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Cameroonian gang arrested for breaking into a Dubai shop and stealing 86 iPhones worth Dh355,000

19, June 2021

Cameroonian gang arrested for breaking into a Dubai shop and stealing 86 iPhones worth Dh355,000 0

A gang of three men has been accused of stealing 86 iPhones worth Dh355,000 from a Dubai shop.

According to the Dubai Court of First Instance, the three Cameroonian men broke into the shop at Dubai’s Naif area and stole the phones after damaging the door and surveillance cameras in May this year.

The 43-year-old Indian shop owner testified that he received a call at 4am, saying that his shop was stolen by an unknown group. “They broke the locks and the door. They stole 86 iPhones of different models and Dh14,735 in cash which was in a drawer,” the Indian victim said in official records.

Surveillance cameras

Dubai Police identified the burglars through nearby surveillance cameras. Police then arrested the men who admitted to the robbery. The stolen phones were handed over to a fourth countryman who was identified and arrested.

The three defendants were charged with robbery and damaging property. The fourth defendant was charged with obtaining stolen valuables.

A verdict will be issued on July 11.

Source: Gulfnews.com

French Cameroun: Storm kills 2, injures 3 in north region

18, June 2021

French Cameroun: Storm kills 2, injures 3 in north region 0

Two people have died and three others were injured Tuesday in Cameroon’s North region after a storm swept across Benoue division of the region, a government official said on Wednesday.

Benoue division’s prefect Oumarou Wabi told reporters that the tragedy happened when violent wind uprooted an old tree and it fell on a car that was carrying five people.

“Two died on the spot and three others were seriously injured. They are responding to treatment. We have asked municipal authorities to identify old trees risky to the population and take them off,” Wabi said.

The storm also destroyed property including houses. Local authorities have asked residents to stay indoors.

Source: Xinhuanet

Football: Eriksen tribute overshadows Belgium’s 2-1 victory over Denmark

18, June 2021

Football: Eriksen tribute overshadows Belgium’s 2-1 victory over Denmark 0

Substitute Kevin de Bruyne set up one goal and scored the winner himself to give Belgium a 2-1 victory over Denmark in a European Championship game marked by an emotional tribute to Christian Eriksen in the first half.

De Bruyne came on after halftime for his first appearance since sustaining a facial fracture in the Champions League final and squared the ball for Thorgan Hazard to equalize in the 55th minute. He then scored in the 71st with a low shot from outside the area.

It was Denmark’s first game since Eriksen’s collapse, and the hosts started at a furious pace at a raucous Parken Stadium. Yussuf Poulsen scored with a low shot inside the far post in only the second minute.

Players from both teams then halted play after 10 minutes as the 25,000 fans rose for a minute of thunderous applause in tribute to Eriksen, who wears the No. 10 shirt for Denmark’s national team.

The players joined the applause as well, as did referee Bjorn Kuipers.

Eriksen remains in a nearby hospital after suffering cardiac arrest in the team’s opening game against Finland.

The victory gives Belgium a spot in the round of 16. Denmark can still advance with a win over Russia on Monday if the Belgians beat Finland.

It had all started so well for Denmark.

Carried forward by the largest crowd in Denmark since the government eased pandemic restrictions, the hosts kept pushing forward in wave after wave after the early goal.

Play resumed at a more normal pace after the tribute to Eriksen, but Denmark still had the better chances in the first half.

Things changed completely when De Bruyne came on after the break.

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand had said the team’s strategy for keeping Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku quiet was to make sure he didn’t get the ball in the first place. And Denmark largely succeeded until the 55th, when Lukaku burst forward down the right flank before passing to De Bruyne. The Manchester City midfielder went around a defender inside the area before teeing up Hazard, who slotted it past a scrambling Kasper Schmeichel.

Eden Hazard, Thorgan’s brother, then came on and set up De Bruyne for the second goal. De Bruyne ran toward the Belgium fans but didn’t celebrate the goal, pushing in hands down in a calming motion out of respect for Eriksen.

Martin Braithwaite had Denmark’s best chances for an equalizer, but his shot was saved by Thibaut Courtois in the 75th and his header glanced against the crossbar in the 87th.

(AP)

CPDM Crime Syndicate: China is Cameroon’s largest creditor, with 61 percent of external debt owed to Beijing

18, June 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: China is Cameroon’s largest creditor, with 61 percent of external debt owed to Beijing 0

In April 2021, the Cameroonian government announced that it was in talks with Rothschild and Co. to obtain advice on a Eurobond sale that would be used to repay a portion of the $750 million in debt that it sold in 2015. The announcement that Cameroon would again need to enter the Eurobond market to obtain credit came after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) classified the central African country as at high risk of debt distress, both to internal and external lenders. The classification of Cameroon as facing a high risk of debt distress was made in January 2020, before the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has undoubtedly worsened the fiscal and monetary standing of the country. The credit situation in Cameroon may further deteriorate as an IMF extended credit facility (ECF) that has provided the country with monetary assistance is due to expire in summer 2021. While the IMF and Cameroon have engaged in talks about renewing the ECF it is unclear if that will occur, particularly in light of recent news that a $335 million loan issued by the IMF to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic had been misappropriated.

Cameroon finding itself at risk of debt distress is not a new occurrence and is a result of the country’s borrowing habits over several decades. In 2007, public debt was only 12 percent of Cameroon’s gross domestic product (GDP), and by September of 2020 the figure had increased to over 45 percent of the country’s GDP.  While much of the recent attention has focused on Cameroon’s Eurobond holdings and multilateral debt, over two-thirds of the country’s debt is external. Out of Cameroon’s external debt, 61 percent is owed to China, making Beijing the country’s largest creditor. Therefore, to understand Cameroon’s risk of debt distress and the continuous credit problems that the country is facing, it is imperative to examine its debts to China.

Types of Debts Issued by China to Cameroon

China has issued over $6.2 billion in loans to Cameroon, the majority of which broadly concern infrastructure and energy. The majority of these loans are for major projects that are at least partially funded by the Cameroonian government. In many cases, the Export-Import Bank of China will fund most of an initiative through a loan and the Cameroonian government will be responsible for paying upfront around 15 percent of a project. The financing that the government of Cameroon is required to provide for the projects has at times slowed the disbursement of Chinese loans, which partially explains why 28 percent of all undispersed external debt in Cameroon is held by China. Notably, the majority of Chinese loans to Cameroon finance large and highly visible projects that are implemented by Chinese firms.

The largest source of Cameroon’s debt to China is the ongoing construction of a deep-water port in the town of Kribi in the southern region of the country. The agreement between the Export-Import Bank of China and the government of Cameroon to finance the port’s construction was first signed in 2011 and saw a concessionary loan of nearly $400 million granted. This was furthered in 2017 when the Export-Import Bank of China issued a $680 million loan for the second phase of the port’s construction. $150 million of the loan was concessional, whereas the rest was a preferential buyer credit agreement. Eighty-five percent of the financing of the port is provided by China, while the remainder is from the Cameroonian government. The state-run China Harbor Engineering Corporation (CHEC) is overseeing the construction of the port.

It is widely agreed that the construction of a deep-water port in Kribi is needed. Currently, over 90 percent of Cameroon’s maritime trade goes through the port of Douala, which is filled with sediment and is not deep enough for many ships. Once completed, the port in Kribi will be the largest in Central Africa and will be connected by railways to iron ore mines in the east of Cameroon. However, the project has caused resentment among the local community where the port is being constructed. During the process of construction, the village of Lolabe had to be destroyed, and its 400 residents were displaced. While the Cameroonian government was responsible for the displacement and embezzling funds allocated for compensation, many see the Chinese government as at best complacent in the matter. Locals complain of division between the approximately 300 Chinese workers on the project and Cameroonian laborers. Cameroonian laborers have also complained of mistreatment and abuse by their Chinese supervisors.  The fact that the only two financers of the project are the Export-Import Bank of China and the Cameroonian government has also caused concerns that the port may need to be leased to China if Cameroon were to default on its debt, as occurred in the case of Hambantota in Sri Lanka.

The second largest source of Chinese debt issued to Cameroon is the Yaoundé water supply project from the Sanaga River (PAEPYS) which aims to address water scarcity challenges in the Cameroonian capital and surrounding localities. Once completed, the project will significantly increase the amount of water supplied to the city, and according to the Cameroonian government will end the need for the city’s residents to ration water. Eighty-five percent of the project is financed through a loan worth over $678 million from the Export-Import Bank of China, with the remaining 15 percent being provided by the Cameroonian government. The construction of the project is being overseen by the China National Machinery Industry Corporation, popularly known as Sinomach, a state-owned enterprise. The project was originally slated to be completed in December 2020, although the Cameroonian government has announced that it will be delayed until July of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the project has the potential to address the pertinent issue of water shortages in Yaoundé, the financing of the project is solely done by the Cameroonian government and the Export-Import Bank of China, making it unclear what procedures may be in place should Cameroon not be able to repay the $678 million it will owe to China after the project is completed. However, the Cameroonian government has rejected the notion that the project is an instance of so-called “debt trap diplomacy.”

The third largest source of Cameroon’s debt to China is the Memve’ele hydropower dam project located on the Ntem river in the south region of the country. Once completed, the dam will have the potential to generate 211MW of hydroelectric power, which the Cameroonian government hopes can address the electricity deficit in the country where approximately 62 percent of the population do not have reliable access to electricity. The project is financed by a $541 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, in addition to $190 million from the African Development Bank (ADB), and $110 million from the Cameroonian government. This differs greatly from the two aforementioned projects, which are solely financed by China and Cameroon without a third party.

The project was originally being implemented by a British firm, but in 2009 the Chinese state-owned hydropower company Sinohydro took over the project. Construction of the dam began in 2013 and was supposed to be completed by 2017, although the project has experienced many delays. As of December 2020, the Cameroonian government claimed that the construction of a transmission line would be completed by March of this year and that commercial commissioning for the power plant would begin in September. The Memve’ele dam has been listed by the World Bank as a project that costs six to eight times more than similar initiatives in countries with comparable levels of development to Cameroon, leading to concerns of corruption and overpaying those assisting in implementation. There has also been opposition to the project from local communities who have been removed from their land to allow for construction. This is the case in Nyabizang, where the dam is being built, in addition to communities where transmission lines are being built to transmit hydropower to the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé.

While the Kribi deep water port, the Sanga River water supply project, and the Memve’ele hydropower dam constitute a large percentage of Cameroon’s debt to China, the projects are by no means the totality of it. In total, Cameroon owes China at least $5.2 billion that was issued through at least 45 loans. Projects related to transport, energy, technology, and water all occupy at least a $1 billion of debt. Notably, at least $333 million of the loans are related to the Cameroonian military, which has played a key role in human rights violations in conflicts across the country.

Risk of Default and Debt Relief

The potential of Cameroon not being able to repay its debts to China became evident when Yaoundé was not able to fulfill some terms of its debt, which resulted in tougher financial conditions that began in 2017. In 2018, on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing, the Cameroonian government formally requested that its debt to China be restructured. The severity of the situation and the real probability that Cameroon may not be able to repay its debts was underscored in January 2019 when Cameroon unilaterally withheld debt service payments to China, to which the  Export-Import Bank of China responded by freezing payments for projects in Cameroon.

In July 2019, Cameroon and China reached an agreement to restructure the payment of debts during the visit of Yang Jiechi, the director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, to Yaoundé. The restricting of the debt saw a total of $250 million of payments deferred over the following three years, although Cameroon would still be required to pay back the total amount of each loan by its original due date. In short, the relief would only be temporary, and Cameroon would still have to repay the total amount that it owed to the Export-Import Bank of China. A total of $78 million of Cameroon’s debt to China was canceled, although the debt was composed of payments that were supposed to be made to China the previous year but were not. This followed previous cancellations of Cameroon’s debt to China in 2001, 2007, and 2010.

However, it is important to note that the quantity of Cameroon’s debt to China that has been forgiven pales when compared to that of other countries. For instance, in 2006 France cancelled $195 million of Cameroonian debt, and issued further $474 million of debt relief in 2011. Canada forgave $227 million of debt owed to Ottawa by Yaoundé in 2006. In short, while the debt restructuring agreed to in 2019 provided temporary relief to the Cameroonian government, it did not tangibly change the difficulties that Yaoundé would face in paying its debts to Beijing.

In May 2020, Cameroon again delayed its debt payments to China through the debt service suspension initiative (DSSI) agreed to by members of the G-20, which includes China. This greatly benefitted Cameroon, as over half of its bilateral debts are to China. Specifically, in 2020 China deferred a payment from Cameroon worth over $55 million, and in 2021 Beijing deferred a further payment worth nearly $20 million. These payments will now be served between 2022 and 2025, in addition to the payments that were already scheduled for those years. This likely means that Cameroon will face increased difficulties paying its debts into the mid-2020s, due to both the delayed payments to China in addition to the delayed payments that Yaoundé will eventually need to make to Paris Club creditors.

Despite the temporary rescheduling of debt payments, China continues to remain the top source of Cameroon’s debt. The difficulties that Cameroon will face regarding its debts to China will only increase going into the mid-2020s when large sums of debt are due to be serviced. This situation regarding Cameroon’s debt to China in addition to other creditors raises serious questions about the Central African country’s ability to service its debts. This is not only due to the quantity of the debt, but the continued poor economic figures in the country as a result of political instability and the COVID-19 pandemic. What might happen if Cameroon reaches a point where it is not able to service its debts? The possibilities include, but are not limited to, defaulting on its debt, as occurred in Zambia in 2020, or potentially ceding temporary ownership of facilities funded by external creditors. 

Culled from The Diplomat.com

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Lack of Transparency, Corruption Allegations Mar Covid-19 Spending

18, June 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Lack of Transparency, Corruption Allegations Mar Covid-19 Spending 0

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board should ensure that a three-year loan sought by Cameroon is used to meet its human rights obligations and not lost to corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. It should require the government to make its spending fully transparent, conduct a comprehensive independent audit of its Covid-19 spending to date, and hold anyone responsible for corruption accountable.

“The IMF Board is voting on its third loan to Cameroon since the start of the pandemic in the midst of a Covid-19-related corruption scandal and violent crisis roiling the country’s English-speaking regions with a devastating impact on people’s right to health,” said Sarah Saadoun, senior business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “When badly-needed aid is being squandered or stolen, it would be irresponsible for the IMF to approve another loan without safeguards to ensure that the money goes where it is intended.”

On May 27, 2021, the IMF announced that it had reached a staff agreement for the loan “to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic,” among other objectives. The IMF did not specify the amount or detail any concrete measures to address corruption other than saying that “effective enforcement of the anti-corruption legal framework will also be critical.”

The IMF previously disbursed two emergency loans totaling US$382 million to Cameroon in response to the pandemic. Although the government made specific commitments to the IMF to use these funds transparently and accountably, its Covid-19 spending has been marred by secrecy and credible allegations of widespread mismanagement and corruption.

On May 19, Cameroonian media published a summary of an audit by a Supreme Court investigative body, the Chambres des Comptes. The audit detailed findings of large-scale corruption and mismanagement involving 180 billion CFA ($333 million) spent in response to Covid-19 up to December 31, 2020. It recommended “initiating 10 judicial cases regarding findings that likely violate criminal law.”

Citing the findings, as well as major corruption scandals, including one linked to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) project that took place during a past IMF loan program and for which no one was held accountable, 20 prominent Cameroonian women urged the IMF Board not to approve any additional funding until the government accounted for prior IMF loans and held those complicit in corruption accountable.

The audit found “numerous abuses” in the use of funds. For example, it found that a single company, Mediline Medical Cameroon, was awarded a “quasi-monopoly” on government contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE), Covid-19 tests, and other medical material, despite not being active in the country before the pandemic.

Local media reports referred to it as a subsidiary of South Korea-based Mediline Medical Korea, but that company told Human Rights Watch it “has no subsidiary company or investment companies in/outside of the country.” A June 1 news release from Mediline Medical Cameroon in response to the audit report was signed by Sangki Yi, as the board chairman. Human Rights Watch was unable to find any contact information for him or his company. A Cameroon government document identified Sunguk Yoon as the company’s sole beneficial – or actual – owner. Human Rights Watch wrote him on LinkedIn, the only contact information we were able to find, but received no response.

The audit found that Mediline Medical Cameroon overcharged for its products, delivered defective or the wrong material, and that its orders lacked documentation to enable tracking and delivery confirmation. The authorities were unable to account for products they had apparently received, including 610,000 Covid-19 tests. The audit also found that the government had bought 16 ambulances from Mediline Medical Cameroon and another company for 880 million CFA ($1.6 million), yet none had been delivered by December 31.

Human Rights Watch spoke with medical and administrative staff in hospitals across the country, including in the two English-speaking regions where violence has severely disrupted access to health care, who said they received little or no additional funds or equipment during the period covered by the audit to help them respond to the virus.

One doctor said his hospital initially only received 12 masks, 20 boxes of gloves, and four full body gowns for almost 50 employees and that a nurse from a nearby hospital died from Covid-19 in June 2020. It was not until early August that the 10 health facilities in his district received a combined 10 million FCA (around $17,000), which enabled his hospital to buy some PPE. However, when Human Rights Watch spoke with him in September, he said the hospital still lacked sufficient protective gear for most staff and had no ambulance.

Mediline Medical Cameroon’s June 1 statement dismissed these allegations as part of a “disinformation campaign.” It said that as of January, the company had delivered 1.9 million out of the 3 million tests the government bought, for which it has been paid 24.5 billion CFA ($45 million) and is still owed 8.5 billion CFA ($15 million).

It said that the prices “conform to regulations,” although the amounts it cited effectively confirm the audit findings that the government paid 17,500 CFA ($32) per test, significantly more than alternative options. It also said it was still processing what it said was the purchase of 17 ambulances for 8.5 billion CFA (around $15 million), citing challenges posed by the pandemic.

The audit found that the government requisitioned 32 hotels for 1,028 people who needed to be quarantined but has not repaid about 200 million CFA ($370,000) in expenses incurred by the hotels, deepening their financial distress from the pandemic.

Human Rights Watch spoke with several people who worked at these hotels between November and December who said their pay had been reduced in part because the government hadn’t fully paid these bills. An events manager at a hotel in Douala said she had to ask her brother if her two children could stay with him because her salary had been cut and she could no longer afford to provide for them. Human Rights Watch contacted the Health Ministry about the issue in February but received no reply.

These irregularities may have been identified and addressed had the government kept its commitment to the IMF regarding timely publication of how it spent funds. Nonetheless, the IMF still approved a second emergency loan in October, and now appears poised to approve a third, larger program, without addressing this fundamental lack of transparency despite serious allegations of mismanagement and corruption.

The IMF required the government to publish some information about the contracts it awarded, including the names of all of the companies’ actual owners prior to awarding the second loan. However, that disclosure is not accessible from any government website, it has not been updated since the approval of that loan, and the quality of information is poor. For example, that document lists Sunguk Yoon as the beneficial owner of Mediline Medical Cameroon, even though media reports refer to him as a project coordinator.

Cameroonian authorities have also not yet commissioned or published an independent audit of Covid-19 spending, despite promising the IMF to do so by the December 31 end of the fiscal year. In February, media reported that the Financial Ministry had called for tenders for an independent audit and in March the IMF told Human Rights Watch that the government had shared with its staff the terms of reference for an independent audit, but it is unclear whether a firm has been hired.

The Chambre des Comptes audit is important, though it only examines spending by two of the 10 ministries that received Covid-19 funds and the government did not disclose its findings, which journalists published on social media. It is no substitute for a full independent audit.

Between March 29 and April 8, the secretary general of the presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, sent a series of letters on behalf of President Paul Biya to various ministries regarding investigating and restructuring Covid-19 spending. This was apparently due to pressure stemming from the government’s loan negotiations with the IMF. One letter directed the Justice Ministry to initiate proceedings against those identified in the Chambre des Comptes’ audit. A separate May 28 statement referred to the audit and said that judicial inquiries are ongoing before a special criminal tribunal.

Though investigations are useful, recent events hint at the serious difficulties with holding corrupt Cameroonian officials accountable. Between June 7 and 9, multiple government offices, including for the Tax Administration and the National Business Association, were burglarized, despite being housed in heavily guarded buildings. Media reports, citing a confidential source, said “tons of documents” were stolen, possibly complicating the justice ministry’s investigations. On June 15, police announced the arrest of someone in connection with the Tax Office break-in and released a video of the suspect, who claimed to have acted alone.

“The IMF’s attention to corruption has spurred Cameroonian officials to take small steps on transparency and accountability,” Saadoun said. “But faced with evidence of widespread mismanagement and corruption, those efforts are insufficient, and the IMF should insist on much more.”

Source: Human Rights Watch

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 6 Divisional Delegates in Amba protective custody

17, June 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 6 Divisional Delegates in Amba protective custody 0

Six Divisional Delegates in Ndian Division were arrested by Ambazonia Restoration Forces and are currently under what is now known in Southern Cameroons as protective custody.

The civil servants representing the Biya Francophone regime in French Cameroun were picked up Tuesday, June 15, 2021 in Masore Balue village in Ekondo-Titi Subdivision, near Mundemba.

Their arrest was confirmed by Forwang Lawrence, the Senior Divisional Officer for Ndian Division who is also wanted by the Amba justice system.

The highly placed civil servants arrested include:-

-the Divisional Delegate of State Property, Land Tenure, and Surveys

-the Divisional Delegate of Housing and Urban Development

-the Divisional Delegate of Water and Energy Resources

-the Divisional Delegate of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Social Economy and Handicraft

-the Divisional Delegate of Economy, Planning and Regional Development

-the Divisional Chief of Service for Surveys

Ambazonian General Ten Kobo who hails from Bekora in Ekondo Titi Subdivision and reportedly headed the Amba operation said on social media that the French Cameroun delegates were being held in separate Ambazonia detention centers.

It is vital to include in this report that those arrested were on a mission to demarcate and plant pillars on a parcel of land fraudulently allocated to a French Cameroun electricity utility company, ENEO.

By Rita Akana

Former Zambia President Dr Kenneth Kaunda dies

17, June 2021

Former Zambia President Dr Kenneth Kaunda dies 0

Zambia’s former President Kenneth Kaunda has died. His death was announced this afternoon. He was 97.

Also known as KK, former President Kaunda had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment at a military hospital in Lusaka.

He recently asked for prayers from all Zambians and the international community when he got into hospital.

Kaunda ruled Zambia from 1964, when the country got independence from Britain, until 1991. He was one of the few surviving liberation heroes in the region.

His death has come at a time when Zambia is battling a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Source: The Herald.co

Troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime are burning down Southern Cameroons villages

17, June 2021

Troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime are burning down Southern Cameroons villages 0

Violence is still plaguing the entire Southern Cameroons seven months after Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration told the world that President Biya has defeated Ambazonian separatists. In their latest attempt to suppress the Southern Cameroons resistance, Cameroon government security forces have reportedly burned down nine villages in Ekondo Titi, Eyumojock and Kumbo districts.

Several villagers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, informed Cameroon Concord News on Tuesday that Cameroon government army soldiers set fire to scores of rural homes after clashing with Ambazonia Restoration Forces.

Five people are known to have burned to death in Tatum in Bui Division. Our correspondent in Kumbo observed that the five victims were elderly residents who had been unable to flee their homes during the fire, and their bodies were found after some people returned to the village.

Photographs seen by Cameroon Concord News indicate that several houses in Otu, Lobe and Tatum were reduced to piles of ash and bricks.

We understand that most of the residents remained in hiding in nearby forests after fleeing the villages, when soldiers firing guns entered the areas.

Photos and videos circulating on social media also showed the Francophone administrators in the South West informing public opinion that some highly placed civil servants have been kidnapped in Ndian Division by Amba fighters.

In Tinta in Akwaya, burnt planks of wood, sheet metal, bricks and cooking pots were scattered around, with only a few trees left standing including charred bodies of farm animals.

As the Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima blamed troops loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé for the near-destruction of the entire Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia, the Cameroon government army pointed the finger at Amba fighters.

In a recent press release, the spokesman for the Cameroon government army Captain Cyrille Serge Atonfack accused the exiled Ambazonian Vice President of deliberately plotting to discredit the Cameroon government military.

This is the latest example of how violence has become endemic in much of Southern Cameroons as the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime widens its efforts to suppress British Southern Cameroonians.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Boko Haram confirms death of notorious leader Abubakar Shekau

17, June 2021

Boko Haram confirms death of notorious leader Abubakar Shekau 0

The Nigeria-based Boko Haram terrorist group has confirmed the death of its notorious ringleader, Abubakar Shekau, who was recently reported to have killed himself following clashes with rival militants similarly allied to Daesh.

In a short video message, Boko Haram’s top militant commander Bakura Modu, also known as Sahaba, was seen surrounded by militants while addressing the camera as the new leader of the Daesh-affiliated Takfiri outfit, urging his militants to stay loyal to the group.

The undated video was provided to the AFP by a source close to Boko Haram, the agency reported Wednesday.

It was released over a week after Boko Haram’s main rival, another Daesh-affiliated faction operating in West Africa known as ISWAP, said Shekau had been hunted down by ISWAP and asked to pledge loyalty to the terror group.

ISWAP chief Abu Musab al-Barnawi was heard saying in an audio message, obtained by news agencies, that Shekau refused to join them and chose instead to “kill himself” instantly by detonating an explosive.

Shekau is said to have died around May 18. Nigerian intelligence sources also confirmed his death.

Boko Haram started from an underground African-terrorist group in 2009 and gained ground by killing, kidnapping and looting its way across northeast of Nigeria before pledging allegiance to Daesh.

Shekau gained notoriety after kidnapping 270 schoolgirls in 2014 from the town of Chibok. Some of the girls were rescued, but around 100 of them are still missing, possibly having died in captivity. 

More than 30,000 people have been killed in over a decade of terrorism in Nigeria by the Boko Haram Takrifi group, which has spilled over into neighboring Chad, Niger, and Cameroon and has forced more than two million people to flee their homes.

ISWAP split from Boko Haram five years ago amid a conflict, separately pledging allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group.

Source: Presstv

Doctors ‘killed’ Maradona through negligence, says nurse’s lawyer

17, June 2021

Doctors ‘killed’ Maradona through negligence, says nurse’s lawyer 0

A lawyer for a nurse under investigation in the death of Argentine football great Diego Maradona said Wednesday that doctors killed him through negligence.

“They killed Diego,” attorney Rodolfo Baque told reporters after his client, nurse Dahiana Gisela Madrid, was questioned by prosecutors.

Maradona died of a heart attack last November at the age of 60, weeks after undergoing brain surgery for a blood clot.

Madrid, 36, is one of seven people under investigation for manslaughter after a board of experts looking into Maradona’s death found he had received inadequate care and was abandoned to his fate for a “prolonged, agonising period.”

Baque insisted it was the doctors treating Maradona while he recovered from the brain operation, not his client, who were to blame for the soccer legend’s death.

He said Maradona was being treated for heart trouble but at the same time was on psychiatric medication that sped up his heart rate.

Also, Maradona fell while in the hospital, and when Madrid asked to have a CAT scan done on him, an aide to Maradona refused, arguing that if the press found out it would look bad, Baque said.

“In the end, there were many warning signs that Maradona was going to die, give or take a day. And none of the doctors did anything to prevent it,” Baque said during a break in the interrogation of Madrid, which went on for more than eight hours.

Madrid was Maradona’s daytime nurse and one of the last people to see him alive.

An investigation was opened following a complaint filed by two of Maradona’s five children against neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, whom they blame for their father’s deteriorating condition after the brain operation. 

A panel of 20 medical experts convened by Argentina’s public prosecutor said last month that Maradona’s treatment was rife with “deficiencies and irregularities” and the medical team had left his survival “to fate.”

If found guilty, the seven, who are barred from leaving the country, could face between eight and 25 years in prison.

Process to last months or years

Madrid was one of the people to have found Maradona with no signs of life and had tried to revive him, she said in a previous witness statement.

On Monday, Maradona’s nighttime nurse Ricardo Almiron, 37, was the first of the seven to be questioned by prosecutors.

Other medical staff involved in caring for Maradona will be questioned by prosecutors over the next two weeks.

A judge will decide whether the matter should go to trial in a process expected to last months, or even years.

Maradona had battled cocaine and alcohol addiction. 

The former Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Napoli star was suffering from liver, kidney and cardiovascular disorders when he died. 

Maradona is an idol to millions of Argentines after he inspired the South American country to only their second World Cup triumph in 1986. 

His death shocked fans around the world, and tens of thousands queued to file past his coffin, draped in the Argentine flag, at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires amid three days of national mourning.

Source: AFP

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