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Africa Cup of Nations: Covid not only problem facing Biya Francophone regime

23, December 2021

Africa Cup of Nations: Covid not only problem facing Biya Francophone regime 0

Organisers of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) have insisted the tournament will go ahead in Cameroon next month despite the fast-spreading omicron variant of coronavirus adding to concerns.

Amid rumours that the continent’s main soccer event might be postponed for a second time because of the pandemic, or even moved outside Africa, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said this week it will open as planned on January 9 at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde.

CAF president Patrice Motsepe even said he expected it to be “an exceptional tournament.”

“I will be in Cameroon on 7 January with my wife and kids to witness this incredible competition,” said Motsepe, who became head of African soccer this year. “All over the world there are competitions with challenges but we have to be more optimistic.”

It is likely African soccer will settle for a tournament that goes off without serious problems. There was a battle even before the virus to get the Central African nation ready to stage its biggest sporting event since hosting the first AFCON in 1972.

Cameroon successfully staged the eight-team Women’s AFCON in 2016 but this has twice as many teams playing in six stadia in five cities rather than two.

Cameroon was initially due to host the 2019 event but was stripped of that tournament because of problems with its preparations and given a second chance in 2021. Then, the finals were put back a year because of the pandemic.

Now the virus has forced a host country still struggling with getting stadiums ready for the finals to take on the additional challenge of ensuring Africa’s most popular sports event doesn’t become a virus super-spreader.

To satisfy Cameroon authorities, CAF has agreed that only fully vaccinated fans who also have proof of negative COVID-19 tests will be allowed to attend games.

This is set to leave most of the 52 games to go ahead in near-empty stadiums as fewer than three per cent of Cameroon’s 26 million population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The soccer-mad West and Central African countries around Cameroon also have vaccination rates of well below 10 per cent, so many other fans won’t be travelling.

As for the players, there will be screening at every stadium, training ground and tournament venue.

Yet these plans have been viewed as insufficient by European clubs, who say they fear for the wellbeing of their African players and are reluctant to allow them to go to Cameroon.

The absence of superstars like Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and others would be a serious blow.

There are other issues.

Cameroon is cutting it fine to have stadiums ready.

The main Olembe Stadium, which will host the opening game between Cameroon and Burkina Faso, and the final on February 6, is undergoing a $US370 million ($A512 million) revamp but hasn’t yet been officially opened. It was so far behind schedule last month that CAF threatened to move the opening game.

Cameroon has missed deadlines on other stadiums, too.

The country also has a violent insurgency in its south-western region, where militias have fought for years to form a breakaway state near Limbe, one of the tournament’s five host cities. Last month, an explosion at a university campus injured 13 students about a mile from an official African Cup training ground.

Source: 7 News.com

Africa Cup of Nations: Squads for tournament in Cameroon

23, December 2021

Africa Cup of Nations: Squads for tournament in Cameroon 0

The 33rd Africa Cup of Nations get under way in Cameroon on 9 January, having been delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic.

Below are the squads which have been announced for the tournament, which culminates with the final on 6 February.

To allow teams to cater for any Covid cases, coaches can name 28-man squads, with five extra players above the regular tournament regulations.

ALGERIA

To be announced.

BURKINA FASO

To be announced.

CAMEROON

Goalkeepers: Simon Omossola (AS Vita Club, DR Congo), Devis Epassy (OFI Crete, Greece), Andre Onana (Ajax, Netherlands).

Defenders: Collins Fai (Standard Liege, Belgium), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union, USA), Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui (Gent, Belgium), JC Castelletto (Nantes, France), Harold Moukoudi (St Etienne, France), Enzo Ebosse (Angers, France), Ambroise Oyongo Bitolo (Montpellier, France), Jerome Onguene (Red Bull Salzburg, Austria), Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders, USA).

Midfielders: Jean Onana Junior (Bordeaux, France), Malong Kunde (Olympiakos, Greece), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli, Italy), Samuel Gouet Oum (Mechelen, Belgium), Martin Hongla (Hellas Verona, Italy), James Lea Siliki (Middlesbrough, England), Yvan Neyou (St Etienne, France).

Forwards: Ignatius Ganago (Lens, France), Christian Bassogog (Shanghai Shenua, China), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Bayern Munich, Germany), Stephane Bahoken (Angers, France), Karl Toko-Ekambi (Lyon, France), Moumi Ngamaleu (Young Boys, Switzerland), Vincent Aboubakar (Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia), Clinton Njie (Dinamo Moscow, Russia).

CAPE VERDE

Goalkeepers: Vozinha (AEL Limassol, Cyprus), Marcio da Rosa (Montalegre, Portugal), Keven Ramos (Mindelese, Cape Verde).

Defenders: Stopira (Fehervar, Hungary), Steven Fortes (Oostende, Belgium), Jeffry Fortes (De Graafschap, Netherlands), Steve Furtado (Beroe, Bulgaria), Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers, Republic of Ireland), Joao Paulo Fernandes (Feirense, Portugal), Diney Borges (AS Far, Morocco), Ponck (Istanbul Basaksehir, Turkey), Dylan Tavares (Neuchatel Xamax, Switzerland).

Midfielders: Kenny Rocha (Oostende, Belgium), Nuno Borges (Casa Pia, Portugal), Patrick Andrade (Qarabag, Azerbaijan), Jamiro Monteior (Philadelphia Union, USA), Nenass (Aalesund, Norway), Marco Soares (Arouca, Portugal).

Forwards: Ryan Mendes (Al Nasr, UAE), Willy Semedo (Pafos, Cyprus), Gilson Tavares (Estoril-Praia, Portugal), Willis Furtado (FK Jerv, Norway), Julio Tavares (Al Faisaly, Saudi Arabia), Garry Rodrigues (Olympiakos, Greece), Lisandro Semedo (Fortuna Sittard, Netherlands), Djaniny Semedo (Trabzonsport, Turkey).

COMOROS

Goalkeepers: Salim Ben Boina (Endoume, France) Ali Ahamada (Unattached), Moyadh Ousseni (Frejus, France).

Defenders: Nadjim Abdou (FC Martigues, France), Bendjaloud Youssouf (Chateauroux, France), Abdallah Ali Mohamed (Stade Lausanne, Switzerland) Kassim Mdahoma (US Avranches, France), Younn Zahary (SO Cholet, France), Chaker Alhadhur (Ajaccio, France), Mohamed Youssouf (Ajaccio, France), Kassim Abdallah (Marignane Gignac, France).

Midfielders: Fouad Bachirou (Omonia Nicosia, Cyprus), Youssouf M’Changama (Guingamp, France), Yacine Bourhane (Go Ahead Eagles, Netherlands), Nakibou Aboubakari (FC Sete 34, France), Iyad Mohamed (Auxerre, France), Rafidine Abdullah (Stade Lausanne, Switzerland).

Forwards: Faiz Selemani (KV Kortrijk, Belgium), Mohamed El Fardou (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), Nasser Chamed (Gaz Metan Medias, Romania), Ahmed Mogni (FC Annecy, France), Faiz Mattoir (SO Cholet, France), Ali M’Madi (SAS Epinal, France), Said Bakari (RKC Waalwijk, Netherlands), Moussa Djoumoi (AS Saint-Priest, France), Mohamed M’Changama (FC Nouadhibou, Mauritania).

EGYPT

To be announced.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

To be announced.

ETHIOPIA

Goalkeepers: Teklemariam Shanko (Sidama Coffee, Ethiopia), Fasil Gebremichael (Bahir Dar Ketema, Ethiopia), Jemal Tassew (Adama Ketema, Ethiopia).

Defenders: Asrat Tunjo (Ethiopian Coffee, Ethiopia), Suleiman Hamid (St George, Ethiopia), Remedan Yesouf (Wolkite K, Ethiopia), Desta Yohannes (Adama K, Ethiopia), Aschalew Tamene (Fasil K, Ethiopia), Yared Bayeh (Fasil K, Ethiopia), Mignot Debebe (St George, Ethiopia), Menaf Awol (Bahir Dar K, Ethiopia).

Midfielders: Amanuel Yohannes (Ethiopian Coffee, Ethiopia), Gatuoch Panom (St George, Ethiopia), Shemeles Bekele (El Gouna, Egypt), Mesoud Mohammed (Jimma AJ, Ethiopia), Fitsum Alemu (Bahir Dar K, Ethiopia), Firew Solomon (Sidama Coffee, Ethiopia), Bezabeh Meleyou (Fasil K, Ethiopia).

Forwards: Abubeker Nassir (Ethiopian Coffee, Ethiopia), Getaneh Kebede (Wolkite K, Ethiopia), Amanuel Gebremichael (St George, Ethiopia), Shemeket Gugsa (Fasil K, Ethiopia), Mujib Kassim (JS Kabylie, Algeria), Mesfin Taffese (Hawassa K, Ethiopia), Dawa Hottesa (Adama K, Ethiopia).

GABON

To be announced.

THE GAMBIA

Goalkeepers: Baboucarr Gaye (Rot-Weiss Koblenz, Germany), Sheikh Sibi (Virtus Verona, Italy), Modou Jobe (Black Leopards, South Africa).

Defenders: Pa Modou Jagne (FC Dietikon, Switzerland), Omar Colley (Sampdoria, Italy), James Gomez (AC Horsens, Denmark), Noah Sonko Sundberg (Ostersund, Sweden), Bubacarr Sanneh (Unattached), Ibou Touray (Salford City, England), Saidy Janko (Real Valladolid, Spain), Mohammed Mbye (Solvesborg, Sweden).

Midfielders: Ebrima Sohna (Fortune FC, The Gambia), Dawda Ngum (Bronshoj, Denmark), Sulayman Marreh (Gent, Belgium), Ebrima Darboe (Roma, Italy), Yusupha Bobb (Piacenza, Italy), Ebou Adams (Forest Green Rovers, England), Musa Barrow (Bologna, Italy), Ablie Jallow (Seraing, Belgium), Steve Trawally (Ajman, UAE), Ebrima Colley (Spezia, Italy).

Forwards: Lamin Jallow (Fehervar, Hungary), Bubacarr Jobe (Norrby, Sweden), Assan Ceesay (FC Zurich, Switzerland), Muhammed Badamosi (Kortrijk, Belgium), Modou Barrow (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, South Korea), Dembo Darboe (Shakhtyor Soligorsk, Belarus), Yusupha Njie (Boavista, Portugal).

GHANA

To be announced.

GUINEA

Goalkeepers: Aly Keita (Ostersund, Sweden), Ibrahima Kone (Hibernians, Malta), Moussa Camara (Horoya, Guinea).

Defenders: Saidou Sow (St Etienne, France), Ibrahima Conte (Niort, France), Florentin Pogba (Sochaux, France), Ousmane Kante (Paris FC, France), Mohamed Aly Camara (Young Boys, Switzerland), Pa Konate (Botev Plovdiv, Bulgaria), Issiaga Sylla (Toulouse, France), Antoine Conte (Universitatea Craiova, Romania), Mikael Dyrestam (Sarpsborg 08, Norway).

Midfielders: Amadou Diawara (Roma, Italy), Ibrahima Cisse (Seriang, Belgium), Mory Konate (Sint-Truidense, Belgium), Ibrahima Sory Conte (Bnei Sakhnin, Israel), Ilaix Moriba (RB Leipzig), Mamadou Kane (Neftci, Azerbaijan), Morlaye Sylla (Horoya, Guinea), Aguibou Camara (Olympiakos, Greece), Naby Keita (Liverpool, England).

Forwards: Seydouba Soumah (Kuwait SC, Kuwait), Morgan Guilavogui (Paris FC, France), Mamadou Diallo (Grenoble, France), Jose Kante (Kairat, Kazakhstan), Mohamed Bayo (Clermont France), Sory Kaba (OH Leuven, Belgium).

GUINEA-BISSAU

To be announced.

IVORY COAST

Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (Wolkite Ketema, Ethiopia), Badra Ali Sangare (JDR Stars, South Africa), Abdoul Karim Cisse (Asec Mimosas, Ivory Coast), Ira Eliezer Tape (San Pedro, Ivory Coast).

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Villarreal, Spain), Eric Bailly (Manchester United, England), Willy Boly (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Wilfried Kanon (Pyramids, Egypt), Odilon Kossounou (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Simon Deli (Adana Demirspor, Turkey), Ghislain Konan (Reims, France).

Midfielders: Habib Maiga (Metz, France), Maxwel Cornet (Burnley, England), Serey Die (Sion, Switzerland), Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Lazio, Italy), Franck Kessie (AC Milan, Italy), Hamed Traore and Jeremie Boga (both Sassuolo, Italy), Max Gradel (Sivasspor, Turkey), Jean Michael Seri (Fulham, England).

Forwards: Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, England), Jean Evrard Kouassi (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal, England), Sebastien Haller (Ajax, Netherlands), Christian Kouame (Anderlecht, Belgium), Yohan Boli (Al-Rayyan, Qatar), Karim Konate (Asec Mimosas, Ivory Coast).

MALAWI

To be announced.

MALI

To be announced.

MAURITANIA

To be announced.

MOROCCO

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla, Spain), Monir El Kajoui, Hatayspor, Turkey), Anas Zniti (Raja Casablanca, Morocco).

Defenders: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Sofiane Alakouch (Metz, France), Souffian El Karouani (NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands), Adam Masina (Watford, England), Sofian Chakla (OH Leuven, Belgium), Samy Mmaee (Ferencvaros, Hungary), Romain Saiss (Wolves, England), Nayef Aguerd (Rennes, France).

Midfielders: Aymen Barkok (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina, Italy), Faycal Fajr (Sivaspor, Turkey), Azzedine Ounahi (Angers, France), Ilias Chair (QPR, England), Imran Louza (Watford, England), Selim Amallah (Standard Liege, Belgium).

Forwards: Munir El Haddadi (Sevilla, Spain), Zakaria Aboukhlal (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Barcelona, Spain), Sofiane Boufal (Angers, France), Ryan Mmaee (Ferencvaros, Hungary), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla, Spain), Ayoub El Kaabi (Hatayspor, Turkey).

NIGERIA

To be announced.

SENEGAL

To be announced.

SIERRA LEONE

To be announced.

SUDAN

To be announced.

TUNISIA

To be announced.

ZIMBABWE

To be announced.

Culled from the BBC

Booster campaigns won’t end the pandemic, WHO chief warns wealthy nations

23, December 2021

Booster campaigns won’t end the pandemic, WHO chief warns wealthy nations 0

The World Health Organization chief warned Wednesday that the rush in wealthy countries to roll out additional Covid-19 vaccine doses was deepening the global inequity in access to jabs and thereby prolonging the pandemic.

The UN health agency has long warned about the glaring inequity in access to Covid vaccines, which has left many vulnerable people in poorer nations without a single jab as richer countries roll out booster programmes.

“Blanket booster programmes are likely to prolong the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than ending it, by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

“No country can boost its way out of the pandemic,” Tedros added.

The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation said Wednesday that at least 126 countries around the world have already issued recommendations on boosters or additional vaccine doses, and 120 had started implementing those programmes.

“No low-income country has yet introduced a booster vaccination programme,” it said in a statement.

Without ‘coordinated strategy’, world will ‘always be chasing’ Covid-19 variants

Health experts have long warned that failure to expand vaccinations globally would pave the way for more variants of the coronavirus to develop.

Tedros’s comments came as the Omicron variant’s lightning dash around the globe since it was first detected in South Africa last month has dampened hopes the worst of the pandemic is over.

The new variant is spreading at unprecedented speed and has already been detected in 106 countries, the WHO said.

Early data indicates that the heavily-mutated variant is not only more transmissible than previous strains, but could be better at dodging some vaccine protections, although additional doses appear to push protection levels higher.

Tedros said Wednesday that the existing vaccines continue to provide significant protection against severe disease from Omicron.

“It’s important to remember that the vast majority of hospitalisations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not un-boosted people,” he said.

He also stressed that we all must take all necessary precautions to halt the spread of Covid as we head into the Christmas holiday.

“Boosters cannot be seen as a ticket to go ahead with planned celebrations,” he said.

Earlier this week, the WHO chief urged people to postpone holiday gatherings, warning that festivities would in many places lead to “increased cases, overwhelmed health systems and more deaths”.

“An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled,” he added.

Source: REUTERS

The butcher of Yaoundé confirms AFCON to go ahead

23, December 2021

The butcher of Yaoundé confirms AFCON to go ahead 0

The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, confirmed that the country would continue with preparations to organize the Africa Cup of Nations in January as planned.

The announcement followed a meeting between President Biya and CAF President, Patrice Motsepe.

The event is scheduled to take place in Cameroon between the 9th of January and the 6th of February.

CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, added that the main challenge would be the measures to fight the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The newly-elected president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, Samuel Eto’o, also participated in the meeting.

Source: Africa News

Football: Man City defender Mendy charged with seventh count of rape

22, December 2021

Football: Man City defender Mendy charged with seventh count of rape 0

Manchester City and France international footballer Benjamin Mendy has been charged with a further count of rape, a court was told on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old defender was already facing six allegations of rape and one of sexual assault but was charged last week with a seventh rape.

Restrictions on reporting the latest rape charge were lifted as Mendy appeared at Chester Crown Court for a preliminary hearing before his trial next year.

The charges relate to alleged offences against five different women in 2020 and this year.

The footballer who lives in Prestbury, near Macclesfield, northwest England, appeared alongside his co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 40, from Eccles, on the outskirts of Manchester.

Matturie is charged with six serious sex offences against young women.

Both men were remanded in custody after a 40-minute hearing. Their trial, which was scheduled to take place in January, was put back to later next year.

Mendy was a £52 million ($70 million) signing from Monaco in 2017 and has played 75 times for City but his playing time has been limited by injuries and a loss of form.

The last of his 10 caps for France came in November 2019.

The left-back won the World Cup with France in 2018. He has been suspended by the Premier League champions pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Source: AFP

Prominent Nigerian human rights activists, Sowore, Odinkalu, Agomoh demand release of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides

21, December 2021

Prominent Nigerian human rights activists, Sowore, Odinkalu, Agomoh demand release of President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides 0

Some prominent human rights’ activists in Nigeria have demanded the release of the Vice-President of American University Nigeria (AUN), Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and nine others arrested by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police Force since 2018.

Tabe and other scholars were arrested by the then SARS operatives in January 2018 at Nera Hotel, Abuja, as alleged members of Ambazonia, also known as English-speaking Cameroon or Southern Cameroon and they had been illegally detained since then in Cameroon.

Despite the court ruling in 2019 that ordered the Nigerian government to unconditionally release them and a payment of N200milllion (about $500,000) to each for aggravated damages, the Cameroonian dons had remained in detention.

However, the activists including Omoyele Sowore; former Chairman of Nigerian Human Rights Commission and lawyer, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, and Executive Director, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), Dr Uju Agomoh, have called for their release.

They also urged all students across universities, colleges and faculties to join in the struggle for the freedom of the scholars.

They disclosed these in a statement, “Call for SARS to Release and Return the Vice President of the American University of Nigeria and his Colleagues Now” made available to SaharaReporters on Tuesday.

The statement reads, “January 5, 2022, will mark four years since American University of Nigeria (AUN)’s Vice President and his colleagues have been illegally imprisoned after being snatched by Nigeria’s notoriously corrupt and ruthless paramilitary police known as SARS.

“The victims, leaders of the Ambazonian community living in Nigeria who have come to be known as the “Nera 10,” were meeting at the Nera Hotel to plan a meeting with the UNHCR regarding the plight of tens of thousands of refugees from Ambazonia (also known as English-speaking Cameroon or Southern Cameroon), who have been pushed across the border by the violent actions of the Cameroonian military.

“Those arrested include: Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Recruitment at American University of Nigeria (AUN) — Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, Assistant Professor of Computing, Director of the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, and Vice Chair of the Institutional Review Board AUN — Dr. Fidelis Ndeh-Che, Head of the Surgery Unit of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University — Prof. Augustine Awasum, Associate Professor of Geology, Ahmadu Bello University — Dr. Henry Kimeng, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics, Yar’adua University — Dr. Cornelius Kwanga; Others are Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Bayero University — Dr. Egbe Ogork, Union organizer and Leader of the Teachers Unions and the Federation of Parent Teachers Union (CAPTAC) — Mr. Wilfred Tassang, Human Rights lawyer and Legal Worker Organizer — Barrister Shufai Berinyuy, Human Rights lawyer and Legal Worker Organizer — Barrister Eyambe EliasCivil Society leader — Dr. Nfor Ngalla Nfor.

“SARS was apparently acting in a back-room arrangement with next door Cameroon, which is controlled by the longest running dictatorship on earth, a French neocolonial regime. After holding these educators and civil rights leaders for three weeks, SARS in violation of their fundamental human rights and the international legal principle of non-refoulement, illegally handed them to Cameroon.

“Fourteen months later, in a sharp rebuke to the SARS and the Nigerian administration, the Federal High Court in Abuja issued a ruling that this abduction of the Nera 10 had violated Nigerian and international law.

“The Court ordered the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure their immediate and unconditional release and return to Nigeria, and make a payment of two hundred million Naira (about five hundred thousand US Dollars) to each for aggravated damages.

“Yet, nearly three years later, no action has been made to implement the court’s decision. Instead, the Cameroon regime has continued and escalated a campaign of mass arrests, torture, arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances of teachers, students and civil society leaders from the targeted community.

“Activists on the ground estimate at least 3000 university lecturers, students, lawyers, trade unionists, human rights activists and journalists are being held in horrendous conditions in various detention facilities across the territory controlled by Cameroon solely for advocating for the rights and dignity of their community.

“They are being detained arbitrarily and many have spent years in prison without being charged or tried, with many reported cases of torture, squalid conditions, health neglect, and outright disappearances.

“On this sombre anniversary, we demand that SARS and the Nigerian and Cameroon governments respect the March 1, 2019, High Court decision and immediately return AUN Vice President Sisiku AyukTabe and his colleagues to their families and students.

“We call on faculty, staff, students, and human rights supporters worldwide to take action to demand the immediate rectification of this travesty of justice. Please contact the ambassadors and political leaders in your country who are responsible for maintaining relationships with Nigeria and Cameroon, and ask that they publicly demand the return of the “Nera 10” to their families and students.

“Examples of such ambassadors and political leaders include the US Secretary of State, UK Foreign Secretary, EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, etc.”

Source: Sahara Reporters

Africa Cup of Nations: CAF President reassures that tournament will kick off in Cameroon on Jan 9

21, December 2021

Africa Cup of Nations: CAF President reassures that tournament will kick off in Cameroon on Jan 9 0

In his last-minute visit to Cameroon, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe has given some reassurances that the Africa Cup of Nations will go ahead as planned after weeks of uncertainty.

“We will all be present in Cameroon in a few weeks,” said Motsepe standing in the Olembe stadium, which is scheduled to host both the opening match and final of the continental finals.

“I am so proud of the work carried out. We can see the scale of the commitments taken so that the problems raised in recent days are resolved.”

When pressed what that precisely meant, Motsepe said: “I will meet you on January 9. I will be there from the 7th with my wife and my children because we are all Cameroonians! (…) So if I’m there from the 7th, everyone must be there on the 7th, for the event to kick off on the 9th.”

The CAF boss will hold meetings with Cameroon’s president Paul Biya to seek further reassurances over the competition. European clubs have been reluctant to release players because of the emergence of the Omicron variant and FIFA president Gianni Infantino is understood to have put his weight behind those European clubs who demand the tournament be rescheduled.

Motsepe however defended African football.  “Our generation must be the one who believes in Africans,” said Motsepe.

“We can organise a football competition as qualitative as that organised in Europe and elsewhere in the world. We have to believe in ourselves, we have to stop being negative and sceptical about our own abilities. Sometimes we are overly critical of ourselves. If we ourselves do not trust Africans, who will trust them?”

In 2019, the Africa Cup of Nations was shifted from Cameroon to Egypt at the eleventh hour because the West African country was not ready to stage the 24-team format.

Source: Inside World Football

Biya regime arrests hundreds for deadly clashes that displaced 100,000 in the Far North

21, December 2021

Biya regime arrests hundreds for deadly clashes that displaced 100,000 in the Far North 0

Cameroonian authorities say troops have arrested hundreds of armed men blamed for communal violence in the northeast this month that displaced more than a hundred thousand people — most to neighboring Chad. Authorities say they also seized hundreds of weapons as well as cattle stolen during the conflict over scarce resources.

Cameroonian authorities say the military is conducting an intensive search to find and arrest additional armed men operating in Logone and Chari, along the northern border with Chad.

The governor of the Far North region, Midjiyawa Bakari, says military raids on hideouts in the area led to the arrests of several hundred men.

Speaking from the region’s capital, Maroua, Bakari said the men were believed responsible for much of the violence this month that displaced more than 100,000 people — most of them across the border to Chad.

He says besides the arrests, the military also seized several hundred weapons that the men were using to attack and kill civilians. Bakari says troops also seized 30 motorcycles that armed men from rival communities were using in attacks. He says more than 200 cattle stolen from ranchers have been recovered and will be handed over after investigations to determine their legitimate owners.

Clashes broke out on December 4 between ranchers and fishers over water resources, leaving scores dead and sending tens of thousands fleeing — most of them women and children.

Arab Choua cattle ranchers and ethnic Mousgoum fishers accuse each other of trespassing and occupying each other’s land.

Bakari says most males who remained in the villages are involved in the fighting.

He would not give details on how many people have been killed in the clashes but said no government troops are among the casualties.

President Paul Biya last week dispatched to the area a delegation of lawmakers, ministers, religious leaders, and traditional rulers to negotiate a peace between the communities.

Retired army colonel Hamad Kalkaba Malboum was part of the delegation.

He says in areas where the clashes have stopped, they are asking villagers to return home.

“The president of the republic of Cameroon sent the mission [delegation] to tell people that they must be calm, the government will give instructions to rebuild what has been destroyed, and we need also to prepare the development of that region, which has also suffered Boko Haram [atrocities],” he said.

Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group from Nigeria, has since 2014 spread to neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger, launching attacks that have killed more than 30,000 people and displaced two million.

Cameroon’s government is allocating $300 million to rebuild infrastructure the militants destroyed along the border.

The communal violence this month left several villages and markets burned to the ground.

Cameroonian authorities have asked people in the area who own weapons to hand them over.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports at least 85,000 Cameroonians have fled into neighboring Chad and 15,000 are internally displaced. But it says the real number could be much higher.

Source: VOA

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yerima says French Cameroun military solution an illusion

21, December 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yerima says French Cameroun military solution an illusion 0

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has brushed aside the much talk about French Cameroun military solution to the five year-long conflict in Southern Cameroons as an illusion. The exiled Southern Cameroons leader stated in an interview with Cameroon Intelligence Report late on Monday that the two independent Cameroons are locked in a strategic stalemate on the ground for the past five years.

Dabney Yerima told CIR’s correspondent in Holland that it is time for the new generation of La Republique du Cameroun political elites to come to the negotiating table for the two nations to discuss the terms of separation.

Yerima furthered that Southern Cameroonians were not expecting miracles or quick solutions and pointed out that the path forward will be necessarily incremental. But he noted that 2022 will witness the departure of the 88-year old French Cameroun dictator, Paul Biya and with a new leader in Yaoundé, the Ambazonia Interim Government and its jailed leaders will be able to work on concrete steps towards a satisfactory divorce package.

The Southern Cameroons revolutionary figure highlighted that the lingering atrocities currently being committed by the Francophone dominated Cameroon government military and self defense operations by Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards are making it increasingly clear that Biya and Yaoundé cannot determine the outcome of the Southern Cameroons war of liberation, and that a military solution remains an illusion.

Dabney Yerima stated that he remains actively engaged with other Southern Cameroons restoration groups in order to develop a unified front against the enemies of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government underscored that it is important for restoration groups to move away from empty social media propaganda on face book, Whatsapp and YouTube and commit to the liberation struggle.

By Isong Asu with files from Den Hague

Japan hangs three men on death row in first executions since 2019

21, December 2021

Japan hangs three men on death row in first executions since 2019 0

Japan hanged three prisoners on Tuesday, its first executions in two years, with the government saying it was necessary to maintain capital punishment in the face of continued “atrocious crimes”.

Japan is one of the few developed countries to keep the death penalty, and public support for capital punishment remains high despite international criticism, especially from rights groups.

More than 100 people are currently on death row in Japan, most of them for mass murder. Executions are carried out by hanging, usually long after sentencing.

One of the three executed on Tuesday was Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, who used a hammer and knife to kill his 80-year-old aunt, two cousins and four others in 2004, a justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

The other two were 54-year-old Tomoaki Takanezawa, who killed two clerks at an arcade game parlour in 2003, and his accomplice Mitsunori Onogawa, 44.

The executions were the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October.

“Whether to keep the death sentence or not is an important issue that concerns the foundation of Japan’s criminal justice system,” deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara said.

“Given that atrocious crimes keep occurring one after another, it is necessary to execute those whose guilt is extremely grave so it is inappropriate to abolish capital punishment.”

Members of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations “strongly protest” Tuesday’s executions, the body’s president Tadashi Ara said in a statement.

Ara urged the government to “abolish capital punishment and stop all executions until it is abolished”.

Half a century on death row

Japan executed three death row inmates in 2019 and 15 in 2018 – including 13 from the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out a fatal 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

For decades, authorities have told death row inmates just hours before an execution is carried out.

Two prisoners are suing the government over the system, which they argue is illegal and causes psychological distress.

The pair are also seeking compensation of 22 million yen ($194,000) for the distress caused by living with uncertainty about their execution date.

In December 2020, Japan’s top court overturned a ruling blocking the retrial of a man described as the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, raising new hope for the now 85-year-old.

Iwao Hakamada has lived under a death sentence for more than half a century after being convicted in 1968 of robbing and murdering his boss, the man’s wife, and their two teenaged children.

But he and his supporters say he confessed to the crime only after an allegedly brutal police interrogation that included beatings, and that evidence in the case was planted.

Worldwide, at least 483 people were executed last year in 18 countries, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.

That represents a drop of around a quarter from the year before, and fits a downward trend since 2015.

The figure does not, however, include the “thousands” of executions believed to have been carried out in China, which keeps such data secret, along with North Korea and Vietnam.

Japan and the United States are the only members of the G7 group of developed countries that still use the death penalty.

Source: AFP

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