s Party. “What is the government strategy? What are they trying to achieve with this and why would they expose the population to that degree?”

Neither the Minister of Health nor the Prime Minister’s Office responded to African Argument’s request for comment.

Meanwhile, a coronavirus fundraising initiative led by Kamto has been blocked by authorities, with its bank account shuttered and funds frozen. Last week, six of its activists were arrested for distributing face masks and sanitiser. They face charges of rebellion and could spend four years in prison if convicted.

Conflict in Cameroon

So far, most confirmed cases have been in urban areas, but many fear that the coronavirus could be particularly devastating if it spreads to areas facing insecurity. In the Far North, Boko Haram continues to operate. Meanwhile, in the country’s two Anglophone regions, a conflict between English-speaking separatists and government soldiers has claimed at least 3,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people since 2017.

Only one of the warring parties – which includes about fifteen separatist groups and government forces – has heeded the UN’s call for a global ceasefire. And while there was a brief lull in early March, fighting has resumed with abuses recorded in recent weeks on both sides. Some 115 hospitals in the two regions have been demolished in the conflict, while all humanitarian flights were grounded in March.

“How can you prepare a pandemic response in an area where violence is rife?” asks Ilaria Allegrozi, a senior central Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch. The organisation has urged Cameroonian officials to allow aid missions to continue unimpeded. According to Allegrozzi, some flights to the Far North have resumed, but not to the two Anglophone regions.

“[The pandemic] adds another layer of complexity to an already intractable civil war,” says Billy Burton from the Anglophone Crisis Monitoring Project. “It has increased the risk to vulnerable, displaced populations – both outside and inside the Anglophone regions – and it makes it even harder for humanitarians trying to get aid in.”

A lack of accountable leadership

As Cameroon faces this set of complex crises, the president remains out of sight. This is keeping with his usual patterns of governance. A 2018 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that Biya, who came to office in 1982, spends as much as a third of his time abroad some years, much of it at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva.

“It’s long been part of Biya’s playbook not to get down in the mud or the daily details of governing,” says Yonatan Morse, author of How Autocrats Compete: Parties, Patrons, and Unfair Elections in Africa.

According to Jeffrey Smith, founding director of the pro-democracy non-profit Vanguard Africa, this ruling style is indicative of a much deeper problem in Cameroon’s governance.

“The coronavirus pandemic is only the most recent example of Biya’s absence and lack of accountability,” he says. “We have the tendency to highlight the symptoms of these crises, be they public health or humanitarian, rather than the cause, which is a lack of accountable and democratic leadership.”

Wherever he is, cases of COVID-19 in Cameroon continue to rise.

Culled from The African Arguments with additional editing from Camcordnews

19, May 2020

Defections rob France’s Macron party of parliamentary majority ⁰

Left-leaning lawmakers defected Tuesday to rob President Emmanuel Macron’s party of its outright majority in France’s National Assembly in a symbolic but non-paralyzing setback for the embattled reformist leader.

Seventeen members of Macron’s La Republique En Marche (LREM) party said they had formed a new political grouping named “Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity” (EDS) to pursue greener policies, “modernize” the political system, and reduce social inequalities.

“After COVID-19, nothing will be like before,” they said in a statement. “We can do more and better in the National Assembly.”

The 577-member assembly is the lower house of parliament, but has the final say on most legislation over the upper house or Senate.

Macron’s then-brand-new LREM took 308 seats in 2017 elections that saw the centrist leader sweep to power from relative obscurity.

Lawmakers have quit the party at a trickle since then, and it was finally left with 288 seats on Tuesday — one fewer than the 289 required for an outright majority.

The governing party insisted that Tuesday’s loss was not “cataclysmic,” as it could continue to rely on smaller, allied parties for a voting majority in the assembly.

Macron’s popularity has zigzagged as he has fought a succession of political battles starting with the so-called “yellow vest” rebellion of 2018-2019 that was sparked by widespread anger against a leader seen by critics as the president of the rich and out of touch with ordinary people.

That was followed early this year by France’s longest continuous transport strike over the former investment banker’s plans to reform the country’s pension system.

This month, an opinion poll showed only about a third of French people had confidence in Macron to manage the country’s problems.

This came as the country looked to Macron to spearhead the fight against the coronavirus outbreak that has seen the economy tank in spite of several billions of euros in government interventions to prop up businesses and save jobs.

One of the vice-presidents of the new EDS grouping is Cedric Villani, who opted to stand as an independent candidate for Paris mayor in the March local elections after Macron chose someone else to represent the party.

Villani denied Tuesday that any “rebellion” was at play.

In its declaration, the EDS listed 15 priorities that included “industrializing” the economy, seeking “real transparency” in politics, and boosting a public health system caught ill-prepared for the coronavirus crisis.

Two-thirds of the group’s members are women.

(Source: AFP)