Headline News

4, November 2022

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya Celebrates 40 Years in Power ⁰

Cameroon’s government and its supporters are holding events this week ahead of celebrations Sunday marking President Paul Biya’s 40 years in power. Meanwhile, opposition parties are holding rallies calling for the 89-year-old Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, to change what they say are unfair election laws.

On Thursday in Nanga Eboko on the outskirts of the capital city of Yaoundé, supporters of Biya sang that Cameroon has remained one, undivided and prosperous despite the numerous challenges the central African state has faced since Biya became president in 1982.

The singing and dancing was part of week-long activities marking the 40th anniversary of Biya’s rule.

Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, or CPDM, said it dispatched party officials to towns and villages to organize conferences and mobilize more support for the 89-year-old leader who, it said, has achieved a lot for the country.

Elvis Ngolle Ngolle is one of Biya’s close collaborators in the ruling party. He says freedom is top among the things Biya should be credited for and that “every citizen can express themselves in any way they want.”

He says that under Biya’s rule, Cameroon has enhanced women’s rights and vastly improved its education system. “In 1982, we had one state university,” Ngolle Ngolle said. “Today we have more than 11 state universities and hundreds of private university institutes. Incredible in 40 years.”

Ngolle Ngolle says Biya has stayed in power this long because a majority of Cameroonians love and always vote for him.

However, opposition political parties accuse Biya of rigging elections for decades, and wanting to stay in power until he dies.

The Cameroon Renaissance Movement, led by Maurice Kamto, says Kamto won the October 2018 presidential election and that the victory was stolen from him.

Another party, the Social Democratic Front, has joined the CRM in asking civilians not to attend anniversary celebrations to protest Biya’s long stay in power.

Christopher Ndong, the CRM’s secretary-general, said Biya shows no signs of giving up the presidency and that, “Cameroonians are aggrieved because of him.”

“The opposition political parties want him to revise the electoral code, making sure the next president of this country should be democratically elected,” Ndong said. “Cameroonians now want a democratically elected president.”

Ndong said many of Biya’s supporters have resigned from the ruling party and joined the opposition CRM during the anniversary event.

The ruling CPDM acknowledges that it has some internal leadership wrangling but has provided no details.

Loic Kankeu, a lecturer of public law at the University of Yaoundé, said Biya’s absence from conferences aimed at drumming up support indicates the aging ruler is tired. He added that many CPDM supporters want Biya to leave but fear reprisals if they express their views in public.

According to Kankeu, Jean Nkuete, the secretary general of the CPDM party, acknowledged during a meeting with decentralized CPDM party structures this week that leadership squabbles are tearing the party apart. He said malaise within the CPDM is pushing supporters and disgruntled CPDM leaders in many Cameroonian towns and villages to cross over to the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement party of Maurice Kamto.

Biya’s supporters are calling on the octogenarian to run for president again in 2025 while the opposition is asking him to hand over power to a younger leader. On July 30, during a visit to Cameroon by French President Emmanuel Macron, Biya said he still has time to decide if he will run again.

Source: VOA

4, November 2022

Amba fighters attack Gendarmerie Post in French Cameroun, 2 officers injured ⁰

Ambazonia fighters attacked a gendarmerie post in Foumbot, Noun Division in the West region late on Thursday, injuring two officials and triggering a gun battle.

“As per initial reports, Anglophone separatists have attacked the Foumbot post. Two special officers are injured” the Gendarmerie Legion Commander said in a security correspondence to the National Gendarmerie Headquarters in Yaoundé.

The legion commander added that Southern Cameroons fighters were running short of logistics and are now targeting security posts in French Cameroun settlements to refuel in arms and ammunition.

The commander of the Western Gendarmerie Legion also revealed that the attack on the Foumbot post was carried out by a group led by Amba Commander She Joseph.

Cameroon government defense and security forces in the Noun Division have been placed on high alert, and vigilance has increased in the town.

It should be recalled that the West region borders the North West and that Amba fighters made an incursion into Noun Division last June and attacked the gendarmerie post at Njitapon, killing five gendarmes and taking their weapons and ammunition. In Bamboutos Division, Amba attacks are also common.

By Fon Lawrence

3, November 2022

Southern Cameroons Refugees Get Medical Support in Nigeria ⁰

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has delivered an advanced cardiac and trauma life-support ambulance in Cross River State, Nigeria, to support refugees from Cameroon in the state.

It also donated one pick-up vehicle to the state government to enhance the security of the host community and refugees in the Ogoja local government area of the state. 200 vaccine carrier boxes were also donated to complement the initial 50 distributed directly to primary health care centres in the southern Nigerian state.

The Head of the UNHCR sub-office in Ogoja, Tesfaye Bekele, presented the vehicles to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River in Calabar, the state capital. He explained that the donation was part of UNHCR’s way of showing gratitude to the state government for the hospitality granted to the Cameroonian refugees since they started entering the state for safety.

‘The UNHCR is implementing community projects through non-governmental organisation partners to strengthen basic services such as health, water, sanitation and education to benefit both refugees and host communities,’ Bekele said.

There are over 85,000 Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria at the moment, and Cross River is hosting over 50,000 refugees, majorly in eight local government areas in the state. Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions have been rocked by violence after separatists declared the independence of ‘Ambazonia’.

The fighting between government security forces and armed groups, which has lingered since 2016, started when lawyers and teachers took to the streets of Buea and Bamenda to protest the domination of French in Anglophone courts and schools. The violence has caused about 6,000 deaths and a major humanitarian crisis, with almost 600,000 people internally displaced within the Anglophone and neighbouring regions, and over 77,000 forced to become refugees in Nigeria.

Source: UNHCR

3, November 2022

Indomitable Lions: The road to Qatar ⁰

Cameroon, one of the five teams that will represent Africa at the 2022 Qatar World Cup this month is warming up, aiming at making the continent proud.

Cameroon, with its football national team Indomitable Lions is an African country lying at the junction of Western and Central Africa.

Its ethnically diverse population is among the most urban in Western Africa. The capital city of Cameroon is Yaoundé, located in the south-central part of the country.

The country’s name is derived from Rio dos Camarões (“River of Prawns”)—the name given by the Portuguese explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Cameroon have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on eight occasions, the first being in 1982 where they drew all three group games and finished in 17th position.

The country’s best performance at the world cup was in 1990, where they staged one of the most famous winning runs from an underdog. They made it through to the quarterfinals beating Argentina, Romania and Colombia along the way before being defeated 3–2 by England.

Rigobert Song, the national head coach of Indomitable lions of Cameroon

In 2010, they were Africa’s best hope, but they did not advance past the group stage, Cameroon qualified in 2014, and have again made it in 2022.

Did you know that

In the 2002 finals, Cameroon players were refused to wear sleeveless shirts. FIFA considered Cameroon’s sleeveless shirts to be vests but not shirts which a player is required to wear under the FIFA Laws of the Game.

Earlier on, Cameroon had worn the shirts throughout the 2002 African Nations Cup and won the title. To meet the FIFA standards, the team found a nearest shop and acquired body tight shirts with sleeves and completed their first option.

Also in 1994, when Cameroon’s famous player of all times Roger Milla played his last match against Russia.

He was 42 years and 39 days old, a record for the oldest player at the World Cup that was surpassed in 2014 by Colombia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon who was 43 years old.

Milla is also the oldest player to have scored a goal at the World Cup.

This time the team will be coached by Rigobert Song, who is also a former professional football player. Song was appointed as Cameroon’s head coach in February 2022.

Renowned for his defensive skills during his playing career, Song holds the record of the most capped player in the history of Cameroon’s national team with a total of 137 appearances.

Samuel Eto’o Fils, one of the renowned veteran football players of Cameroon

The Indomitable Lions, housed in pool G will play Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil. To achieve this, Cameroon should rely on its strong men of the moment. According to FIFA, the top scorer of the CAN 2021, Vincent Aboubakar will be the anchor of the Lions in Qatar and Zambo Anguissa, the player to watch.

Cameroon has some players to watch in all corners like Andre Onana, Collins Fai, Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko Ekambi and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Culled from Ktpress.rw

3, November 2022

Big increase in Cameroonians applying for US Visa Lottery ⁰

Activists in Cameroon say there has been a 60% increase in people applying for the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery, also known as the Green Card Lottery. Thousands of people have been lining up at internet cafes to apply for the program, citing a need to escape a poor economy and the country’s separatist conflict.

Twenty-nine-year-old teacher Getrude Tanlaka, who is among those entering the visa lottery at a cafe in Yaounde, says she is searching for better economic opportunities.

“I just want to get out. That is why I am playing the American lottery. My family has suffered a lot and this is the time for me to take care of them,” she said. “In Cameroon, I cannot do that. I work every day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the remuneration is very discouraging, but in America it will be very easy. It is an opportunity to step out and change my life.”

Tanlaka says her mother also signed up for the lottery to increase the chances of them succeeding.

The Digital Rights Coalition, an alliance of civil society groups advocating for online rights and safety, says Cameroon’s estimated 200 cybercafes have seen a 60 percent increase in people applying for the visa lottery this year.

They say this follows a sharp dip in 2021 due to the high number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19. The State Department reports that entries to the American Visa Lottery program from Cameroon dropped to 151,000 last year — about half the number from the year before.

Now, says the coalition, many people are hoping to escape economic hardship caused by high inflation and a separatist conflict in western Cameroon, which has claimed at least 3,500 lives.

Akaba James, the coalition’s coordinator, says his organization is warning people to avoid scammers who charge money for unhelpful lottery advice.

“There are thousands of fake sites, fake people on YouTube providing advice about the DV lottery when they themselves have very little understanding of that process,” James said. “Ensure that wherever you play the lottery, you collect your receipt, and preserve it very well so that by the time the results are out, and you happen to win, then you can proceed with the filling of your visa application form, the DS 260, and then eventually getting your second notification letter and going for an interview and eventually paying your green card fee and traveling to the U.S.”

Police say some scammers have been arrested but are giving no details.

Meanwhile, some cybercafe owners have been charging illegal fees of between $2 and $7 for each electronic entry for the visa lottery.

Applications can be submitted for free at www.state.gov as recommended by the U.S. Department of State.

Jeffrey Presnell, vice consul at the U.S. embassy in Yaounde, said recently on local television channel STV that people enrolling for the Green Card Lottery must have at least a secondary education.

He also advised applicants to closely follow the rules spelled out on the document.

“Another common mistake that we see is that applicants do not include all of the members of their family. It is very sad because sometimes we see applicants that have won the lottery come and they are disqualified because they did not list all the members of their family. If you just have a fiancee, you should not list your partner on that application,” Presnell said.

He advises applicants to only list the names of legal spouses or children who live with them.

Source: VOA

3, November 2022

Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan shot in the leg at rally in eastern region ⁰

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot in the shin on Thursday when his anti-government protest convoy came under attack in the east of the country in what his aides said was a clear assassination attempt.

Several others in the convoy were wounded and the information minister said a suspect had been arrested. One party member said there were reports one person had been killed.

“It was a clear assassination attempt. Khan was hit but he’s stable. There was a lot of bleeding,” Fawad Chaudhry, a spokesperson for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, told Reuters.

“If the shooter had not been stopped by people there, the entire PTI leadership would have been wiped out.”

Local media showed pictures of Khan, 70, waving to the crowd after being evacuated from his vehicle following the shooting.

He was taken to hospital in Lahore after the attack in Wazirabad, nearly 200 km (120 miles) from the capital, Islamabad.

Protesters poured out on to streets in some parts of the country as PTI leaders demanded justice.

Pakistan has a long history of political violence. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007 in a gun and bomb attack after holding an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad.

Her father and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in the same city in 1979 after being deposed by a military coup.

Former cricketer Khan was leading a protest march on Islamabad to demand snap elections. There were hundreds of people in the convoy. Party colleague Faisal Javed, who was also wounded and had blood stains on his clothes, told Geo TV from the hospital: “Several of our colleagues are wounded. We heard that one of them is dead.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the shooting and ordered an immediate investigation.

Since being ousted in April through a parliamentary vote, Khan has held rallies across Pakistan, stirring opposition against a government that is struggling to bring the economy out of the crisis that Khan’s administration left it in.

Khan had planned to lead the motorised caravan slowly northwards up the Grand Trunk Road to Islamabad, drawing more support along the way before entering the capital.

“I want that all of you participate. This is not for politics or personal gain, or to topple the government… this is to bring genuine freedom to the country,” Khan said in a video message on the eve of the march.

Source: REUTERS

3, November 2022

Southern Cameroons: Where is Ambazonian struggle today? ⁰

Southern Cameroonians both in Ground Zero and in the diaspora deeply distrust a majority of the frontline leaders particularly those based in the USA, and this can be linked to why today, most anti Yaoundé actions are demonstrated through what is termed as individual acts of bravery from the likes of General No Pity.

With Biya regime’s continued use of live ammunition against innocent Southern Cameroons citizens and with Amba fire power very silent all over the various counties; many are now asking the question if the Southern Cameroons resistance is approaching its end!

When Southern Cameroons youth rose up against Cameroon government aggression in 2016, many political commentators and analysts eagerly explained the phenomenon as a reflection of profound desperation fuelled by anger and disgruntlement toward Francophone army soldier brutality and the complacency of its leadership in Yaoundé. It was evidently clear that the main impetus driving Southern Cameroonians to seek an independent state of Ambazonia was one of despair and the understanding that they have nothing to lose.

The arrest of the Ambazonian leader Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and his top aides in Abuja, Nigeria and the subsequent extradition to Cameroon by the corrupt Buhari administration brought a group of dubious religious pastors who jointly and severally ushered in a program and discourse that has been destructive for the Southern Cameroons struggle. The Southern Cameroons resistance today appears stagnant largely due to the continued failure of leadership, unhealthy rivalry among Southern Cameroons groups and corruption among the US based frontline leaders.

Who has legitimate authority in Ground Zero?

The hydra-headed situation as it stands requires a deeper understanding of the Amba fighters in Ground Zero whose efforts continue to be monopolised on as a source of power by groups such as the so-called ADF of Cho Ayaba Lucas and the Sako-Chris Anu-Kumeta comedians in the USA to further their own agenda of enriching themselves through financial donations for the struggle.

It is important to note that 85% of the Southern Cameroons population is in Ground Zero. Essentially, there has never been any direct representation of people in Ground Zero in the Ambazonia Interim Government now headed by Vice President Dabney Yerima.

In concurrence to the lack of leadership both in the diaspora and Ground Zero, there has been a diabolic harsh ploy by men like Chris Anu and Kumeta in the USA to attract all attention to themselves while ignoring the daily survival of the Amba fighters inevitably perpetuating the disenchantment of the fighters. There is a plethora of factors which have played an explicit and implicit role in the current culmination of events in Ground Zero.

These factors range from the compartmentalizing of the Ambazonia struggle into isolated tribal strategies and factionalism within Southern Cameroonians.

For instance, Chris Anu was always on social media concocting and propagating self defense actions that were supposedly carried out by the late Field Marshal of Lebialem all in vain efforts to inform the Southern Cameroons public opinion that his county was at the forefront of the resistance while Cho Ayaba was busy doing same in the North West.

We have seen brave Amba fighters begging for 500 frs CFA to feed while Sako Ikome and Chris Anu are using money meant for the struggle to purchase designer suits and shoes for themselves and renting houses in posh areas in Maryland for their families.

“This scenario exemplifies the internal struggle and our fighters are now considering and reconsidering their choice to resist actively. This is an overt consequence of failure to listen to the leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe that God in his infinite image gave the people of Southern Cameroons” the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima reportedly observed during a radio interview in South Africa.

Sisiku Ayuk Tabe cannot govern from Kondengui

This was the first slogan exploited by the criminal pastors in the USA as a source of power for Sako Ikome, Chris Anu and their supporters. Consequently, the sense of revolution became muddled and was stripped from Southern Cameroons dynamics by absorbing it into a kind of Ambazonia politics and quest for power and money, while Yaoundé continues its human rights violations.

Apart from the structure run by Dabney Yerima in Europe and with the support of some fertile minds in South Africa, nobody knows the real position of the so-called front line leaders in the USA! Fighting Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and black mailing him with the support of people like Deacon Tassang has served the colonial project rather than benefit Ambazonians and what we see today is an increased rivalry between Southern Cameroons factions in the USA that have failed Ground Zero.

Those who wish to help Dabney Yerima mobilize Southern Cameroonians again, must not only consider Cameroon government army atrocities but also account for Amba fighter’s brutality which has hindered resistance efforts from donors both at home and in the diaspora.

Judging from anti Dabney Yerima propaganda coming from Maryland USA and Norway from Cho Ayaba, the Ambazonia Interim Government is deemed as an obstacle to be fought rather than a part of the population to join hands with.

Chris Anu, Cho Ayaba, Ikome Sako and Kumeta Elvis are all part of a Southern Cameroons despotic regime, serving their personal interests even if it means ruling on Face Book or Whatsapp chat groups. Frankly speaking, it is not the knife in the chest that is killing the Southern Cameroons struggle; it is the knife in the back.

While Southern Cameroons political factions represented by Chris Anu, Ikome Sako, Cho Ayaba and Elvis Kumeta continue to capitalize on their revolutionary history in combating French Cameroun occupying forces, the reality on Ground Zero today forces every Southern Cameroonian to reconsider the authenticity and sincerity of those that claim to fight in the name of the Ambazonia struggle.

The Way Forward

As the Biya Francophone regime increases its violent suppression of Southern Cameroonians and Ambazonia politicians such as Chris Anu, Ikome Sako, Cho Ayaba and Elvis Kumeta forsake the resistance for their own personal gains, it is time for Southern Cameroonians to rally behind Vice President Dabney Yerima to get the struggle back on track!

What is happening now is Southern Cameroonians are heartily trying to blame their docility on the Maryland cabal while still allowing them to continue to drown the entire Ambazonia nation in defeat.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

2, November 2022

US says its worries are growing over Russian nuclear talk ⁰

The White House said Wednesday it was increasingly concerned over Moscow’s talk of using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, after a media report said top Russian military officials had discussed how and when to use such a weapon.

“We have grown increasingly concerned about the potential as these months have gone on,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

Kirby did not confirm a New York Times report that said high-level Russian military officials recently discussed when and how they might use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield.

The report, which cited unnamed US officials, said Russian President Vladimir Putin did not take part in the discussions, and there was no indication that the Russian military had decided to deploy the weapons.

But Kirby said any comments on the use of nuclear weapons by Russia are “deeply concerning,” and said the United States takes them seriously.

He pointed to recent Putin comments talking about nuclear weapons and referencing the bombs US forces dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II.

“We take note of that,” Kirby said.

“It increasingly is unsettling in terms of the degree to which he feels he has to continue to stretch to prosecute this war,” he said.

At the same time, Kirby reiterated, Washington sees no indications that Russia is making preparations to use nuclear weapons, adding that US intelligence does not necessarily see or know everything.

The United States has been warning Moscow for weeks over public comments from top Russian officials that they could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine in certain cases, particularly if they felt there was a threat to Russian territorial integrity.

The most recent threat came from former Russian president and senior security council official Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s objective to reclaim all its territories occupied by Russia, which include the Donbas region and Crimea, would be a “threat to the existence of our state.”

That, Medvedev said, would be “a direct reason” to invoke nuclear deterrence.

However, early Wednesday Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Western media was “deliberately pumping up the topic of the use of nuclear weapons.”

Moscow does “not have the slightest intention to take part in this,” he said, calling the Times report “very irresponsible.”

In September, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security advisor, said that the United States has warned Russia at “very high levels” of “catastrophic consequences” for using nuclear arms.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on October 13 that Russian forces would be “annihilated” by the West if Putin uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Source: AFP

2, November 2022

Equatorial Guinea shuts land borders ahead of election campaign ⁰

Equatorial Guinea on Monday closed its land borders with Cameroon and Gabon to prevent what it describes as “infiltration” groups intent on “destabilising” the presidential election campaign starting this week.

Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue had said the measure would “prevent the infiltration of groups who may attempt to destabilise the (election) campaign”, which begins on Thursday.

He did not fix a date for the reopening of the borders when he announced last Tuesday that only airports would remain open.

A local official in the northern border town of Ebebiyin told AFP on condition of anonymity that the frontier had been closed since Monday morning.

Initially scheduled for April 2023, the presidential poll was brought forward to November 20 to coincide with legislative, senate and local elections following a decree by long-serving leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

The war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic were cited as the reasons behind the decision to hold the costly votes simultaneously.

The central African nation has heightened border security since what the authorities described as an aborted coup attempt in late 2017 that aimed to kill President Obiang.

The coup was allegedly orchestrated by Equatorial Guineans and foreign mercenaries crossing from Cameroon.

Equatorial Guinea regularly shuts its borders on security grounds despite a regional agreement on the free movement of people and goods with Cameroon, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, the Central African Republic and Chad.

The country possesses major oil and gas resources, but a majority of its 1.3 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Source: AFP

2, November 2022

UK: Cameroonian social worker barred after posting obscene child porn video on Instagram ⁰

A social worker at South Gloucestershire Council children’s services has been barred from the profession for posting an obscene video involving youngsters on Instagram.

Rodrigue Ekwelle-Nkwelle received a suspended jail term at Bristol Crown Court in April 2021 for distributing an indecent image of a child in the most serious abuse category and possessing extreme porn, which also involved animals.

Social Work England has now removed him from its register following a fitness-to-practise hearing, which bans him from working in the sector.

The regulatory body’s panel ruled he committed serious misconduct that created a risk to the public.

Ekwelle-Nkwelle, 43, also failed to disclose a previous allegation of sexual misconduct from 2013, from a woman with mental health problems, when he applied to employment agency HCL Workforce, the panel’s report said.

In June 2020, while working as a locum social worker for South Gloucestershire Council for nearly three years from October 2017, he uploaded the video involving children to Instagram, Social Work England’s report said.

He pleaded guilty in court to the pornography criminal charges, and a judge last year gave him a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, along with 150 hours’ unpaid work and 30 days’ rehabilitation.

Ekwelle-Nkwelle, whose address at the time of sentencing was given as Broad Street in Staple Hill, was also handed a sexual harm protection order and placed on the sex offenders’ register.

The Social Work England report following last month’s three-day regulatory hearing said: “The panel considered that these were convictions of a very serious nature.

“It was satisfied that children and animals are likely to have been harmed by their involvement in the images which Mr Ekwelle-Nkwelle had dealt with.

“It was alarmed at his suggestion that the fact that the images came from Cameroon affected his decision whether to disclose them.”

The report said the crown court judge had rejected his explanations – that he posted the video out of “naivety” – as “manifestly false and unbelievable”.

Ekwelle-Nkwelle, originally an asylum seeker from Cameroon, who did not attend the hearing and was not represented, said in February 2021 in response to the regulatory concerns that the videos were “sent to him randomly and not by his request”, the report said.

“He said that when he had distributed the video it had been to decry some of the ‘ill things’ that were occurring in Africa and Cameroon in particular,” it said.

“Mr Ekwelle-Nkwelle expressed his total shame of himself, the shame he had brought on his family and his profession.

“He said that he understood that he ought to have reported the matter to the police.

“He said it was poor judgement, not to have promptly reported the matter, because it was from Cameroon.

“He said that he accepted that his fitness to practise was impaired due to the concerns raised and added ‘but I would like to categorically stress that, I am not a person will hurt any individual, not to talk of a child’.

“Mr Ekwelle-Nkwelle stated that he had fled his country and claimed asylum in the UK due to numerous adversities he had faced in Cameroon…He said he knew becoming a social worker was the best way to repay the UK.

“As a result he felt very down about the situation he had put himself in.”

But the panel said that while he had offered some explanation around the distribution conviction, he “had not explained the facts relating to the other conviction for possession of extreme pornography”.

The report said: “The panel considered that it had no demonstration of any insight from Mr Ekwelle-Nkwelle regarding the effect that engaging in the distribution and possession of such images has on the subjects of the material.

“The panel concluded that, in the absence of demonstrated insight and remediation, there was a risk of repetition of past behaviour which involved a risk to the public.

“In addition, the panel was of the view that members of the public who were aware of Mr Ekwelle-Nkwelle’s convictions and the underlying facts would be extremely shocked if there was no finding of impaired fitness to practise.

“The panel was concerned that there was a potential pattern of rule-breaking by Mr Ekwelle-Nkwelle.”

It said the adjudicators ruled that his failure to disclose the previous sexual misconduct allegation “materially hindered the agency in conducting a risk assessment” on his application for employment.

The report said he was accused of making sexual advances towards a service user with mental health problems but police took no further action because she did not wish to support an investigation.

Ekwelle-Nkwelle was temporarily suspended from his social work degree course as a result but was then allowed to complete it in 2015 and got his first job in the profession with Wiltshire Council from March 2016 to October 2017, it said.

“The panel concluded that the conduct underlying the convictions together with the dishonest misconduct was fundamentally incompatible with being registered as a social worker,” it added.

Source: Bristol World