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Eposi Njoh Monyengi is first Cameroonian woman to install and maintain solar panels in her community

5, June 2022

Eposi Njoh Monyengi is first Cameroonian woman to install and maintain solar panels in her community 0

The sun shone from a cloudless sky in a quiet, bushy neighbourhood in Tiko, in Cameroon’s Southwest region. Eposi Njoh Monyengi was busy at work.

In less than an hour, she successfully installed a solar panel on a roof.

Supplying renewable energy to remote communities across Cameroon has become a passion for Monyengi, 44.

“My main aim is to light the community,” said the mother of three, the first woman to install and maintain solar panels in her community.

In Tiko, she has won respect for her work and fondly referred to as “solar mama.”

In 2019, with the help of a local non-governmental organization (NGO), Rural Women Development Project, Monyengi travelled to India, where she studied installation and maintenance of solar panels for six months.

Since her return to Cameroon, she has installed solar panels in over 200 households, impacting more than 600 people.

Monyengi’s work has provided inspiration and ignited hope among her neighbours, friends and family alike in Ombe, her native village also known as Bamukong, on the outskirts of Tiko.

SUNNY HOPE

For over 50 years, the village with about 400 inhabitants had no electricity.

In May last year, Monyengi took a motorcycle to the banks of the Ombe River and then crossed the river on a canoe to reach the remote village.

In three months, she installed solar panels in 54 households.

When reporters visited the village, the village was full of life and energy, and music boomed from bars in the agrarian community.

“We are very happy,” said Ignatius Tamala, whom Monyengi appointed as chairman of the solar committee of the village.

“The kids are studying well, until 10, 11 at night,” said the 47-year-old father of five. “They study very comfortably because there is electricity.”

As the sun set and darkness began falling over the village, 49-year-old Gladys Fienyam switched on her solar bulb and started grilling fish. She has been grilling and selling fish for eight years.

Not long ago, nightfall would have forced her to stop working, but now Fienyam can grill fish for as long as she wants.

“I am extremely happy. I don’t use torch again. I have more customers now and mostly because of light,” she said.

Across Tiko municipality, villagers said their standards of living have since improved remarkably thanks to access to solar energy.

Monyengi’s success story is a booster to the fight against climate change that has taken its toll on the livelihoods of people especially in Africa where droughts, erratic rainfall, floods have become more frequent.

Since 2015, Cameroon has made renewable energy a priority, especially for rural electrification.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

But the project is not just about going green.

Monyengi has made it a point of duty to train more “solar mamas.”

“When you empower women, you have empowered a whole nation,” she said. “When people see me, they are so excited to see a woman because not every woman can do it. Just their happiness encourages me to do more for them.”

After losing her job as a plantation worker, Cecilia Otto, 55, was low-spirited and began struggling to eke out a living as a farmer.

“‘Solar mama’ convinced me that I should learn how to install solar panels,” said the mother of five. “I was reluctant (at first) but I finally accepted. Today I am pleased that I did.”

Otto is among over 50 women trained by Monyengi to install and maintain solar panels in rural communities. She now accompanies Monyengi regularly to install the panels.

They were also joined by 61-year-old Joan Nkweti, a retired civil servant and widow with four children.

“When I heard about solar installation, I was so interested because it makes me exercise what I really wished to do as a youth,” she said.

“I am so happy I achieved something at this age,” Nkweti said.

“I can go and install solar panels without anybody’s help, because the training teaches you what to do and what not to do,” she said.

“You feel so satisfied. You feel so happy for achieving something,” Nkweti said.

As the world observes World Environment Day, Monyengi hopes that the government and international NGOs will help her expand the project to other communities.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon set to host African Athletics Championships in 2024

5, June 2022

Cameroon set to host African Athletics Championships in 2024 0

Cameroon is set to host the African Athletics Championships in 2024.

The central African nation was in line to be the venue for the 22nd edition of the event this year, but it will take place in Mauritius instead.

Those Championships begin on Wednesday and last until 12 June.

Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, the Cameroonian president of the Confederation of African Athletics, said the 23rd African Championships would be held in his home nation.

“Our council decided to grant to Cameroon the African Championships for 2022 when we had our council in Qatar in 2019,” Malboum, 71, said.

“Unfortunately because the agenda was full with the Africa Cup of Nations – and costly – we postponed that event and granted the rights to Mauritius to host the event.

“But now Cameroon is ready to host the Championships in 2024.

“[On Thursday] we spoke about this with the (Cameroonian) minister of sports, and we will bring back to Cameroon the flag of the event.

“This is very important for Cameroonians to know that we are going to host the Championships.”

Cameroon last hosted the African Athletics Championships in 1996, with the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the capital Yaounde the venue.

Source: BBC

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Nigeria Cross River govt cries over influx of Ambazonian refugees

5, June 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Nigeria Cross River govt cries over influx of Ambazonian refugees 0

The Director-General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Janet Ekpenyong, has disclosed that with new arrivals of Cameroonian refugees, the state is now really overburdened with the staggering number of refugees.

She has strongly called on the federal government to come to the aid of the state as host communities of refugees can hardly handle the influx and the state government itself cannot grapple with the huge burden.

Speaking during an interview with our reporter in Calabar, Ekpenyong said, “Last Sunday, there was another set of Cameroonians who fled their country into a Cross River community in Bashu as a result of reported violence and killings.

“These arrivals have increased the number of refugees in our state. We are hosting more than 50 per cent of refugees in the country. And this is really stressful to us. We are not getting commensurate support from the federal government. We are therefore making a strong appeal for support.”

Ekpenyong added that the new arrivals are being documented by relevant authorities so that they can be moved from Bashu to refugee camps.

The primary healthcare boss said upon the outbreak of the violence and their influx into the state, her agency had deplored a medical team to attend to them, test for some common diseases, including COVID-19, and have vaccinated their little children they came with.

She also confirmed that the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has since arrived with relief items, including foods for the refugees.

“My agency is working with good support from the state ministry of Health, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNHCR and Doctors Without Borders. I must sincerely thank these bodies for prompt action and support.

“Once their registration is completed, they would be moved from Bashu community to different refugee camps in the state.”

Source: Daily Post Nigeria

ECOWAS leaders discuss sanctions against juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea

4, June 2022

ECOWAS leaders discuss sanctions against juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea 0

West African leaders on Saturday opened a meeting in Ghana’s capital Accra to decide whether to ease or ramp up sanctions against junta-ruled Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is expected to decide whether to keep, lighten or lift retaliatory measures on Mali, imposed in January after its military regime announced an intention to rule for another five years.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo Ado opened the summit, attended by the heads of state of most of the 15-member countries but without any representative from Mali, Burkina Faso or Guinea visible in the audience.

“This present summit will re-examine and assess the situations in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso in light of recent developments within the region and global context,” he said.

“Our objective has always been to find ways to help these countries return to constitutional order.”

Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali are currently suspended from ECOWAS bodies.

While Mali has already been slapped with sanctions, the other two countries risk further punitive measures from the bloc after ruling juntas in their respective capitals vowed to hold onto power for another three years.

West Africa has seen a succession of military coups in less than two years — two in Bamako, followed by Conakry last September and Ouagadougou in January.

Insurgency

ECOWAS, keen to limit political instability spreading further, has held summits and piled on the pressure to shorten the juntas’ so-called transition periods before a return to civilian rule.

But strongmen Colonel Assimi Goita in Mali, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya in Guinea and Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in Burkina Faso, have all flouted that pressure and since been sworn in as presidents.

They invoke the severity of domestic crises — that span jihadist insurgency to social problems — and claim they need time to rebuild their states and organise elections.

A UN report published last week said the West African sanctions had contributed to worsening living conditions, particularly for the poor.

One of the most volatile and impoverished countries in the world, Mali is battling a decade-old jihadist revolt, which began with a regional insurrection and then spread to Niger and Burkina Faso.

ECOWAS closed borders and suspended trade and financial exchanges, except for basic necessities.

In Guinea, the military overthrew president Alpha Conde last September and has vowed a return to civilian rule in three years.

Burkina Faso’s government was overthrown in January, when disgruntled colonels ousted elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Source: AFP

Fleeing Ambazonian refugees flood Nigeria border town in Cross River State

4, June 2022

Fleeing Ambazonian refugees flood Nigeria border town in Cross River State 0

Members of the Nigerian Red Cross have since arrived at the Community health centre in Bashu, Boki LGA where new refugees from southwest Cameroon have flooded since Sunday.

The huge population of the new arrivals appear to be overwhelming.

They fled Obonyi, a border town with Boki LGA of Cross River State last Sunday after Ambazonian soldiers had reportedly killed about 20 Southwest Cameroonians in Obonyi border community next to Nigeria’s Boki LGA.

Reports say they allegedly refused to join the Ambazonian soldiers to fight Cameroon government for their independence.

The remainder of the population had to flee into nearby Bashu in Boki LGA Nigeria for their safety with matchet cuts and bullet wounds.

Their population as of yesterday stood at over 2000, according to local sources.

Many of them have knife cuts, bullet wounds and other injuries.

The head of a particular man was dangling following matchet cuts from the Ambazonian militants.

The Red Cross officials were seen frenetically dispensing pain-killing drugs, dressing wounds and giving water to the survivors.

A Red Cross official who did not want his name mentioned said, “The number of these refugees are increasing. They need medical and humanitarian attention. We are trying our best but other agencies should come in soon before our supplies exhaust. Our personnel have been very busy attending to the influxes. We give the elderly women, children and critically wounded ones immediate medical care. But space is another problem…”

Augustine Ogar, a youth leader in the community, said facilities have been overstretched, and there is an immediate need for humanitarian supplies.

Source: Daily Post Nigeria

Biya gang seeking to set Southern Cameroonians against the Ambazonia Interim Gov’t

4, June 2022

Biya gang seeking to set Southern Cameroonians against the Ambazonia Interim Gov’t 0

Professor Carlson Anyangwe says the enemies in La Republique du Cameroun have developed a diabolic harsh ploy seeking to pit the people of Southern Cameroons against their Interim Government and the Ambazonia revolutionary institutions.

Professor Anyangwe made the comments recently in the US saying French Cameroun military and political leaders are now pinning their hopes on popular cat calls in Ground Zero against kidnapping for ransom in order to discredit the Ambazonia Interim Government.

“Biya and his French Cameroun CPDM crooks are propagating the atrocities of some Southern Cameroons criminal gangs in a bid to set Ambazonians against their Interim Government” Professor Anyangwe said.

However, the prominent Southern Cameroons academic noted that “the regime in Yaoundé is making miscalculations as they have always done by erroneously believing that they will win the war without recognizing the independence of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia or making some huge political concession.”

Anyangwe pointed out that French Cameroun and Biya are making such mistakes because they are getting wrong advice from some Southern Cameroons traitors such as Paul Atanga Nji, Paul Tassong and Dion Ngute who say Yaoundé should count on Southern Cameroons pro Yaoundé civil servants.

“These so-called Southern Cameroons CPDM elites are naive to suppose that Ambazonians have lost their faith in President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and the Ambazonian Interim Government,” Anyangwe reiterated.

Anyangwe furthered that French Cameroun lies and deceptions must be exposed.

By Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle in the US

Shakira and footballer Gerard Pique separate

4, June 2022

Shakira and footballer Gerard Pique separate 0

Colombian superstar Shakira and FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique announced Saturday they were calling time on their relationship of more than a decade.

The 45-year-old “Hips don’t Lie” songstress is one of the biggest names in the global music industry and has sold more than 60 million albums.

Spanish football hero Pique, 35, won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship, and is a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona.

The couple share two sons and had been living together for years on the outskirts of Barcelona.

“We regret to confirm that we are separating. For the well-being of our children, who are our upmost priority, we request respect for (our) privacy,” they said in a statement.

With her mix of Latin and Arabic rhythms and rock influence, three-time Grammy winner Shakira is one of the biggest stars from Latin America, scoring major global hits with songs such as “Hips don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever”.

In 2020, she performed with Jennifer Lopez at the halftime show of the NFL’s Super Bowl championship final in Miami, typically one of the most-watched half-hours in US television.

The couple announced their separation just over a week after Spanish court documents inched Shakira closer to standing trial in Spain for tax fraud after a Barcelona court dismissed an appeal from the singer.

Spanish prosecutors accuse her of defrauding the Spanish tax office out of 14.5 million euros ($15.5 million) on income earned between 2012 and 2014.

They say she moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with Pique became public but maintained official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015.

Her defence lawyers say she moved to Spain full time only in 2015 and insist that her “conduct on tax matters has always been impeccable in all the countries she had to pay taxes”.

In an interview with AFP in 2019, Shakira said temporarily losing her voice two years earlier had been “the darkest moment of her life” and affected her “deeply”.

She later recovered her voice naturally, without needing to undergo surgery as recommended by doctors and subsequently carried out a world tour in 2018.

Source: AFP

“Biya CPDM provocations threaten both Cameroons with explosion”

4, June 2022

“Biya CPDM provocations threaten both Cameroons with explosion” 0

Dr Emmanuel Anyangwe Ngassa a Southern Cameroons front liner based in Germany has warned that the regime in Yaoundé and its continued illegal provocative military operations in West Cameroon might lead to a great explosion in the two Cameroons.

Dr Ngassa Anyangwe in a conversation with Cameroon Concord News Group was referring to the recent Nollywood style military operation in Batibo which Yaoundé said helped released the 80-year-old Senator Regina Mundi from Ambazonia captivity.

“The activities of Francophone army soldiers in Southern Cameroons remain a great provocative move,” Ngassa said.

“There is consensus within all Southern Cameroons resistance groups for a reaction to such provocative moves deep inside Yaoundé. Things may lead to a great explosion within the two Cameroons,” said the renowned Southern Cameroons medic.

“Any further Biya regime military action targeting the people of Southern Cameroons would unsettle the two Cameroons because such actions provoke every freedom-seeking and honorable Ambazonian,” Dr Ngassa warned.

“In trying to hand over power to his son who has not done anything in this life, Biya and his men are resorting to something that would bring about tragic consequences for both La Republique and Southern Cameroons” Dr Ngassa concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

African Union head tells Putin Africans are ‘victims’ of Ukraine conflict

3, June 2022

African Union head tells Putin Africans are ‘victims’ of Ukraine conflict 0

African Union head Macky Sall on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to take into account the suffering in African countries from food shortages caused by the conflict in Ukraine.

Sall, the Senegalese president, told Putin on a visit to Russia to “become aware that our countries, even if they are far from the theatre (of action), are victims on an economic level” of the conflict, adding that food supplies should be “outside” of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over Ukraine.

Source: AFP

Queen Elizabeth to miss Jubilee thanksgiving service after ‘discomfort’ at kickoff

3, June 2022

Queen Elizabeth to miss Jubilee thanksgiving service after ‘discomfort’ at kickoff 0

Britain celebrates the second day of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday, with the highlight a service of thanksgiving attended by senior royals and politicians that the 96-year-old monarch herself will miss due to ongoing mobility issues.

The four days of events kicked off on Thursday, when a happy-looking Elizabeth waved to crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after a military parade and Royal Air Force flypast, and later led the lighting of the Principal Platinum Jubilee Beacon at her Windsor Castle home.

The celebrations continue with a National Service of Thanksgiving at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral to pay tribute to the sovereign’s 70 years on the throne.

But the queen, who has been forced to cancel a series of engagements recently because of “episodic mobility problems”, will be absent, pulling out late on Thursday and slightly taking the sheen off the day’s party atmosphere.

“The queen greatly enjoyed today’s Birthday Parade and Flypast but did experience some discomfort,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Source: Reuters

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