Headline News

22, July 2017

China donates meteorological systems to Cameroon ⁰

The Government of Cameroon is now equipped with 23 new weather stations worth over CFA one billion. The meteorological equipment is a donation from the Chinese Government. Receiving the package on behalf of Government on the 21st of July 2017, the Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o lauded the excellent relations between Cameroon and China.

He opined that the weather stations will be helpful in various sectors of the country including livestock, agriculture, air and land transport including environment and defense. The Director of Meteorology at the Ministry of Transport, Philippe Richard detailed the content of the package as having 15 manual and 8 automatic meteorological systems.

Philippe Richard observed that the equipment were excellent in data collection and will be used for forecasts. This, he noted, will help inform on natural disasters like floods and drought which are frequent in some parts of the country.

Philippe Richard added that the 23 weather stations will be spread across 23 divisions in the country to ascertain better weather forecasts. The Ambassador of China to Cameroon, Wei Wenhua was present during the ceremony at the Ministry of Transport.

Source: CRTV

22, July 2017

Putin says ‘undecided’ on standing for president in 2018 vote ⁰

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has not yet decided whether to stand for re-election in 2018, promising not to change the constitution so as to allow him to keep on running for Russia’s political leadership indefinitely.

“I have not decided yet if I should continue my work in this capacity. I will see. The election will take place in 2018. There is still time ahead of the election race. We will see,” Putin said during a Q&A session with school children at a school in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday.

The 64-year-old Russian leader first became president in 2000, before most of the audience in the Friday program was even born. In 2008, he concluded his second term in office after winning another term in the 2004 election, and became Russia’s prime minister for a second time under President Dmitry Medvedev from 2008 to 2012.

Presidential terms were extended from four to six years in 2011, only a year before Putin emerged victorious in the presidential race. The next election is scheduled to be held in March 2018, and the Russian leader, who has dominated Russia’s political landscape for the past 17 years and boasts massive popularity ratings, is widely expected to seek to secure another six-year term in office.

Putin stepped down in 2008 as the president of the Russian Federation in order to avoid a constitutional ban on running for a third consecutive term. Some political commentators at the time suggested that he could change the constitution so as to allow himself to stay on as president for a third consecutive term. Some still say he might pursue changing the constitution to run for another term after 2024. The Russian leader, however, has ruled out the possibility.

“I had an opportunity, I was even asked to change the constitution at some time. I did not do it, and I don’t intend to do it in the future. Everything is written in the constitution,” Putin said.Back in December last year, Forbes named Putin the most powerful man on the planet for the fourth consecutive year.

Source: Presstv

21, July 2017

Petit Pays launches Greatest Comeback tour in USA ⁰

He spoke of his deep remorse after it emerged he had shied away from a live television broadcast in Cameroon. And yesterday Petit Pays aka Rabbi Rabba took a further step to rebuild his international image by revealing that Peur dans la cite would have a prominent place on his latest tour.

From his headquarters in the US, Petit Pays and Les Sans Visas announced the dates of their greatest comeback tour that could earn them millions of US dollars. Turbo announced earlier today that he will be on stage in the US, Canada and Europe in a tour that will feature all his hits plus songs and that of Les Sans Visas.

But it was the revelation that the Les Sans Visas will be travelling with him that raised eyebrows at yesterday’s press briefing with the Cameroon Concord News Group. Attached here is Petit Pays’s schedule for the “Greatest Comeback Tour” that involves a presentation in Cameroon:

JULY 22nd, 2017: ATLANTA – BUI FAMILY UNION CONVENTION
JULY 29TH, 2017: TORONTO, Canada
August the 5TH: Bafoussam, Cameroon
August the 12th: ESSEN, GERMANY (Live Band)
August the 19TH: CALGARY, CANADA
August the 26th: Ottawa, Canada
September, Saturday the 16TH: MONTREAL, CANADA (Live Band)

By Soter Tarh Agabw-Ebai
Cameroon Concord News

21, July 2017

White House spokesman resigns ⁰

White House spokesman Sean Spicer has resigned, barely six months after US President Trump gave him the post. It is now evident that America needs credible liars and that Spicer was not fit for the job.

According to The New York Times, Spicer stepped down on Friday after Trump appointed Anthony Scaramucci his new communications director.

Trump requested that Spicer stay on, but he declined to do so and told the president that hiring Scaramucci was a big mistake, the Times reported. Spicer is a former spokesman and strategist from the Republican National Committee.

Camcordnews Desk with files from Presstv

21, July 2017

Douala: Money looted by CPDM barons is returned to Cameroon ⁰

The so-called Circle of Friends of Cameroon, CERAC has officially handed over a renovated Deido District Hospital to the Biya government. The ceremony was presided over by the General Coordinator of CERAC, Linda Yang, personal representative of the First Lady, Chantal Biya on Wednesday the 19th of July 2017.

The wife of the Prime Minister, Linda Yang stated that the Deido District Hospital was renovated and re-equipped to improve on health care services. The General Coordinator of CERAC added that Chantal Biya and the association are committed to reduce infant and maternal mortality to the barest minimum. It is an open secret that the ladies are using money looted from state owned companies and from the treasury.

According to Dr Pierre Mintom, Director of the Deido District Hospital, the assistance come at a time when the hospital faces many difficulties. The now refurbished health facility received 29,116 patients in 2016. It has only 12 specialized medical practitioners,16 generalists and 104 nurses .

The Regional Delegate, Fritz Ntone Ntone expressed gratitude to CERAC for the assistance which he considered was a new beginning for the hospital . The Minister of Justice, Laurent Esso, Secondary Education boss, Jean-Ernest Ngalle Bibehe and the Governor of the Littoral, Dieudonnè Ivaha Diboua added their voices to that of the population to express gratitude to CERAC.

Source: CRTV

21, July 2017

UK: Labour leader more popular than Prime Minister May ⁰

A new poll shows that British Prime Minister Theresa May’s approval rating has hit a record low, with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn overtaking her for the first time. According to the survey compiled by Ipsos MORI for the London Evening Standard newspaper, only 34 percent of respondents said they approve of May’s leadership, while 59 percent expressed their disapproval with her minority government.

This is the lowest approval rating ever recorded for any modern-day prime minister immediately after an election. The poll also revealed that 44 percent of adults are satisfied with Labour leader Corbyn, only one percentage point less than those who are dissatisfied. Over one thousand adults across the UK participated in the poll.

“The turnaround in Mrs. May’s ratings is unprecedented in our previous data on prime ministers – from a historic high at the start of the campaign to a historic low just one month after an election, while also seeing her position among her own party supporters weakening and Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign surge continuing,” said Head of political research at Ipsos MORI Gideon Skinner.

“Having said that, she still has the edge as most capable PM among over 35s,” Skinner added. May’s rating has plummeted over a number of her policies, including social care and school funding. May’s Conservatives were enjoying a record surge in April in the polls when she opportunistically called for a snap election in hopes of getting an increased majority that could have strengthened her position before going into two years of intense negotiations with the European Union about Britain’s departure from the bloc.

However, May’s election gamble spectacularly backfired. British on June 8 voters dealt her a devastating blow, wiping out her parliamentary majority and throwing the country into political turmoil. Corbyn’s Labour, meanwhile, picked up dozens of seats. According to another poll released earlier this month, the Labour Party took an eight-point lead over the Conservative Party. The YouGov poll put Labour on 46 percent and the Conservatives on 38 percent.

Source: Presstv

20, July 2017

Clashes between herdsmen, farmers kill 33 in Nigeria ⁰

At least 33 people have been killed in clashes between cattle herders and farmers in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state, a police chief says. Two days of violence between herders and farmers erupted on Sunday in Kajuru village, 50 kilometers outside the city of Kaduna, state police commissioner Agyole Abeh told AFP on Thursday.

“A total of 33 people were killed in the violence between Fulani herdsmen and farmers,” said Abeh. “The violence started when some villagers attacked a young Fulani man and his father, which led to the death of the young man after he was admitted in hospital.” The victim’s kinsmen gathered from nearby settlements and launched a reprisal attack on the village, killing six men, said Abeh.

In response, the youth from the farming communities “mobilized and went into the bush attacking and burning Fulani settlements they could find”, he added. “Our men were contacted but before they could deploy, the attackers had killed 26 people, mostly women and children and injured several others.”

Security personnel have since been deployed to the area to maintain peace. Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has ordered reinforcements in Kaduna state following the clashes. He condemned what he said were the “needless deaths” and expressed frustration with the security challenges in southern Kaduna.

In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Osinbajo promised to ensure that the “perpetrators of these dastardly acts” would be identified and brought to justice. Southern Kaduna has seen a spate of deadly clashes between the predominantly Christian farmers and Muslim Fulani herders, a historically nomadic people who graze their cattle on the land.

Originally, the clashes were over land and water rights disputes. But ethnicity and religion have been playing a larger role in the conflict after post-election violence in 2011 that saw hundreds of Muslims killed and forced to flee the area.

Without a national strategy in place to address the conflict, tensions between herdsmen and farmers have not subsided, and tit-for-tat killings have become common. Experts blame a heavy-handed, militarized response by the government, and incendiary comments from political and religious leaders for fanning the flames of animosity.

(Source: AFP)

20, July 2017

Bishop Bala Affair: Biya makes financial donations to angry groups, traditional rulers ⁰

President Paul Biya has given financial compensation to the disgruntled fishermen and traditional rulers who contributed in the search and retrieval of the body of the Late Bishop of Bafia, Bishop Jean Marie Benoit Bala.

The financial package was handed over to the population by the Governor of the Centre Region, Naseri Paul Bea at the Ebebda Council hall. The Governor said the Head of State appreciated the contributions from notables and fishermen and his gesture was to encourage them.

The population of Ebebda worked with military personnel of the Navy and the Fire Fighting corp. for three days and nights in search of the body of the prelate who had gone missing.

The body was eventually found several kilometers from the bridge and pulled off to the shore where it was identified by authorities of the Catholic Church.

Source: CRTV

20, July 2017

Yaounde: International War College graduates 62 students ⁰

The flags of 21 countries in Africa, Europe and America were hoisted at the courtyard of the International War College Simbock Yaoundé to mark the end of 11 months of war training. The senior military officers received lectures in strategic and operational planning, geopolitics and how to command joint military and multinational forces.

The 12th batch composed of 62 senior military officers is the highest in number ever trained in one session since the establishment of the institution. The Commander of the Institution, Major General Esaïe Ngambo referred to the trainees as fine grains in the domains of conception and elaboration, analysis and decision making at strategic level within national and multinational armies.

Each laureate received an attestation (War College Certificate) and insignias of the institution, on Wednesday the 19th July 2017, during a ceremony presided over by the Secretary of state in the Ministry of Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam. The Gendarmerie boss challenged the officers to use the newly acquired knowledge to end conflicts and fight against terrorism in Africa.

A keynote presentation from one of the trainees on the theme “What Development Model for Africa” focused on the need for African countries to think beyond national boundaries and set common development agenda based on the 2060 vision of the African Union. The graduation ceremony was also occasion to pay tribute to some 34 Cameroon soldiers who went missing after their ship wrecked off the coast of Dibunsha in the South West region.

Major General Esaïe Ngambo regretted the loss and announced that one of the victims of the accident, Lieutenant Colonel Moussa who was leading the troops received training from the War College in 2016. The French government which is a key partner with the war college was represented by Ambassador Gilles Thibault who congratulated the trainees and pledged continuous French support in the areas of training and logistics essential to continental security.

Source: CRTV

20, July 2017

Trump picks Peter Henry Barlerin to be US Ambassador to Cameroon ⁰

President Donald Trump has replace Michael Stephen Hoza as US ambassador to Cameroon. The decision nominating Peter Henry Barlerin as the new US ambassador was made public on July the 18th 2017.

Trump’s decision comes at a time when the US diplomatic mission in Cameroon is badly in need of a decent man to run its affair. The new American ambassador is a senior Foreign Service officer and deputy secretary in the African Affairs Bureau in the US State Department.

Peter Henry Barlerin served as Director of Economic and Regional Affairs in the Africa Bureau of the US State Department and in that capacity participated in the 14th International Forum of the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) in Libreville, Gabon.

The new US diplomat in Yaoundé knows Africa very well. He had worked in Bamako, Mali, as part of the Kimberley process, whose mission was to prevent the illicit exploitation of diamonds.

By Chi Prudence Asong
Cameroon Concord News