Headline News

3, April 2021

Cardinal Christian Tumi, the former Catholic Archbishop of Douala has died aged 91 ⁰

Archbishop Samuel Kleda said that Cardinal Tumi who had been ill for some time, passed away peacefully during the night in his sleep at the IDIMED polyclinic in Douala. Samuel Kleda succeeded Cardinal Tumi when he resigned.

Born 15 October 1930 in Kikaikelaki village in Kumbo Bui Division in the North West region, Cardinal Tumi had a long and distinguished academic career and those who knew him recognised his desire for holiness and his gentleness and humility of character.

Tumi was a strong advocate for social justice and always highlighted the difficulties facing communities in both French and English speaking Cameroon. Throughout his ministry and his life Cardinal Tumi dedicated great passion and commitment to the people of his diocese.

Tumi led the Douala Archdiocese at a very difficult time and recognised the need to allow younger generations to take-up leadership roles in the Church. He was much locked into the church’s side and on Canon Law, defending the church.

After being ordained a priest on 17 April 1966 for the diocese of Buea, Christian Wiyghan Tumi went to pursue his education in Nigeria and then in Great Britain followed by a spell at the Catholic Institute of Theology Lyon (France) and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) where he obtained a doctorate.

Upon his return to Cameroon, he was appointed rector of the regional major seminary in Bambui in the archdiocese of Bamenda. He had a meteoric rise in the Roman Catholic system- Bishop of Yagoua, coadjutor archbishop of Garoua, a diocese which he became archbishop on 17 March 1984. Finally, he became Archbishop of Douala on 31 August 1991, until his retirement. Christian Wiyghan Tumi was the only cardinal in Cameroon.

By Rita Akana

2, April 2021

Christians, CRTV’S Charles Ebune mark Good Friday: Jerusalem is for everyone ⁰

Huddled in a corner of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Angele Percenita struggled to contain her tears, overwhelmed to be marking Good Friday in Jerusalem’s Old City after last year’s lockdown.

Percenita, a Filipina caregiver in Israel who said she has been fully inoculated against coronavirus, was one of hundreds of faithful who visited Christianity’s holiest site on the day.

“It’s so, so much better than last year,” she told AFP.

Usually thousands mark Good Friday with a procession tracing the 14 Stations of the Cross, the route Christians believe Jesus walked while carrying his cross before being crucified.

Last year, as the pandemic was intensifying and with Jerusalem in its first of three coronavirus lockdowns, only four faithful retraced Christ’s footsteps along the Old City’s narrow cobbled streets.

Last year was also the first time the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — the site of Christ’s crucifixion and burial, according to tradition — had been closed for Easter in at least a century.

Israel — which annexed east Jerusalem including the Old City in 1967 — has vaccinated more than half of its 9.3 million residents, allowing the reopening of most major sites.

Lina Sleibi, a Palestinian Christian, recalled watching Easter mass online in 2020.

“Last year it was very hard. We felt like the city was dead,” said the 28-year-old who sings at church services in the West Bank holy city of Bethlehem nearby.

Now, “you feel alive again,” she said.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the final stop on the Stations of the Cross.

Hundreds of faithful, led by religious leaders bearing a cross, wound towards the church along the Via Dolorosa (Path of Sorrow) that snakes through the Old City.

While the modest crowd marked a step towards normalcy, the turnout was still minimal compared to the thousands that typically flock to Jerusalem during Easter.

– Small crowds –

In 2019, 25,000 people gathered in the city for Palm Sunday, according to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Angleena Keizer, a minister with the Church of Scotland, told AFP it felt “special” to be marking one of Christianity’s most important days at its holiest site without crowds of tourists.

“It’s nice to walk down the street when it’s not packed with tourists.

“But, on the other hand, we would prefer for them to be here because of the economy and for people to be able to experience Easter on the Holy Land from around the world.”

Despite Israel’s reopening, tourists are still broadly barred from entering the country.

Bader Rabadi, a Palestinian tour guide, said it was “painful (and) frustrating” to watch mass online last year, in contrast to this year’s feeling of “celebration”.

But something is still missing, he said, voicing hope that next year Christians from around the world will again be able to mark Easter in the Holy City.

“Jerusalem is not ours. It’s for everyone,” he said.

Source: AFP

2, April 2021

Football: Man Utd ask for fans help in anti-racism battle ⁰

Manchester United have set up an online system encouraging supporters to report incidents of racism and other hate crimes.

United’s “See Red” campaign follows Arsenal’s launch earlier this week of an action plan called #StopOnlineAbuse.

United stars Antony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Fred have all been subjected to racist abuse this season.

Fred hit back saying “we cannot feed that culture” of racism after he was racially abused following his side’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Leicester.

Former Arsenal star Thierry Henry recently quit all his social media platforms in protest at the rise in internet abuse.

“We challenge our fans, and indeed fans of every club, to watch this and think about their own favourite memories, their top teams and their most celebrated players,” United group managing director Richard Arnold said.

“How different would those memories be without the diversity of some of the best players in the world who have graced our game and our club?

“Sadly, footballers across the country continue to receive abuse online, seemingly without fear of censure.

“It is not good enough for us all to sit silently on the sidelines when we see or read racist remarks or behaviour.

“Inaction has a consequence. We must call it out. We must not tolerate it. If you see it or read it — report it.”

United will collaborate with the Premier League “to escalate any complaints received to the social media platforms and the relevant authorities.”

The club also urged social media platforms to punish the “online racists” with “tough action”.

Source: AFP

2, April 2021

La Republique Du Cameroun: No country for young men ⁰

Tongues have been wagging in Yaoundé following the re-election of some ailing octogenarians to the helm of Cameroon’s two houses of Parliament last month.

Recent footage from the Upper House of Parliament showed 86-year-old Senator Marcel Niat Njifenji teetering to the podium on March 18. He was going to assume office following his re-election as president of the Senate, which he has headed since it went operational in 2013.

Earlier the same day, 81-year-old Hon Cavaye Yeguie Djibril retained his position as Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, the National Assembly, a post he has held since 1992.

Hon Nafissatou Alim, the 30-year-old Member of Parliament of Mayo Louti constituency in the North region, and her colleague, Hon Dague Aicha Blanche Jacqueline of Mayo Kani South constituency in the Far North region of the country, were both just a year old when Hon Djibril was first elected Speaker.

The two youngest MPs of the current (10th) legislative period in Cameroon assisted the eldest member and head of the provisional bureau of the Lower House of Parliament, Hon Laurentine Nkoa Mfegue, CPDM MP for the Mefou and Afamba in the Centre region in the election of the Speaker which Hon Djibril contested unopposed.

Both Senator Niat and Hon Djibril, all members of the ruling CPDM party, were earlier approved for the jobs by party leader and Cameroon president, 88-year-old Paul Biya, who is also Africa’s oldest and second longest-serving leader.

In their inaugural speeches, delivered in very faint voices, the duo thanked Biya for appointing them to the positions.

Some had expected that Biya, who in February this year said “2021 is beginning on a positive note for our youth”, would propose younger people for the posts.

Though a lone candidate, Hon Djibril garnered 147 of the 162 valid votes cast, with 15 void ballots to retain his post as Speaker of the 180-member legislative institution, making him the longest-serving House Speaker in the country.

President Biya, Mr Njifenji and Mr Djibril are in order of state protocol, the first, second and third public personalities of the country. According to the Constitution, if President Biya is incapacitated, resigns or dies, the President of the Senate will take over power.

The re-election of the octogenarian men, however, did not come as a surprise to some MPs. Hon Koupit Adamou, a member of the opposition Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU), said he was not surprised with their re-election.

Old guards in power

“Looking at how our Parliament functions since independence, you realise that those who are elected at the beginning of a legislative period like this one are re-elected each year till the end of the mandate. So, anyone who thought anything will change is naive,” he said.

Another member of the Lower House of Parliament who did not take part in the election, said if he was present, he would have still voted for Hon Cavaye because he was the party’s candidate for the post.

“Party discipline is not only in Cameroon. It is all over the world,” the MP said, explaining he was on the field doing an assignment for the ruling party when the election took place.

However, the heads of the two houses of Parliament are not the only old guards in power in the Central African country.

The police boss, Martin Mbarga Nguele, is 89; head of National Hydrocarbons Company Adolphe Mudiki is 82; Justice Minister 78; Secretary General of ruling party 77; and Environment Minister 75, among others.

In Cameroon though, the World Bank says, the median age is 18.7 years and six in every 10 people you meet is aged below 35 years, the line that defines youth. Yet the country’s most powerful positions are held by frail, elderly men.

Ruled by ‘club of friends’

According to Prof Willibroad Dze-Ngwa, a Historian and Political Scientist at the University of Yaoundé, the country is ruled by “a club of friends who have been together for more than 50 years and just share power amongst themselves.”

Mr Dze-Ngwa reckons none of the old guards wants to leave the scene before the other, except if nature intervenes.

“You can see that such is reflected not only in the National Assembly and the Senate but at every level of public administration. Let me say that I have no particular bias against these so-called old people because they have been placed there by the young people,” he said.

The young people, Mr Dze-Nwa says, have not been doing enough politics or using their numbers and youthfulness to take over leadership of the country.

“Of course, when there is such a vacuum, the octogenarians as you call them take advantage and play politics. Remember politics is coining policies to gain power and govern. So if the octogenarians have been able to dominate politics, then they are succeeding in their game and staying on,” he says.

“That is why we are taking too much time to advance in democracy, that is why the old laws in the National Assembly and the Senate cannot be changed, that is why the electoral laws in Cameroon have remained virtually the same because we have the same people who have gained so much power and want to sustain that power,” Mr Dze-Ngwa adds.

Source: The East African

2, April 2021

Violence in Southern Cameroons takes high civilian toll ⁰

Worsening violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions is taking an increasingly heavy toll on civilians, with renewed attacks against schools and a spate of incidents involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and extrajudicial killings documented in recent months.

These attacks are the latest escalation in the nearly five-year conflict between government security forces and armed separatists which has displaced more than 700,000 civilians and forced another 63,800 across the border to Nigeria, according to a United Nations report this week.

Overall, the UN estimates three million of the four million people in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest have been impacted.

The Anglophone conflict began in late 2016 when government security forces used lethal force to put down peaceful marches by lawyers and teachers protesting against perceived marginalisation by the country’s majority Francophone government.

In response, more than 30 armed separatist groups formed to fight for an independent nation they called Ambazonia. A self-declared Interim Government of Ambazonia also emerged and is run largely by Anglophone Cameroonians living in Europe and the United States.

Separatists are known locally as “the boys” and consider themselves “restorationists” or “freedom fighters”. Representatives from the Cameroonian government refer to them as “terrorists” in public statements.

At least 4,000 civilians have so far been killed in the Anglophone regions, a toll that surpasses that of the country’s Far North region where Boko Haram has been waging an armed campaign since 2014.

Shifting conflict dynamics

In the first years of the conflict, there was a clear “cycle of violence”, according to Chris Fomunyoh, a senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa at the National Democratic Institute.

“Every time the armed groups attacked the military and someone in uniform was killed, then the military goes into that vicinity or that neighbourhood ‘in pursuit of the boys’ and mows down civilians”.

However, during the past year, the number of clashes between separatist groups and security forces has declined while there has been an uptick in attacks against civilians, according to data collated by the United Nations and the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) Project.

“The [conflict] dynamics keep changing every day,” said Esther Njomo, a human rights advocate based in the Southwest region. Separatist groups, in particular, have intensified targeted attacks against civilians and aid workers, Njomo said.

Since January 2021, separatists have been accused of abducting a local physician, burning down public infrastructure, such as markets and post offices, and killing at least five civilians, according to media reports and NGOs. On February 13, suspected separatists killed three traditional village leaders and kidnapped 30 civilians.

In the same timeframe, separatists have also carried out at least 27 attacks involving IEDs in 13 towns across the two regions, more than all previous years of the conflict combined, according to UN reports and ACLED data.

Attacks with IEDs usually target military personnel, convoys, and buildings. Twelve documented attacks occurred in Bamenda, the capital of the northwest region. At least 10 government security personnel have been killed and four civilians wounded in these attacks.

Fombat Forbah Dieudonne, a spokesperson for the Ambazonia Restoration Forces, a separatist group linked to the interim government, denied that any groups involved in the separatist movement have carried out abductions or killed civilians.

“As concerns the IED[s], I have no knowledge of our people being capable of manufacturing such. However, we shall defend using any means possible, according to international law, ourselves for as long as this colonialism and genocide continues,” Dieudonne said.

Government security forces have also faced accusations of raiding villages, burning homes and arbitrarily arresting and killing dozens of civilians, according to local and international NGOs.

In January, military forces raided Mautu village in the southwest region and killed nine civilians, including a woman and a child, Human Rights Watch said. A month later, a video of government security forces brutally beating the brother of a suspected separatist in a town called Ndu circulated on social media.

Widespread condemnation of the video led to the Cameroonian government arresting eight officers involved.

A spokesperson for the Cameroonian military declined to comment on the continuing crisis.

Renewed attacks against schools

In October 2020, the lifting of school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic sparked renewed attacks targeting learning institutions.

Between October and December 2020, the UN recorded 35 attacks on schools including the “killing, torture and abduction of students and teachers, as well as arson of education facilities”, according to an internal report provided to Al Jazeera.

Of those attacks, 30 were carried out by separatist groups resulting in 10 civilian deaths and 67 abductions.

The five other incidents involved government security forces including the “accidental discharge of weapons” near schools and resulted in five civilian injuries.

Schools have been a main point of attack since the beginning of the conflict when separatists called for a boycott on education to draw attention to the increased use of French in the classroom and reliance on monolingual French-speaking teachers.

Human Rights Watch previously documented that separatists set fire to schools and attacked students and staff who did not comply with the ban.

Dieudonne denied that separatists ever banned school attendance. “We have continually said that the security situation does not provide the enabling environment for schooling.”

He also denied that any groups tied to the separatist movement have ever attacked schools.

Towards a ‘fragile state’

Once considered a beacon of stability in Central Africa, Cameroon is now facing three protracted humanitarian crises.

In addition to the Anglophone conflict, Cameroon is struggling to respond to an influx of more than 200,000 refugees to its East, Adamawa, and Northern regions from neighbouring Central African Republic.

In the Far North region, there has been a spike in attacks carried out by Boko Haram. The United States, a main defence partner to Cameroon, has reduced its funding for military assistance due to continuing human rights violations in the country for the past two years.

The International Crisis Group has also documented “rising ethno-political tensions” after controversial 2018 presidential elections pitted ethnic Bulus, to which long-running President Paul Biya belongs, and the closely related Beti people against the Bamileke people, to which Biya’s main opposer, Maurice Kamto, belongs.

“The state of fragility of Cameroon as a state has grown exponentially for five years,” Fomunyoh said. “I don’t see an easy outlet in the short-to-medium term unless a political settlement is arrived at soon.” SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

2, April 2021

US Department of State releases 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Cameroon ⁰

Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. The president retains power over the legislative and judicial branches of government. The ruling political party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, has remained in power since its creation in 1985. The country held legislative elections on February 9, which were marked by irregularities. The ruling party won 152 of 180 National Assembly seats. Paul Biya has served as president since 1982. He was last reelected in 2018 in an election marked with irregularities.

The national police and the national gendarmerie are responsible for internal security. The former reports to the General Delegation of National Security and the latter to the Secretariat of State for Defense in charge of the Gendarmerie. The army is primarily responsible for external security and shares some domestic security responsibilities; it reports to the minister delegate at the presidency in charge of defense. The Rapid Intervention Battalion reports directly to the president. Civilian authorities at times did not maintain control over security forces. Members of security forces committed numerous abuses.

In July jailed separatist leader Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe announced he talked with the government regarding the prospects for peace in the Anglophone regions. The government, however, denied Ayuk Tabe’s announcement, and other separatists opposed the talks. Cameroon Renaissance Movement president Maurice Kamto urged Cameroonians to stage nationwide peaceful protests on September 22 to demand a resolution to the crisis in the Anglophone regions and for electoral reform before the December 6 regional elections. Hundreds of protesters were arrested, including journalists, and Kamto was placed under unofficial house arrest.

Significant human rights issues included: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by security forces, armed Anglophone separatists, Boko Haram, and ISIS-West Africa; forced disappearances by security forces; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government, Cameroonian peacekeepers deployed to UN missions, and nonstate armed groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrests; political prisoners or detainees; politically motivated reprisal against individuals located outside the country; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on freedom of expression, the press, and the internet, including violence, threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists, censorship, and criminal libel laws; substantial interference with the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; serious restrictions on freedom of movement; inability of citizens to change their government peacefully through free and fair elections; restrictions on political participation; serious acts of corruption; lack of investigations and accountability for violence against women; unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers; trafficking in persons; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex persons; and the existence or use of laws criminalizing same-sex sexual conduct between adults.

Although the government took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed human rights abuses, it did not do so systematically and rarely made the proceedings public. Some offenders continued to act with impunity.

Culled from U.S. Department of State

1, April 2021

Bundes Fußball: Loew faces calls to go now after lose to North Macedonia ⁰

Four-time World Cup winners Germany’s defeat to North Macedonia sparked calls on Thursday for coach Joachim Loew to stand down instead of waiting till after this summer’s European Championship.

Goran Pandev had put North Macedonia ahead in Wednesday’s 2022 World Cup qualifier just before half-time and although Ilkay Gundogan equalised from the penalty spot early in the second half, the minnows snatched victory when Eljif Elmas scored a late winner in Duisburg.

Loew, who led Germany to glory at the 2014 World Cup but has suffered a string of poor results almost ever since, had announced last month that he will stand down after Euro 2020.

Bild, Germany’s most-read newspaper, said that decision should be reversed after the loss to the world’s 65th-ranked team.

“It’s over Jogi,” it said in its headline. “The magic that Loew conjured up during the World Cup (in 2014) has unfortunately disappeared. His achievements for German football cannot be questioned but his time has gone,” the paper said.

Loew has tried to forge a young new team without veteran stars such as Thomas Mueller and Jerome Boateng that he discarded after early Germany’s early elimination from the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Kicker magazine said the rebuilding project was not working.

“This newly formed German national team is still looking for direction and trying to find its way… both in the players’ legs and heads,” it said.

Kicker said Loew’s explanation that his players were “tired” simply “does not stand up… against opponents of that level”.

And Sport1 website said the team had “dishonoured itself”, and was particularly critical of Chelsea forward Timo Werner who missed an open goal.

“Some players are not reaching their usual level,” the website said.

The performance will only add fuel to the argument that 31-year-old Mueller, who is again in good form this season after leading Bayern Munich to victory in the 2020 Champions League, be recalled for the Euro finals this summer when Germany face a tough first-round group of reigning champions Portugal, World Cup holders France and Hungary.

The loudest calls came from Uli Hoeness, Bayern’s honorary president.

“Mueller should be in the team, he can still score goals and he can help any team in the world to get out of difficult situations,” Hoeness said.

Loew meanwhile insisted he had not lost faith in his team for the Euro — and he urged Germans not to either. “We must not lose belief,” Loew said. “In the coming days and weeks we will check over everything once again.”

Source: AFP

1, April 2021

Tears as prominent Manyu Sisiku dies in Yaoundé ⁰

The people of Nchang village, a community in the Mamfe Central Sub Division in Manyu have been plunged into mourning following the death of Sisiku Tarkang Philip.

According to Cameroon Concord News Yaoundé Bureau Chief, the much respected Manyu traditional and political figure passed away on Sunday.

Although no formal announcement has been made of his demise, a UK based Manyu Royal; Prince Julian Ebai confirmed the death of the Sisiku and added that according to the tradition of the Manyu people, some necessary rites have to be performed before the official declaration and burial.

Sisiku Tarkang Philip moonlighted as Technical Director at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications in Yaoundé and was also head of the ruling CPDM Central Committee Delegation to Mamfe Central.

He retired voluntarily from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications following a financial scandal that rocked the establishment under the late Minister Mouchipou Seydou.

He was the head of the Mamfe Central Family Meeting in Yaoundé and was also a patron of the Manyu Solidarity Foundation.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé with additional reporting from Soter Agbaw-Ebai

1, April 2021

Biya regime rolls out cholera vaccination campaign after outbreak ⁰

Cameroon has begun vaccinating people against Cholera. The waterborne disease recently resurfaced in the central African country after going several months without reporting a single case.

Since last March, at least 1,890 cases of the disease have been detected. The ministry targets to vaccinate 33,600 people – mostly urban dwellers.

Cholera outbreaks are recurrent in Cameroon’s slums and neighborhoods which lack proper water drainage infrastructure and sanitation facilities.

“Concerning the epidemiological situation of cholera in Cameroon, you know that this disease is a permanent threat in our country, and at the moment several regions are declared at high riskt,” said James Longsi, a public health specialist.

Teams from the ministry of health are visiting suburbs to conduct sensitization before handing out the oral vaccines.

In the Youpwe district of Douala, vaccinations teams have been greeted by a reluctant public, with some people questioning whether the vaccines are not repackaged Covid-19 jabs.

Cameroon’s port city has reported over a dozen cases and one death from Cholera.

“Yes, it is understandable that with Covid19, people are reluctant to be vaccinated. But this vaccination in Cameroon is not the first. The greater North of Cameroon has experienced campaigns that have had no consequences on the health of the population, on the contrary we have had a decrease in cholera cases since the implementation of this campaign (…) And it must be said, the vaccine used in this campaign is safe and effective,” said Longsi.

Cameroon normally registers Cholera cases during and after its rainy season.

The vaccine is being given to women, men and children aged one year and over.

Cholera is a serious acute infectious disease characterized by watery diarrhea, vomiting and can kill a person within hours.

Source: Africa News

31, March 2021

Ivory Coast: ICC appeals court upholds acquittal of President Gbagbo ⁰

International Criminal Court appeals judges have upheld the acquittals of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and former minister Charles Ble Goude on charges of involvement in deadly post-election violence.

Both were acquitted in 2019 of responsibility for crimes including murder, rape and persecution following disputed elections in 2010, with judges saying prosecutors failed to prove their case. The decision halted the trial before defense lawyers had even presented their evidence.

Wednesday’s appeals panel decision to reject the prosecutors’ appeal against the acquittal ends proceedings against both men.

Supporters of Gbagbo hugged and cheered outside the court building after the decision.

(AP)