Headline News

15, May 2022

The Holy Father canonises hermit, martyr and journalist ⁰

Pope Francis on Sunday canonised a Frenchman murdered in the desert, a Dutch priest killed in a Nazi concentration camp and an Indian lay convert among 10 new saints officially proclaimed on Sunday.

Thousands of people from around the world crowded into St Peter’s Square in the Vatican for the canonisation mass, presided over by the 85-year-old pontiff and attended by delegations including France’s interior minister Gerald Darminin and Italian president Sergio Mattarella.

The pictures of the 10 new saints were hung on the facade of the world’s biggest basilica.

Unlike in recent days, Francis — who was surrounded by around 50 cardinals and 300 bishops and priests — did not appear in a wheelchair.

Under a sunny sky, groups of pilgrims had begun to converge on the square, some wearing shirts or scarves with the picture of one of the new saints.

Under the rules of the Catholic Church, all 10 have already been beatified, or named “blessed”, but had to then be attributed a miracle to take the final step to sainthood.

The new saints included Charles de Foucauld, a French soldier and explorer, who became a Catholic priest and lived among Trappist monks in Syria, in Palestine, and finally among the Tuaregs in the Algerian desert.

He was murdered by bandits on December 1, 1916, but his works outlasted him and he became one of France’s most celebrated men of faith.

Men of faith

Another who made the step to sainthood was Dutch Carmelite priest, theologian and journalist Titus Brandsma, who took a stand against the Nazis during World War II.

He spoke out against them before Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940 and afterward, encouraging Catholic Dutch newspapers to resist the occupiers’ propaganda.

Brandsma was arrested in January 1942 and ended up in the Dachau concentration camp, where he died on July 26 of that year, after being injected with carbolic acid.

He was beatified in 1985 after being declared a martyr, and was subsequently found to have enacted a miracle in healing a Carmelite priest.

Devasahayam Pillai, known as Lazarus, was the first Indian layman to become a saint, according to the Vatican.

A Hindu from what is now the southern state of Tamil Nadu, he converted to Catholicism in 1745 while working at the royal palace, where he met a captured Dutch commander who taught him about Christianity.

But his faith, and his preaching of equality of all peoples — a revolutionary view at the time — caused a stir and when he refused to renounce his new religion, he was arrested, according to the Vatican.

After almost three years of imprisonment and torture, during which he began to be visited by pilgrims, he was shot dead in a forest on the orders of the king on January 14, 1752.

He was declared a martyr and beatified in 2012, before being later attributed the miracle of resuscitating a foetus in the 20th week of pregnancy.

Source: AFP

14, May 2022

Yaoundé: President Biya heads to Europe for a patch-up ⁰

Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, has left Yaoundé for Europe where he is expected to be patched up after several months of declining health.

Mr. Biya, who has been in power for forty years in a country that is permanently in economic doldrums, has been suffering from multiple ailments, including diabetes, high blood pressure, dementia and a heart problem.

The last time the brutal tyrant was seen in public was during the AfCON final in February 2022 where it could be noticed that he had lost his mind and was remote-controlled by his wife, Chantal Biya.

Recently, Mr. Biya was flown from Mvomeka’a to Yaoundé in an helicopter for him to see a French medical doctor who was in the country to help stabilize the ailing “monarch”.

But things seem to be getting out of control. Biya is gradually spiraling into another planet. At 90, his chances of surviving the colony of diseases which have transformed his body into a conference center are really slim.

It is suspected that Mr. Biya will end up in Switzerland where he has a crowd of doctors who have been attending to him.

More will be yours as we obtain it.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai with files from Rita Akana in Yaoundé

14, May 2022

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed elected UAE president after brother’s death ⁰

The UAE’s long-time de facto ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected as president on Saturday, official media said, a day after the death of former leader Sheikh Khalifa.

The 61-year-old was unanimously elected by the Federal Supreme Council, WAM news agency said, becoming the ruler of the oil-rich country founded by his father in 1971.

Sheikh Mohamed, often known as ‘MBZ’, met members of the Federal Supreme Council, made up of rulers of the UAE’s seven emirates, as the country enters a period of mourning for his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa.

Sheikh Mohamed’s ascension, which was widely expected, formalises his position as leader of the desert state of 10 million after years of calling the shots while Sheikh Khalifa was sidelined by poor health.

Under his low-key direction, the United Arab Emirates has put a man in space, sent a probe to Mars and opened its first nuclear reactor, while using its oil-funded clout to develop a more assertive foreign policy.

Closely allied with Saudi Arabia, it has emerged as a leader of a reshaped Middle East since the retreat of traditional Arab powers and the reduced involvement of the United States, forging ties with Israel and joining a war against Iran-backed militants in Yemen.

Official media had already named Sheikh Mohamed as the ruler of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s richest emirate, on Friday, inheriting one of the main titles held by Sheikh Khalifa who died at 73.

Sheikh Mohamed, wearing a light grey kandura or robe, was a pall-bearer at the funeral prayers for his elder brother who was laid to rest in Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Cemetery just hours after his death was announced, in accordance with Muslim tradition.

‘Running the show’

Flags are at half-mast around the UAE and businesses and government offices are closed for three days as the country enters a 40-day period of mourning for Sheikh Khalifa, who had ruled since 2004.

Sheikh Khalifa’s death drew condolences from senior figures including US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Iran, demonstrating the UAE’s diverse allegiances.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron is to travel to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to pay tribute to the late Emirati leader, his office announced.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia has put sports and entertainments on hold and several countries have announced periods of mourning.

Sheikh Mohamed, who was named crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004, is the third son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan — the revered founder of the UAE.

He has been serving as deputy commander of the armed forces and chairman of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, which controls the substantial finances of the emirate which sits on 90 percent of the country’s oil production.

The UAE, a former British protectorate, has gone from desert outpost to booming state in its short history, fuelled by its oil wealth and Dubai’s rise as a trading and financial centre.

Sheikh Mohamed took a prominent role after Sheikh Khalifa retreated from public view in 2014, when he had surgery after a stroke. The cause of his death was not announced.

The new president is likely to face greater competition to UAE’s status as the regional financial hub, particularly from Saudi Arabia, and may toughen its stance on Iran, analysts say.

But “functionally it changes little; MBZ has been running the show almost from the get go”, tweeted Ryan Bohl, a Middle East analyst at Stratfor Worldview.

Source: AFP

14, May 2022

Cameroon: Our retirees are hurting as inflation bites ⁰

Retirement is usually a challenging period and it could be more challenging in a country like Cameroon where there are no benefits which come with being a senior citizen and the policy environment leaves much to be desired.

Retirement implies the retiree will be losing about two-thirds of their disposable income and if an entire salary could not suffice when they were in active duty; there is just no miracle to demonstrate that one-third of the salary will serve a better purpose.

In Cameroon, public service salaries are derisory and pensions are really paltry which makes retirement in Cameroon a living hell. Most retirees around the world usually have a fixed income, especially if they do not have supplemental incomes which could enable them to cushion the impact of inflation and that of other cyclical events.

Over the last two years, food and housing prices have been escalating and this is really blighting the lives of Cameroonians, especially that of retirees who do not know where to turn to. Time is no longer on their side. Energy levels are down and some still have young children to take care of.

These unfortunate events are creating frustration and depression among the country’s retirees, most of whom are already dealing with age-related diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

In well-established systems, retirement at 60 comes with lots of perks. Being a senior citizen brings many consoling advantages such as reduced cost of medicine, highly subsidized flat-rate health insurance, exemptions from certain taxes, reduced transport fares within the country, free gym membership, free diabetes and blood pressure medication and others.

These perks usually reduce the fear of retirement for people living in such societies. Cameroon is still struggling with lots of challenges and bad governance and corruption have made things worse, causing some population segments such as retirees and the elderly to be forgotten in the country’s economic policy planning.

But all is not lost. There will always be issues, but if the country’s authorities are willing and ready to embrace new ways, a lot can change for the better in a short time.

Instead of allowing Cameroonians to scramble for financial solutions when they retire, the government, that is, if it is ready to change its ways, can set up a national registered retirement savings plan for workers across the country which will enable all Cameroonian workers to take home a lump sum when they retire.

This scheme will be different from what the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS) is currently running.

CNPS manages monthly retirement pension, but the registered retirement scheme will enable each Cameroonian worker to take home a lump sum on the day they retire, while waiting for CNPS to remit their monthly payments.

This scheme will require that each worker pays in a certain amount throughout their working life and this amount will be used for investments which will give them additional income at the end of their careers.

Each worker, be they in the private or public sector, will have to indicate the amount to be deducted from their salary at source.

For example, some people may only have the financial capacity for CFAF 20,000 while others may opt to contribute CFAF 30,000 per month. Informal sector workers may also join if they so wish and this will help them during their rainy day.

A Cameroonian who successfully contributes for 30 years, will be sure of CFAF 7.2 million plus dividends which will be calculated based on an agreed principle.

Going home with almost CFAF 10 million will be heart-warming and therapeutic. For those without homes, that money could be invested in a modest retirement home in the village.

Assuming that, on average, each working Cameroonian pays in CFAF 20,000 per month and also assuming that there are 10 million Cameroonians contributing to the fund, at the end of the month, that fund will have CFAF 200 billion while after a year, it will have CFAF 2.4 trillion, the equivalent of USD 4 billion a year.

This money could be invested in various sectors for it to generate more revenue. It could be used to build electronic toll routes across the country and even state-of- the-art hospitals in disadvantaged regions of the country.

Money should never be allowed to sleep. It must be made to work. If each year, such contributions could deliver CFAF 2 trillion, many jobs will be created and life will be better for every Cameroonian, especially for our retirees.

Furthermore, if another scheme – a lifetime health coverage scheme – could be set up to take care if retirees, their lives will be much better when they leave the workforce. Retirement will not be seen as a death sentence.

In this regard, every working Cameroonian could be made to contribute CFAF 2,000 every month which should cover them once they turn 55 years. Such an amount, contributed over 25 years, should guarantee every retired Cameroonian of health coverage for the rest of their life starting from the time they turn 55. This could be supplementary to any other policy they may have had while in active service.

With such a scheme, retired Cameroonians can be sure of their medication, free consultation and highly subsidized admission in hospitals in the country.

With the development of such a plan, there won’t be a need for any evacuation as our hospitals, especially referral hospitals, will be equal to the task. The investment will make it possible for state-of-the-art equipment to be procured and technicians trained to man such equipment. Good salaries for health sector staff will also follow and this will enhance confidence in the system.

Money from this scheme can also be invested in road infrastructure development and affordable housing for city dwellers. This is an investment whose economic and financial impact will ripple out to many sectors and will create much-needed jobs for young Cameroonians.

This is a proposal which if taken seriously, could be a major opportunity for the country and its citizens. These schemes have been successful in well-run countries and they could also succeed in Cameroon, especially when the current government yields its place to a more purposeful and people-centered government.

Cameroonians, be they retired or in active service, need financial security and only insurance schemes can bring the peace of mind they need. For this to succeed, the country’s future leaders will have to engineer a new mind space so that citizens can trust their institutions. Confidence is the cornerstone of every system. Its absence creates lots of problems, including poverty.

By Dr Joachim Arrey

14, May 2022

Biya Health Situation: Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh ready to step in when he undergoes prostate surgery ⁰

The so-called powerful Minister-Secretary General at the presidency of the republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is preparing to step in for President Biya when the dictator undergoes prostate cancer surgery, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from reliable sources inside the Biya family.

The Francophone despot could be out of the political scene in Yaoundé for a month while his army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons continue to struggle with their failing military operations.

A senior gendarmerie officer serving with the Francophone dominated Intelligence Unit told our undercover reporter in Yaoundé late on Thursday that Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh is expected to make public a cabinet reshuffle to the brainwashed public that the 90 year-old Biya remains in full control.

Earlier on Friday, a prominent member of the ruling CPDM Central Committee with close ties to the Biya family confessed to a foreign diplomat that President Biya is very ill with prostate cancer.

Videos of President Biya meeting with some top Beti Ewondo political elites and signing of decrees have been concocted and will be aired on state radio and television in a cover-up to make it seem that he is working.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

14, May 2022

Yaoundé-Moscow Military Agreement: Vice President Yerima says world must act ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has raised a finger against global inaction in the face of French Cameroun government crimes in Southern Cameroons, asking why the European Union and the US are yet to impose sanctions on Yaoundé even after the Biya regime reportedly signed a military agreement with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

“If there are plans to prevent the ongoing genocide in Southern Cameroons, we demand that the US and its European allies impose severe sanctions on La Republique du Cameroun. The EU imposed punishments on Mali and the Central African Republic harboring Russian mercenaries and no punishment on the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé now allying with Moscow while it practices ethnic cleansing and genocide in Southern Cameroons” Vice President Yerima said.

For over five years, the Francophone dominated army have repeatedly attacked Southern Cameroonians clamoring peacefully for the creation of an independent state of Southern Cameroons.

The United Nations says more than 5000 Southern Cameroonians including women and children have been killed with the crisis showing no signs of ending. Cameroon government army soldiers have kept up their violations on every Southern Cameroons County cracking down on solidarity protests throughout the entire Southern Cameroons.

By Asu Isong

14, May 2022

Southern Cameroons: Prof Anyangwe says internal revolutionary issues solvable through conversations ⁰

Renowned Southern Cameroons academic Prof Carlson Anyangwe says dialogue among Ambazonia front line leaders and groups is the best solution to the existing problems deep within the struggle.

Anyangwe made the comments in a Wednesday telephone conversation with Cameroon Concord News London bureau chief Asu Isong, during which the veteran Southern Cameroons leader called for increased cooperation between the Ambazonia Interim Government of Vice President Dabney Yerima and other Southern Cameroons restoration groups.

During the conversation, the much respected Prof Carlson Anyangwe emphasized that all restoration forces both in the diaspora and in Ground Zero should rally behind Comrade Dabney Yerima and that internal revolutionary issues can be solved through dialogue.

“The presence of too many groups is making a mockery of the struggle. It is high time Southern Cameroonians stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the group with the majority following-which is the Dabney Yerima led Interim Government. Rallying behind Yerima cannot be interpreted as weak! It is what the people of Southern Cameroons need right now as the enemy and its backers are relying on military and financial power,” Anyangwe said.

Professor Carlson Anyangwe stressed that management of the Southern Cameroons struggle is not the same as managing the Federal Republic Ambazonia as an independent state.

“Consequently, all genuine restoration groups must read from the same resistance script as the jailed leaders and rally behind Yerima through common thinking and self defense actions,” Anyangwe furthered.

Confirming Vice President Dabney Yerima recent remarks in which he condemned the crimes committed by the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé, Carlson Anyangwe described the long marginalization and oppression of the Ambazonian people by evil French Cameroun as a bitter reality and a blow to the Commonwealth of Nations and the African Union.

“In the face of these French Cameroun crimes, our suffering peoples in Ground Zero and Ground One expects us in the diaspora to take collective and unified action instead of wasting time on social media trying to demonstrate that this or that group is stronger than the other,” Anyangwe noted.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

13, May 2022

Yaoundé plane crash: All occupants confirmed dead ⁰

The Cameroonian transport minister has confirmed the death of all the 11 people on board during a plane crash in a forest in Cameroon on Wednesday, May 11.

State radio on Thursday reported that the nine passengers and two crew members of the propeller plane had died in the accident.

“The 11 occupants died, they have all been identified and recovered,” the Minister of Transport, Jean-Ernest Ngallé Bibehe, told journalists during a visit to the accident scene on Thursday evening.

In groups of two, gendarmes covered in sweat came out of the dense forest with the remains of the victims wrapped in white sheets, a journalist from AFP noted.

“There are mutilated bodies, others burned,” said a ministry official, who requested anonymity.

More than 200 villagers took part in the search for the bodies and debris, in addition to the gendarmes.

The two black boxes have been recovered and “they will shed light on the circumstances of this accident”, said Mr Bibehe.

“A strong wind was blowing before the crash, we believe that the bad weather conditions are at the origin of the accident,” said a policeman who requested anonymity.

The make of the plane has not been made public, but Cameroonian media report that it was a Dash 8-Q400, a turboprop aircraft made by Canadian company Bombardier.

The plane was carrying employees of COTCO and service companies from Yaoundé to a pumping station linked to the pipeline in Dompta, in the northeast.

Source: AFP

13, May 2022

Pilot of crashed airplane in Yaoundé identified as daughter of former Nigerian Deputy Governor ⁰

The pilot of the aircraft carrying 11 people, which crashed in a forest in central Cameroon on Wednesday has been identified as Adzuayi Ewuga, daughter of Senator Solomon Ewuga, a former Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State.

Ewuga, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also served as Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory under the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

According to local media reports, the aircraft was flying from Yaounde Nsimalen Airport to Belabo, in the east of the country when air traffic services lost radio contact.

The plane owned by Caverton Aviation Cameroon was chartered by a private company, the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO) that maintains a hydrocarbon pipeline that runs between Cameroon and neighbouring Chad.

The deceased worked with the company which is a subsidiary of Caverton Offshore Support Group based in Lagos, Nigeria, which also controls Caverton Helicopters.

A family member, Oliver Slodgz Ewuga, also confirmed her death on Facebook.

“I Tried To Understand Why My Body System Failed To Fit Inn Since Yesterday, Now The Sign Is Revealed. My Only Family Pilot,God Knows Best.Am Really Heart Broken. Good Night Adzuayi Solomon Ewuga.Rest On Sis,” he posted.

Source: Sahara Reporters

13, May 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaoundé’s entire projects failed; Biya unable to confront Amba resistance ⁰

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Comrade Dabney Yerima says Biya French Cameroun’s biggest failure is the collapse of its entire projects in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia as the Francophone regime has been unable to confront the Southern Cameroons resistance.

Dabney Yerima made the comment in a lengthy conversation with Cameroon Concord News Group on Wednesday. The soft spoken exiled leader said La Republique du Cameroun is now facing a very serious internal crisis and things are falling apart between Yaoundé and Paris because the Biya regime has been unable to confront the Ambazonian resistance.

“There is presently a general realization deep within French Cameroun political elites that the assimilation and annexation of Southern Cameroons has been the biggest failure and that all French Cameroun political projects in Ambazonia have failed. The Ambazonian people are not ready to accept the continuation of the occupation even through a federal structure” Vice President Dabney Yerima noted.

Yerima blasted the current bout of Biya regime atrocities against British Southern Cameroons, saying, “What you are seeing today in Mamfe, Kumba, Bamenda, Ekondo Titi, Ekok and Kumbo are provocations, repression, killings and abuse, which have reached the point of total insolence and criminal ferocity.”

Asked whether the Southern Cameroons crisis has become a source of confusion for the corrupt Biya French Cameroun regime, Yerima said, “The Biya French Cameroun regime recently signed a military agreement with President Putin of Russia which gives Moscow the green light to help Yaoundé develop more repressive systems to confront the Ambazonian resistance but our Southern Cameroons Self Defense forces are also creating new forms of resistance that La Republique military does not know how to handle, including the hit-and-run tactics, which they have no recipe for and have no ability to control.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Dabney Yerima said the so-called special status to Southern Cameroonians has failed and is not accepted by the people of Ambazonia anymore.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai