Breaking News

29, September 2016

Yaounde: Prime Minister Philemon Yang says members of government should tackle the problem of scarcity of textbooks throughout the national territory ⁰

Members of Government have met in their monthly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Yaounde. The 29^th of September 2016 meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Head of Government Philemon Yang, focussed on the commencement of the 2016/2017 academic year in the primary, secondary schools and the eight state universities in the country.

During the session, the Minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo informed the head of government that the new school year will be innovative especially as his department wants higher education to be more job-oriented towards professionalism. He also mentioned improved research and the creation of online libraries.

The Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Massena Bibehe, observed that the 2016/2017 academic year will see the inclusion of private education towards attaining the goals of his ministry, as well as the construction of additional classrooms.

Prime Minister Philemon Yang appealed to his cabinet to reach out to displaced persons and refugees with educational facilities and tackle the problem of scarcity of textbooks throughout the national territory.

By Sama Ernest with files from CRTV

29, September 2016

Petit Pays: New album “Peur Dans La Cite” to be out in October ⁰

Petit Pays has followed his normal Christmas tradition by announcing a new album to be released on Friday the 28^th of October 2016. The Cameroonian music legend hinted through his US based producer Eyong Eyong Ebot that the album will have 5 main songs including 2 bonus tracks. In the promo handed exclusively to the Cameroon Concord News Group, Le Turbo, Rabbi Rabba, Adonai performed ballads and club-worthy makossa songs for a devoted African and world audience.

Petit Pays has become one of Africa’s most successful artists and has managed to find success deep within the Cameroonian diaspora both in Europe and the US. Petit Pays released more than ten platinum-selling records in Africa and has sold more than 35 million albums internationally, a feat that helped him eclipse the popularity of Soukous titans like the late Papa Wemba, Koffi Olomide and the late Pepe Kale. The new album Effatta includes a duet with popular Manyu solo singer, Bate Nico. A Moh KuKouri Production is an album Africans cannot afford to miss. By Soter Agbaw-Ebai

29, September 2016

French Lawyers and the Special Criminal Court in Yaounde: The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE ⁰

Operation Sparrow Hawk launched by President Paul Biya seems to have attracted a group of prominent French lawyers into the country. The French lawyers who are currently defending the former barons of the Biya regime are now referred to as the “white marabouts in black dress.”

Those who have been indexed as luxury prisoners by the president’s court prefer to entrust their defence to these European lawyers, rather than those of the country. Many French speaking Cameroonians with ill-gotten wealth are more chic to be advised by French or a star of the Paris Bar Association.

French Barrister Christian Charriere Bournazel, the lawyer who defended Lydienne Yen Eyoum recently pardoned by President Paul Biya had complete and total access to both French President François Hollande and Hélène Gal, the Special adviser to Elysée on African affairs. The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE understands Lydienne Yen Eyoum, the Franco-Cameroonian lawyer has now gained her freedom thanks to diplomatic negotiations conducted among others by Christian Bournazel.

Another French lawyer is Eric Dupond-Moretti operating in Cameroon. He defended Michel Thierry Antagana and the Franco-Cameroonian was also released from prison by presidential pardon.

Barrister Richard Sédillot, the legal counsel for Alanguena Urbain Awono, former Minister of Health, recently decried the political manipulation of justice in Cameroon under the pretext of Operation Sparrow Hawk. He has followed from beginning to end the legal proceedings of Olanguena at the High Court of Mfoundi to the Special Criminal Court and to the Supreme Court.

Jean-Paul Benoit is a former Prefect and now a French advocate who specializes on Africa through networks developed in the continent. His personal friend, Mr. Mignard, is a close and trusted friend of French President François Hollande. Benoît is currently defending the former Ivorian head of state, Laurent Gbagbo and has legal matters in Cameroon.

The AGBAW-EBAI DEBATE is asking our readers to make public their opinions on why French speaking Cameroonians do not trust their Made in Cameroun legal practitioners

Files from Cameroon-info.net

29, September 2016

Douala-Yaounde Highway accident kills 4 ⁰

A traffic accident claimed the lives of four people on Wednesday evening, on the Douala / Yaoundé “ancien route”, Cameroon Concord News has learned from police sources. A tractor reportedly collided violently with a five seater vehicle that had on board 8 people above its carrying capacity.

A reporter with the Cameroon Intelligence Report has been quoted as saying the accident happened at Massombo some 21 km from Douala and involved a vehicle registered LT EY 870, from PK Yabassi 19 and a tractor registered 656 S 11 A. Four people including three from the same family died on the spot. The truck driver fled the scene before police arrived.

By Sama Ernest

29, September 2016

Protest erupts in the US state of California following shooting of another unarmed black man ⁰

Protests have erupted in the US state of California following the fatal shooting of another unarmed black man by police as tensions grow over police violence across the country. Demonstrators gathered in El Cajon on Wednesday to condemn the police shooting of 38-year-old Alfred Olango who was reportedly mentally ill.

The Ugandan-born man was killed by officers on Tuesday after police received a report about a man acting erratically and walking in traffic. The rally continued into the night with hundreds of people marching from the shooting scene to El Cajon City Hall and back again, shouting Olango’s name, insulting police and disrupting traffic.

Civil rights activists and several hundred protesters gathered outside the police department during the day, chanting “murder,” “justice for Alfred Olango” and “black lives matter.” The protesters demanded the US Justice Department to investigate the fatal police shooting.

“We are not going to stop until we get justice,” the Reverend Shane Harris, president of the National Action Network’s San Diego chapter, said at the demonstration. “We do not trust local prosecutors to investigate local police.”

A video taken moments after the shooting and posted on social media shows Olango‘s sister crying in anguish, “Oh my God. You killed my brother. I just called for help and … you killed him.” The police killing came days after two African American men were killed by police in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, sparking protests against US police brutality.

A state of emergency and curfew were imposed by authorities to quell unrest in Charlotte. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, El Cajon Police Chief Jeff Davis appealed for calm. “I implore the community to be patient with us, work with us, look at the facts at hand before making any judgment,” he said.

Presstv

29, September 2016

Somalia: US misdirected airstrike kills 22 government troops ⁰

US forces have been accused of killing 22 Somali troops in what is said to be a misdirected airstrike in the country’s northern regions. On Wednesday, Galmudug states’ Security Minister Osman Issa announced that his soldiers were killed in the airstrike, adding that the attack was launched on a request of from the rival neighboring region of Puntland on the pretext that the targets were al-Shabab militants. “Puntland misinformed the United States and thus our forces were bombed,” he said.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis claimed that US forces had engaged in a “self-defense airstrike” after Somali troops were attacked by militants during operations to halt a bomb manufacturing network. He added that nine al-Shabaab militants were killed in the attack, while noting that the Pentagon was considering the false information claims.

“We will look at the reports to see if they are credible and if they are credible we’ll investigate them,” he said. A Puntland police source told reporters that over a dozen militants were killed in the attack. Meanwhile, al-Shabaab denied the casualties on its side, saying that it had no members in the region at the time of the attack.

Somalia has been the scene of fighting between al-Shabab and government forces since 2006. In 2011, al-Shabab, striving to topple the government, was driven out of the capital Mogadishu and other major cities by government troops and AMISOM forces, which are largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Kenya.

Presstv

28, September 2016

Bamenda: 10 months old baby stolen at Longla handed back to his parents ⁰

A 10 month old baby boy reportedly stolen at the Longla neigbourhood in Bamenda was rescued at Banjock and has been handed over to his parents. The baby whose name state radio and television gotten as Daniel was carried away from home on the 13^th of September 2016 after a shrewd manipulation of his baby sitter. The baby sitter Collette Aza recounted that the baby trafficker took the child away when she was busy preparing food. Collette notified the baby’s parents who immediately opened up a quick search and alerted the police at the Bamenda 3 Council.

After a thorough search of all coach services to and from the North West region especially Mondial Express, another step of investigation surfaced when the culprit used her neighbour’s mobile phone and demanded a ransom. The police immediately contacted the MTN office in Bamanda to trace the number.

The perpetuator was finally tracked at Bandjock in the Centre Region by the judicial police. Baby Daniel was finally returned to his parents after a thorough medical examination. With smiles and relief of the traumatic tale, the baby’s mother testified that the three days search was accompanied by prayers of supplication shared with many through the social media and other means of communication.

CRTV

28, September 2016

Book on the Camair-Co-Yves Michel Fotso Scandal released ⁰

Yves Michel Fotso, the son of Cameroonian billionaire, Victor Fotso has been doubly sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement of public funds during his time as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Camair-Co, the national airline. The Yves Michel Fotso affair has been revisited by Cameroonian journalist Shanda Tonme in a 311 page document.

In the book, J’ai Compris Yves Michel Fotso, un Testament pours la postérité, published by Editions L’Harmattan, Shanda Tonme, presented a frank, candid and thoughtful key to understanding the Camair-Co-Albatross scandal. Shanda introduced the reader to a man accused by a vicious regime of embezzlement and abandoned to his fate, as a proven, dignified and proud manager, with probity and rectitude that our nation has never known.

Shanda Tonme also made available an unpublished documentation related to the different board meetings of Cameroon Airlines. The documents included vivid correspondences between Yves Michel Fotso and top Cameroon government officials and many financial and accounting reports.

On the fourteenth page of the book is a congratulatory and encouragement message addressed to Yves Michel Fotso by Joseph Tsanga Abanda, the then transport minister in which he stated “Son, get here my sincere congratulations and encouragement for the great work you’re doing in the process of reviving Camair. “

The book exposed President Biya that he largely created Operation Sparrow Hawk originally intended to instil clean morals in the management of public affairs to be an instrument for settling scores and eliminating rivals in the race to succeed him.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

28, September 2016

US to supply Cameroon with Caravan aircraft ⁰

The United States Department of Defence has awarded Cessna a $24 million contract to supply six Caravan aircraft for Cameroon, Chad and the Philippines. They will be configured for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). This follows two contracts in May this year covering the modification of Caravans to ISR configuration for Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the Philippines.

The US Department of Defence on 21 September said Cessna will provide six Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft, three spare Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140 engines, and aircraft spares and ground handling equipment to the US Africa Command and Pacific Command areas of responsibility in support of counterterrorism measures in Chad, Cameroon, and the Philippines.

Work is expected to be complete by 30 September 2017. Under the May 2016 contracts, L-3 Communications Corporation – Communication Systems West was awarded a $14 185 927 contract for ISR equipment and spares. North American Surveillance Systems of Titusville, Florida, was awarded $39 983 647 for the modification of the aircraft and integration of ISR capabilities, together with training and field support. Financing for both contracts came from Fiscal Year 2016 counter-terrorism partnership funds.

The contract announcements did not indicate how many aircraft each country would be getting, but it now appears Cameroon and Chad will each receive two. The US military in September 2014 awarded Cessna a $13.67 million contract to provide three Grand Caravan EX aircraft to Niger, Kenya and Mauritania in support of counter-terrorism operations, but it is believed this contract is unrelated to the most recent ones. L-3 Communications Systems West also received a $31.2 million contract in 2014 to add intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to the three Cessna 208Bs.

The United States has donated a number of Caravans to African countries in support of peacekeeping and counter-terror operations. The Niger Air Force received two donated Cessna 208Bs in July 2013, but configured for transport tasks. In June 2014 the US government donated two new Caravans to the Mauritania Islamic Air Force to boost its capacity to conduct patrols to counter maritime crimes and regional terrorist groups.

Another recipient of Caravans from the United States is Uganda, which received two aircraft on 16 March 2015, to support the Ugandan contingent battling al Shabaab militants in Somalia. The aircraft, worth $15 million including spare parts and training, were donated by the US Department of Defence.

Culled from Defenseweb

28, September 2016

Russia to deliver attack helicopters to Nigeria, Mali, Angola and Sudan ⁰

Over the next year, Russian Helicopters will deliver Mi-8/17 transport and Mi-24/35 attack helicopters to Nigeria, Mali, Angola and Sudan. This is according to Yury Demchenko, Rosoboronexport delegation head for the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition, which took place at Air Force Base Waterkloof between 14 and 18 September. He said that Russia exported helicopters to Angola, Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda over the last five years. “In 2016-2017, we plan to continue exporting these helicopters to Angola, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria. Our position in the African helicopter market is solid, so we are optimistic about the prospects of cultivating it further.”

Nigeria is set to receive 12 Mi-35M helicopters by 2018, according to Anatoly Punchuk, deputy head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. He told RIA Novosti that the helicopters were ordered in October 2015. Demchenko said during AAD that he predicts further business from Africa, especially with regard to peacekeeping missions on the continent. He also sees the defence and security market growing due to terrorism, piracy, smuggling and trafficking.

“The share of Africa in the world export of weapons is relatively small. For instance sub-Saharan Africa accounts for about 2%, but the statistics of Russian weapons sales by Rosoboronexport in Africa showed steady growth for several years. A similar situation can be observed in northern Africa, where a number of countries in recent years considerably built up purchases of Russian weapons to have entered the list of our main partners in the sphere of military-technical cooperation.

“Besides, African states have been building up their participation in regional and international peacekeeping missions,” he said. Rosoboronexport has an order backlog of more than $21 billion, Demchenko told IHS Jane’s during AAD. He added that the drop in oil prices has not affected exports to oil producing African nations. The day before AAD, Russia and South Africa held the first bilateral seminar on defence industrial cooperation. Punchuk told TASS that “South Africa has a major industrial potential while Russia can offer a lot in the sphere of defence, security and law enforcement. We proposed long-term hi-tech cooperation.”

“We discussed what to begin with, i.e. various models of industrial cooperation, including financial aspects. We have high-tech platforms which can be integrated with existing South African systems or maybe even with future jointly created new technologies,” Punchuk said. South Africa’s Secretary for Defence, Dr Sam Gulube, said he was enthusiastic and interested in defence industrial cooperation but cautioned that contracts would only come with time.

Defenseweb